People are always interested in how writers work. How do I do my research and how do I organize my writing? Let’s take a look at my process.
First of all, I do most of my research on the internet. Sometimes, if I have a particularly interesting setting, or one I’m using often, I’ll pay a quick visit so I can get the overall feel of the place. Usually, I’m fine with “Googling” it. You can learn a lot with Google, from maps of a city to ground-level photographs of each building.
I also look up things like foreign words that I can “translate” into velyr language (I use a lot of Arabic). And then there are the last-minute “I didn’t realize I’d need to know this bit” researches. You never know what will come up as you write, and I’ve often found myself double-checking to be sure a certain word was actually used in the time period I’m writing about, what fashion was like in that era, and even whether or not giraffes make noise. Google is great for those little tidbits that make your story more realistic.
As to organization, I use a software program called Scrivener. Not only can you write your novel using the program, but you can store and organize all of your research. It’s got a research section where you can type anything you’ve discovered–or even import a website so you can navigate back whenever you need to. You can fill out a character chart (and add anything you need to that chart) and rearrange the order of your research depending on what you feel is most important at the time.
So that’s my take on research and organization. Maybe you use a different system. So long as it works for you, stick with it. If you’re having trouble keeping up with your research, though, you might take a look at Scrivener and see if it’d work better.
