By Shayna Krishnasamy
When I first started writing in high school I would often find myself restricting my stories to the only subjects I understood: family life, adolescent girl cliques, suburbia. I did this because the idea of pretending knowledge of a subject I didn’t understand inside and out—like, say, the police force, or scuba diving, or ballet school—made me terribly nervous, and the things I would have to do to research such topics seemed impossible. I was the girl who would never raise her hand in class, who was too shy to call the pizza place, who would go on to switch programs in college because of the number of required oral presentations second term. How could I possibly cold call a hospital and ask if I could talk to someone about what it’s like to be a patient on a psych ward?
When writing about the same old boring things became, predictably, intensely boring, I panicked. How would I ever become a great writer when the only things I knew anything about were fighting with my sister, how to program the VCR, and which stores at the mall sold the best quality long-sleeved t-shirts? I’d learned from the movie Little Women that the key to writing well was to “write what you know”—even if the story about corpses did buy Beth a new coat—but what if what I really yearned to write about were all the things I didn’t know? What then?
The answer—which I already knew but had been steadily avoiding—was, of course: Learn to research. In an effort to help timid writers everywhere get over their researching block like I did (sort of) here are my five researching tips for shy writers.
The Library Is Your Friend
The biggest obstacle to researching for me was my reluctance to involve other people in the process. I didn’t want to have to call around looking for the person who had the information I needed. I didn’t want to conduct interviews, or talk my way into a restricted cave (which had to be described in my book), or interrogate a junkie about his drug paraphernalia. I wanted to do my research quietly and independently. So, I went to the library.
Sure, there’s lots of information on the internet these days. The internet is always a good starting point. But if you’re looking for details about the layout of rural homes in 13th century England, a text from the library is your best bet. There isn’t a place on earth more conducive to the independent search for knowledge. And as long as you obey those pesky hours of operation, you can literally spend as much time as you want taking copious notes and tracking down every detail you require as obsessively as you please. You might even be able to get in and out of the place without speaking to a single person. High Five!
Watch It On TV – But Remember, It’s TV
Sometimes the information you need can’t be found in a book. For example, the main character in the novel I’m currently writing is a third-year surgical resident. I need to know things like whether or not a resident at this stage would be doing those crazy 24-hour shifts, what procedures she would be doing on her own (if any), how many surgeries she might assist on in a given week. The easiest way to get this information would be to find a surgeon, preferably a young one who remembers their residency clearly, and interview them. But I have no interest in conducting interviews. So, naturally, I’ve been watching a lot of Grey’s Anatomy.

Photo Credit: Lubs Mary. via Compfight cc
I’m not saying that watching a fictional television show that depicts your topic of research is a good way to gain all the knowledge you need on the subject. That’s obviously ludicrous. TV should never be your only means of research, especially fictional TV which may or may not be adequately researched itself! But there is something to be gained from watching a show like ER if you want to learn about the life of emergency room doctors. At the very least you’re giving yourself an overview of the concerns and challenges your own characters might face. You’re learning words like “Whipple procedure” and “haemothorax” and “embolus.” You’re getting a broad understanding of the various stages of the residency program. If you’re writing a historical novel, watching a movie or reading a book set in that time period will do the same job. It’s a great way to immerse yourself in your subject of research without actually physically being there.
But never forget the information you’re gathering is unreliable. Never take note of the way an actor on a TV show is holding a scalpel and describe it in your book. Sure, the average reader won’t be able to tell the difference, but you’ll almost certainly be giving real doctors a laugh at your expense. If you let your shyness lead to lazy research, you could just as easily have made it all up. The result will be the same.
Email The Crap Out of It
If the idea of conducting an interview with a stranger on a topic you know very little about leaves you short of breath, here’s an easy answer for you: Email then instead. An email interview takes all of the on-the-spot stress out of this social interaction while still getting you the information you need. This alternative also has the bonus of giving you as much time as you want to tweak and perfect your questions ahead of time.
The downside is that not everyone out there is a writer like you. Even if they say they’re interested in being interviewed, your subject may not answer your questions with as much detail as you’d like, or they may not directly answer the question they’re posed. Follow-up questions will have to be emailed back, and it’s not guaranteed that you’ll get a reply right away, if at all. Email interviews are easier for you, but more of a hassle for the interviewee, so keep that in mind.
Just Go There
There’s a lot to be said for seeing things in person. Sure, writers pride themselves on their imaginations, but if you want your descriptions to be accurate and full of pertinent detail, you might want to just get in your car and go to the place you’re writing about. This isn’t always possible—most of us can’t suddenly fly off to China or Italy, and there’s no way to be present in Egypt circa 1910 (photos, like this one, are helpful here)—but if you’re writing about a hospital, a fire station, a boarding school, or an old church there’s no reason you shouldn’t go check them out in person. Even if the church you’re describing is in another country, you might be able to find one with a similar feel and look nearby. The upside to this kind of research is that it’s completely independent and hassles no one except, maybe, the person you’re forcing to drive you around.If you really need to know what a certain place looks like and you absolutely can’t get there in person, try Google Maps Street View. I once used Street View to follow the exact path my character would take from school to her apartment in a city I had never been to. It worked like a charm.
Always Be Prepared
Let’s face it, if you really want to research properly it might not be possible to avoid doing an interview either in person or over the phone. If you’re writing a book about a teenage boy growing up in a Hasidic Jewish household, talking to a person who’s been there is probably your best bet for accurate details. If you’re lucky you’ll have a close friend that you’re comfortable with who fits these exact characteristics, but if not, you’ll be interviewing someone you know only casually, or not at all.
My best advice to get through your interview is to be über prepared. Write down every question you want to ask, and follow-up questions, and obscure he-probably-won’t-even-know-this questions. To avoid embarrassing yourself by asking something ridiculous or inappropriate, give yourself a healthy overview of the topic ahead of time (see Watch It On TV – But Remember, It’s TV). If you’re nervous, it’s natural to want to hurry through the questions and hang up, but if you want to make sure you don’t have to call back with more questions, which can be equally nerve-wracking, remember to take your time and give a thorough interview.
I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable with research. I still balk at the idea of interviewing experts and I’m perpetually nervous that not knowing my subject well enough will lead to my writing a scene that’s preposterous and completely inaccurate (though this has less to do with shyness and more to do with my general neurosis). When I have these worries I like to remind myself that most readers won’t know and won’t care that my character is watching TV a year before they were invented. There’s no law that says every person living in my fictional version of Venice has to speak perfect Italian. And if anyone ever calls me on one of my mistakes I can always chalk it up to artistic license. In the world of my book I am God and I can do whatever the heck I want, even change the date of when man walked on the moon, if I want to. Which is a handy thing to keep in mind, not just when researching, but really anytime. I might just get it printed on my business cards (Shayna Krishnasamy – Writer, God).
Shayna Krishnasamy is a Montreal author of literary and young adult fiction by night and the merchandiser for Kobo Writing Life by day. Shayna’s books are available on Kobo.
I don’t know–where to find quality t-shirts NEVER gets old. :>) I agree, the library is a wonderful place to research. The librarians also have a lot of ideas for other places that might have the information you need. They can get in a lot of material for us writers from University libraries or newspapers or magazines! I love research. I’m amazed at how much research it can take–all to write one or two lines in the novel. Because the best research comes off as if you already know what you’re talking about! Great article.
I find I research and research until I feel like I can talk about the subject with a little bit of authority. It’s really all about getting to that place of comfort. Then I throw all the notes aside and just write the scene. It seems like a crazy amount of time to spend just to get two lines right – as you say – but it’s actually about feeling confident as a writer.
Thanks for the tip about asking the librarians for help! I usually dart in and out of the place without speaking to anyone, like a nerdy cat burglar. 🙂
Nerdy cat burglars RULE!!! :>)
Your article, and particularly the part about artistic license, made me smile. In my first series, I had a critical scene where someone is stabbed in the lower back. I described an enormous amount of blood coming from the wound, and this blood-bath became a recurring theme throughout the rest of the story. When my older sister, who is an ER doc (built-in expert!), beta-read the books for medical accuracy, she informed that a wound in that particular part of the body would NOT produce copious amounts of blood. Ugh! I thought the whole story was ruined, and I would have to re-write like crazy. But then I asked several other betas about that point, and none even blinked over my blood-bath. In the end, I left the story as it was, and not one person out of thousands has ever mentioned this inaccuracy. Bottom line: I still research like crazy, but if the truth doesn’t fit my story, I whip out my artistic license and do it my way :).
Yes! Artistic license wins again. I think as writers we always obsess over these details we’re a little unsure of as if we’re going to be arrested for making a small mistake, when actually the reader doesn’t really care. They just want to read a great story! Thanks for sharing, Maria.
Ha! Not me. I’ve deleted entire chapters because the facts didn’t line up. I may take out detail, but I’m way too into research and will spend hours on the smallest detail. I have an email out to Tesla (the car maker) right now because I need to know how much space there is in the roadster in the “back” — both the trunk and for a possible person crammed in the “not a back seat.” Doesn’t mean I always get the detail right…and I may have to get inventive…especially when my characters are in bind! But even with magic/fantasy, I like all my rules to stay in nice, neat rows!
P.S. If anyone owns a Roadster Tesla, could you email me???
Great post, Shayna! Research is one of those things that can’t be avoided, certainly if you write historical fiction like I do. As an introvert, heading out to question people is probably the last thing I would want to do, but have had to do in the past. We’re lucky now with so much information on-line. As with TV however, we need to be mindful of what we are reading. I like to immerse myself in a period of history before I start writing and then, as you say, put the notes aside and get to it. I used to put in way too much detail.
One thing I have learned over time is that the story always has to come first, and the details of all that research are really just helpful decoration. If writers get a few details wrong, I think most readers will forgive them if the story is right on. If something has been changed, or poetic license taken, it’s always good to mention in the author’s note.
Looking forward to the next post.
Cheers!
Great tip about the author’s note, Adam.
And good point about putting in too much detail, which is the flip-side of research. I think we’ve all read books where the detail is so overwhelming that it completely eclipses the story and the book becomes quite boring. It’s such a fine line.
I guess I am old school.
I have no idea why talking for opinion, interview is classified as research.
It is for the domain of investigation ?
Other publication reference is research.
Otherwise one relies on analogy, “borrowing from other subjects”, misunderstandings in foreign language, etc.
The easiest way to do this is visually, from visual sources.