Sometimes, however, secondary research is your only option or is necessary to supplement primary research. There are many valuable sources, and research librarians at your local or university library can become your best friends. I have been writing for over 30 years, and many of the sources librarians recommended to me in the past are now available on the Internet. Again, let me warn you: Make sure the site you are using is credible for your research. Anyone can slap up a website and call it anything that isn’t already taken!

Here are some of the sources I have used through the years that are now available on the Internet: Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, Poole’s Index to Periodical Literature, National Geographic, Bartlett’s Quotations, and the New York Times.

There are a number of search engines, but personally I prefer Google. At the present time it is the largest. Use quotation marks around the words in your search query to limit the number of hits you will get. You can search for almost anything on the Internet, but if you are quoting material in an article or book, the publisher will want you to use a very credible source.

In my next blog I’ll give you some of my favorite sites.

Secondary Research depends on the printed research found in books, magazines, newspapers, libraries, museums, and on the Internet. A word of caution: Errors can creep in when you depend on others to do your research for you—particularly when you quote someone who is quoting someone else from another source. And this is especially true if you use the Internet. This will be discussed in detail in a later post.

Have you ever sat in a circle and played the game in which you whisper a sentence to the person on your right; then that person whispers what you said (or what he or she thinks you said) to the person on his right, and so on? When the message gets back to the person on your left, and he or she whispers it to you, your message may have totally changed. You probably don’t even recognize it as your original message. Just because something is in print doesn’t mean it is accurate!

Primary Research is information obtained directly from people, places, or events. This type of research is valuable because it draws you in and makes you, the author, personally involved. It is usually obtained orally. When I wrote a story about a jade theft in Taiwan, I went to my local jewelry mart and asked about the different colors, prices, and qualities of jade. They were happy to answer my questions.

People are wonderful resources, and they are usually willing to help an author. Call scientists, policemen, doctors, college professors—experts in whatever field you are writing about. Once when I was talking about a bullet, I had written 32 caliber, and my police detective friend said I might want to change it to .32, or it would be a very large bullet!

Go to your locations, and walk where you have your main character walk. Talk to people who have been through a similar experience. Find as many sources as time permits. Once you have been there, the setting will come alive for you. Then use all your senses to paint the scene for the reader. A word of warning: If you are painting a real scene, make sure you have been there recently. Things may have changed, and you want them to be accurate.

Some books and articles take a great deal of research; others draw more on your own experiences. Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, however, you need to become knowledgeable on your subject. It is vital to get your facts right and to have every detail accurate.

You can lose your credibility with your readers if they find a silly mistake. In the working manuscript for my book, You Start with One, I had alligators sunning themselves on the river bank. A biologist informed me that there are no alligators in Sri Lanka. I changed it to crocodiles before the book went to press. Also, a name that ended in “a” I had for a girl was actually a boy’s name. An Indian college professor corrected that error—also before publication.

Be particularly careful when you are writing historical fiction. Following are some errors found in books:

1. A World War II novel mentioned a German Shepherd dog in France. The problem is that on the continent, people don’t refer to them as German Shepherds; they call them Alsatains.

2. A woman felt along the wall until she found the light switch. Then she turned it on. This ministry was set in 1922, before wall switches were invented.

3. A biography about a little boy in 1934 stated that when he got a few pennies, he bought a package of Bazooka bubblegum. The problem is that Bazooka is a World War II instrument developed in the ‘40s.

Research is the process of gathering material from a wide variety of sources. Your writing should reflect a great deal of research so that you write out of an abundance of material. Hopefully you will develop far more knowledge on a subject than will be needed to include in an article or book.

A woman once told me at a writers’ conference that she wanted to become a fiction writer because she hated research. She said, “If I write fiction, I can just make it up! Then I won’t have to spend all that time in stuffy libraries.”

The woman left me speechless, but once I gathered my wits I told her that fiction needs to be every bit as accurate as nonfiction. Fiction must be believable—and so must nonfiction for that matter. Do not lose your credibility with your readers by not researching your subject properly.

To conclude this 10-part-series on devotionals, here is a devotional titled “Tongues of Fire” I wrote for the Upper Room Devotional Guide.

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages. –Acts 2:3,4 (NIV)

One of my favorite ways to spend an evening is to relax in my recliner by the fireside. I never cease to be amazed at the results when I take a tiny match and touch it to a piece of wadded up paper, placed under kindling and logs. The edges of the paper burn, and soon pieces of dry wood light up with orange-red tongues of fire. The flames spread and the heat builds. The larger logs start to burn. Soon a small spark has become a roaring fire.

Almost 2,000 years ago, God lit a match in Palestine. On the day of Pentecost, only a small number were touched and warmed by the spark of the Good News. Then the flame spread out of Jerusalem and into the Roman Empire. The fire kept growing until today, millions of people around the world know Jesus and worship Him.

Fire symbolizes God’s purifying presence, which burns away all the undesirable elements of our lives. Perhaps that is why a warm fire relaxes my body and calms my spirit.

Yet, fire also represents the Holy Spirit igniting us with courage and wisdom as He did the early Christians on the day of Pentecost. I pray that the Holy Spirit will light a fire in me so I may be a spark to touch and warm a hurting world.
Prayer: Dear Lord, please work through me as your spark to reach out and ignite a fire within others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Thought for the Day: A small spark can become a roaring fire.

Prayer Focus: Power of the Holy Spirit

Writing devotionals is a good exercise in fine-tuning your writing. You have only 250 words to focus one idea. In this small amount of space, you need to make your piece real, establish reader identification, and offer a tentative application of how the reader might act on your point in his or her life.

The devotional market is wide-open and reaches many people. This is an excellent way to get started as well as a fun outlet for the established author. A publishing house may not want to take a chance on a first-time author with a book because the risk involves thousands of dollars. Yet, many of the daily devotional markets use first-time writers.

In writing devotionals, you are only limited by your imagination. Observe what is happening around you at all times, and you will find plenty of material to write about. Personally, writing devotionals is my favorite genre. Perhaps it can become yours, too.

Characteristics of Good Devotionals

Mary Lou Redding suggests 8 characteristics of good devotional writing, which are used here with her permission. Posted below are characteristics seven and eight.

7. Authenticity: Good devotional writing is authentic. It is not affected or preachy. Don’t use Christianese—Christian clichés that only certain denominations use. You want nonbelievers to grow from your words, so they need to understand what you are saying.

Good devotional writing is a real person writing to other real people about what it means to live faithfully in a particular situation. It is the author saying, “This is how God is real for me.” Authentic meditations acknowledge that life is complex and sometimes difficult, while pointing to hope in God.

8. Exploration: Good devotional writing is exploratory. It is not arrogant or preachy. It invites people to explore with you God’s truth. It doesn’t offer final answers. It says, “This is my experience. Is it the same for you, or is a different?” You invite the reader to make connections by providing images that will link his or her daily life with God’s ongoing activities in the world.

Try to incorporate these eight characteristics when writing your devotionals. If you succeed, your readers will be touched by your writing, and hopefully they will grow closer to God.

Characteristics of Good Devotionals

Mary Lou Redding suggests 8 characteristics of good devotional writing, which are used with her permission. Here are characteristics four through six.

4. Concreteness: Good devotional writing is concrete. It deals with what you have seen, touched, and heard rather than abstract concepts. Consider the images Jesus used to help people understand Him. He used bread, water, sheep—everyday items that people living in biblical times as well as today could understand.

5. Economy: Good devotional writing is economical. You want to deliver your message in as few words as possible. Be concise. Don’t attempt to impress people. Just direct them to God’s truth.

6. Strong images: Good devotional writing is full of images. It produces strong images in the reader’s mind. I would much rather read a good book than see a movie because my imagination is more vivid than the Hollywood portrayal. Perhaps many readers feel the same way.

Characteristics of Good Devotionals

Mary Lou Redding suggests 8 characteristics of good devotional writing, which are used with her permission. Here are the first three.

1. Scriptural Base: Good devotional writing in Scripture-based. It is grounded firmly in Bible study. It grows out of meditation and reflection on the Holy Word and its meaning for our lives. Don’t take words out of context or use Scripture inappropriately, however.

2. A Fair Trade: Good devotional writing is a fair trade. It offers your inside in exchange for the reader’s time and effort in reading the meditation. Use this principle regarding every piece of writing you do. The reader should never feel cheated at the end of reading a meditation, a filler, an article, or a book. Provide something new and unusual.

3. Appropriate Style: Good devotional writing has a style that is appropriate to the content or purpose of writing. When you teach, your communication should be direct, with clear use of speech. Don’t make the reader struggle with your words. Also, you can’t get too much emotion into 250 words, so don’t try to deal with issues that are too heavy for the length of your piece.