Research

It’s a common dictum that you should write what you know, but as historical novelists understand, your knowledge base is not limited to your life experience. You can learn. You can research. To do it right, you need to research both deeply and broadly, so that your knowledge is as rich and idiosyncratic as if your material were something you had lived.

Three tips for those with research to do:

1. Avoid the rabbit hole. Many writers, once they get on the research jag, find they get lost in it and it detracts from their writing. To start, do enough research to jumpstart your imagination, then lay off, and only research when you need specific info or more inspiration.

2. Read the paper. Read historic newspapers for specific dates that interest you, and read them in their entirety, including the ads. You’ll pick up as much or more from the society column or the hat ads as you will from the international headlines.

3. Avoid a review of basic or even lesser known historical facts that establish the background of what you're writing about. You don’t need to teach the reader of all the facts leading up to Kristalnacht to write a terrifying and vivid account of one girl’s experience of it. Unless your character knows all that, it's likely a narrative distraction as well as a point of view error. Instead, go deep on meaningful, specific and highly particular details: the way a street is paved, the way a lock is constructed, the fluctuation in the price of bread in an inflationary period.

Bonus point for writers of middle-grade works: do consider, if relevant, touching on material covered in the Common Core. Course adoption is one avenue toward bestsellerdom.