Researching Fiction
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Researching Fiction |
| Creator: | CLS |
| Date(s): | 2001 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | Harry Potter |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | Researching Fiction |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Researching Fiction is an essay by CLS.
It was posted to FictionAlley in 2001.
It was posted in the "Primer" section:
The Primer is a constantly changing, constantly updated resource for fanfiction writers. It includes suggestions on how to improve your writing, ways to connect with other writers, and even a short history of the Harry Potter fandom. We're always open to submissions of well-written essays or other content, as this section is "by the authors, for the authors."
The Essay
"But, I'm writing fanfiction!" a writer might cry. "Why do I need to do research?"
That's a good question. Of course, if you write fanfiction for a completely made up universe, you can skip the research entirely, and perhaps should not bother with this article.
But if you write X-files or Buffy or Harry Potter fics, then you may end up writing about people and places from the "real" world. I write Harry Potter fanfiction and I will say that there are some very good HP fanfics in which the authors stick to people, places, and things from the original books without ever venturing into the "real" world. But, there are those of us who want to explore further than Hogwarts Castle... I'll give a few examples from some of my own stories a little later on.
Why do research?
There are a couple of good reasons to do research, both negative and positive.
First, the negative one: Don't piss off your reader. When a story contains irritating misspellings and grammatical errors, you lose the reader's attention. Instead of focusing on the terrific fight scene or the budding romance that you've worked so hard to create, the reader will be thinking about what a bonehead you are. Even if you get all the spelling and grammar right (that's what word processors do for you these days, after all), you can still lose the reader's attention by making factual mistakes. If you set your story in the 1960's, for example, and your hippie character has a cell phone, this will probably bother some readers enough to lose interest or question other parts of your story.
Second, a more positive reason: Create a convincing universe that pulls your reader in. If you can get past the don't-piss-off-the-reader stage, what you'd really like to do is take the reader away to some far-off land where s/he will get lost, wandering for hours in the universe that you've created. To my mind, that is when magic really happens in fiction. This can only occur when you as the writer have woven the details together so tightly that your readers are convinced of the reality of your world. Research helps, as does closing your eyes and tasting, smelling, hearing and touching the world of your story.
Example- A Tale of a Motorcycle
I wrote two stories, both Harry Potter fanfiction, that had to do with a character called Sirius Black, a minor character in the Harry Potter books, but one who fascinated me. In the original books, it's stated that Sirius Black had a large black flying motorcycle that he loved. Nothing more. I wrote first one story (Fallen) and then another (Black Shadow) centered around this motorcycle, even though I have never ridden a motorcycle nor do I know much about them.
I knew that I would need help with the details. The first avenue for research that I followed was to ask a friend who knew a lot about motorcycles. My friend owns several bikes and restores them. He is the sort of person who gets obsessive about his hobbies: this is exactly the person you need to help with your research.
After he read a draft of the first story, my friend suggested a very specific motorcycle--a rare and valuable collector's item that was nonetheless considered fast and dangerous. As the character who owns the motorcycle in the story likes to take chances, this seemed like a good match. My friend continued to give me lots of details about the motorcycle: how it handled, how it felt to ride it, etc.
Next, I went to the internet and did a search on this particular make and model of motorcycle. I was in luck and found several very good websites. One had the history and technical specifications of this particular motorcycle. Several other web sites had pictures of this type of motorcycle. These were invaluable! I printed them out and stared at them for hours, trying to see what my characters saw when they looked at the motorcycle.
Finally, facts are dry by themselves. Weaving them together with your imagination is what makes magic. In this example, I took information about the motorcycle (the fact that its brakes were touchy, the fact that the engine speed was low, the fact that it was hard to control) and tried to imagine what it would feel like to ride it and, more importantly, how my character would feel when he rode it.
The motorcycle became central to the story, so it was very important to get the details right. I was most gratified when people who had actually ridden motorcycles told me that the story accurately conveyed what it would be like to ride one. I really wanted my readers to feel this and it wouldn't have been possible without doing the research!