Mary De Gruttola
© Mary De Gruttola 2020
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Researching
Chapter 2 Taking stock of your skills and possibilities
Chapter 3 Storing information
Chapter 4 Sources
Chapter 5 Maps
Chapter 6 Researching a painting
Chapter 7 Visiting a museum online
Chapter 8 Diaries: digital and not digital
Chapter 1 Researching
Skills
As writers, we have to have a lot of skills.
Many people believe writers are born with the talent of writing. This is not true. No one is born a writer. We learn our writing skills one at a time, and we put a lot of effort into our work.
►Yes, some people are more talented than others.
►Yes, some people have more imagination than others.
Writing, however, is much more than talent and imagination. Writing is about being able to take a story we can see, and smell in our own mind and put it back together for another person. Writing is all about showing, not telling.
Unless we have the skills to “show” the story, our novel will not interest the readers. It doesn’t matter how talented we are, writing is not easy if we don’t have the right skills.
The bottom line is: We are not born with skills, we learn them.
Write about what you know
One of the first rules in writing is “Write about what you know.” This makes sense. How can you show someone a scene, when you have no idea what it looks like?
Think about that Indian story where blind men try to describe an elephant-which, of course, they cannot see. They each describe what they believe an elephant looks like, and they each describe something totally different. The descriptions these blind men put together do not total up to an elephant.
Let’s face it! If we don’t know something, we cannot show it.
Research skills are very important for writers. They are as important as learning how to put words together, and using the spell check.
Writers often refer to the storyboard as the skeleton of the manuscript. Because this is where it all begins. The storyboard is the point where the writer has to come to terms with what he or she wants to communicate. If the storyboard is the skeleton of a novel, then research skills are its muscles. They hold everything together.
Of course, the first things that come to mind when you hear “Research Skills” are old documents, history books, diaries, and maps. Yes, to some degree they are certainly part of the research—especially if you are doing Historical Research. It would be unfair, however, to simply reduce research skills to this basic and dusty form.
Researching any period of time, for your novel, can become a fantastic journey into uncharted territories. . . . which you want to turn into something as familiar as your backyard.
Yes, I know. It is easier said than done.
A writer’s research skill is not necessarily about history. Writers also have to research techniques, locations, opinions, science, inventions, local color—”you name it, you got it!”
We are in the 3rd Millennium, use the tons of fantastic techniques available.
If you don’t know how to use one of the wonderful techniques that are at our fingertips, follow a free tutorial on Internet. If it is still not clear enough, ask someone. People love sharing knowledge with other people.
We have to realize that the information we need will not drop on us from outer space. In other words, we have to invest a lot of effort.
Writers are all alike! Our novels are all-consuming. We float through the day with only one thought in mind: the novel. We get to the point where the only important thing in our lives is how to put the story down on “paper”, and one day seeing a reader totally engrossed in our novel.
So, we learn the skills and we do the research. Sometimes, we acquire the skills “on-the-job” and sometimes we actually have to sit down and learn them. Because our developing novel is so all-consuming, we often learn our skills in stride. These skills are tools. They are the means of obtaining information we want to weave into our story. This is why research skills are valuable tools.
Skills are valuable, too.
It’s true. Very often we consider our research skills as secondary as compared to the novel itself. They may be there to serve us, but don’t look down on them. They are hidden treasures that overflow in the rest of your life.
How to work with this research book
- Read the book through once for general knowledge
- Set up your PC to digitally store and find information easily.
- Keep in mind that some things cannot be digitally stored. If it can be scanned great—but not all things can be scanned either.
- Read the book a second time for specific knowledge.
- Choose the chapter on which you want to concentrate. The choice is up to you. The important thing is to concentrate on one “project” at a time.
- Give yourself a reasonable time limit. If you are reading this, then you are already working on a book or at least have one in mind. Don’t expect to do everything in a weekend or even a week.
Chapter 2 Taking Stock of your skills and possibilities
As a writer you already have many skills. At first glance you may not think so, but you do. If you learned these skills on-the-job, you probably didn’t even realize you were learning them.
Step 1. The haves and the have nots.
- Make a list of the skills you have.
- Make a list of the skills you don’t have, but that you know you should have. EX. Getting the most out of Internet, various communication tools like Zoom, What’s App, to name just a few.
The key message here is: Many people use these techniques, but are not “getting the most out of” them.
Step 2. Do you have skills? Of course, you do. The following list are skills that can be used when doing research for both historical and non-historical novels.
- Working with different sources. Not all sources are equal in importance.
- Obtaining information from these sources that range from dusty old diaries to technical reports.
- Evaluating these sources
- Reading and extracting information from official documents
- Understanding maps
- Storing data correctly and efficiently.
- Using the Internet etc as tools.
- Doing Internet research and evaluation
- Attending conferences in person or via Internet and getting the most out of them
- Long distance research
- Visiting museums or exhibits in person and via Internet.
- Using oral history
- Interviewing people for oral history.
To give you an idea, here is an example on how all those skills can be used in a non-historical novel:
John wants to write a novel about a Viet Nam veteran. If you ask him, what his novel is all about he’ll say, “It’s a character-driven novel. William, a young man from Brooklyn is sent to Viet Nam in the late 1960s. When he comes home, he is suffering from serious post-traumatic stress disorders and other war-related traumas.” John, our writer, wasn’t even born during the Viet Nam war and is not particularly into military life or dates. He is, however, very interested in psychology which means that he probably already has more than a passing knowledge of words like “trauma” and “stress disorders”. He may be writing about William at the age of 50, but his character’s problems are steeped in what happened to him as a young man of 20. If John doesn’t understand what William actually went through, then he is unable to write his novel. In other words, if John wants to correctly bring across William’s psychological problems, then he needs to research the Viet Nam Era.
Oops, you say! That’s Historical Research! Yes, it is, but he is not writing a historical novel. He is using it as a tool to transform William into a character the reader will find plausible.
So, what would he have to research? Here is an idea of what his research plan might look like:
- Background information on the war: biographies, memoires, text books, military poetry. Evaluate Sources
- Internet: dates, memoires, pictures, contacts, lists, anecdotes. Evaluate Sources
- Films and documentaries: Watch them objectively. Compare with other sources and evaluate.
- Use maps to visualize locations
- Visit –in person or via Internet— the Vietnam Veteran Memorial in Washington D.C: or maybe the one in Weatherford, Texas. The latter might not be as well known, but nonetheless very interesting. Take pictures. Research website
- Oral history: The Library of Congress, the local VA Chapter
Chapter 3 Storing information
This is an important chapter because, if you have made all that effort to set up a valid background research, it is important to be able to find the information when you need it.
For those of us who live in a paperless world, storing information digitally and correctly is second nature. And yet, for the great majority of people who are on laptops, iPhones, and social media all day long, the idea of storing information starts and ends at “save as”. Everything gets dumped in Document. There is also a third category, who accept they are not savvy at all, and have no idea how to even begin.
Storing according to the 3-E method
- Easy to save
- Easy to find
- Easy to reuse
Whatever system you opt for, be sure that it fulfills all three of these requirements.
Great, so where do we go from here?
Let’s start with the third group: those who know they are not savvy at all and lack confidence in their digital knowledge. Community centers offer fantastic courses for free or at low cost. Check these out and get yourself a solid base. Talk to friends and ask them for help. Soon you will be at the level of the second group. Your advantage is that you don’t think you already know it all.
Then there is the second group. These are the ones who feel super comfortable on computers, iPhones and social media. . . . but storing and organizing according to the 3-E method is blurry to say the least. Your advantage is that you know how to look things up.
Most websites out there are trying to sell you stuff. That’s true. What is equally true is that they all offer some pretty good tips—for free. I have indicated a few below, I am sure, you will find interesting. Please note they are not in any order of preferences nor are they the only ones online.
Do not feel forced to follow one method or the other. Nothing stops you from putting together a plan that is just right for you based on the information you come across.
Some helpful websites
10 Best practices for Organizing Digital Files ~ Technology tidyyourtime.com
A Step-by-Step Guide to Organizing Your Digital Files loveandspreadsheets.com
The Most Effective Way of Organizing Your Files and Folders asianeefficienncy.com
How to Organize Your Computer and Digital Documents computerorganizing.com
Go Paperless With a Digital Filing System – Techlicious techlicious.com
Chapter 4 Sources
A Source is where you get your information and there are only two types of sources:
►Primary
►Secondary
The Primary Source
A simple definition of a primary source is: first-hand information.
If John wants to really understand not only how a young veteran suffering from PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) feels, how he feels 30 years later, but also how he coped with this condition in-between, he will want to speak to someone who has gone through this.
Primary Sources does not necessarily mean personally talking to someone who has lived through an experience, it can have other forms:
Dairies.
Filmed interviews
Memoires
Secondary Sources
A simple definition of a secondary source is: indirect information. It doesn’t come from someone who lived through the experience. It can be:
Textbooks
Newspaper articles
Online articles
The main thing to remember about all sources. . . .whether they are primary or secondary. . . . is that you need to evaluate them carefully and sometimes compare them. You might want to set up an Evaluation Template.
What do you evaluate?
Name of author
Author’s criteria
Date of publication/issue/writing
Origin (Website, book, newspaper, interview)
Purpose
Organization and content
Illustrations
How partial or impartial is it?
What type of audience is it geared to?
Links/sources/bibliography
How accurate was the information?
Your comments/reactions
Where the information is stored
The Evaluation/Recording Template
Another template you might like to set up is what I call the Evaluation/Recording template which can be used to record and evaluate (at the same time) interviews, oral histories.
The handling of an interview or other oral histories is a course in itself. It is more interesting, but also more difficult than the researches you will do.
Yes, it is a Primary Source, and do try to get one whenever you can. It’s more interesting because it’s more tangible. It’s the real thing. You end up with valid documentation such as photographs, print material, films audio recordings that you could very well not find in any book or on Internet and which will make you novel more interesting.
It is more difficult because you need to pay twice as much attention as you would to a normal conversation. In fact, that is what you need to remember at all times. It is not a normal conversation. It is a person willing to share with you some authentic and sometimes a very personal experience with you… which they might never have done with anyone else.
Chapter 5 Maps
Ah! I can already hear you saying, “This one is easy. All I have to do is go to Google Maps.
Google Maps is an absolutely fantastic tool for writers, especially when they are writing about distant places. Choose any place on earth and you can zoom in on the area. Google Maps are not always able to offer the same facilities from one area to the other based on the laws of the countries. In many cases you can “walk around” in the cities.
Google Maps is great, but will not, however, answer all your questions, and in that case you will have to do a separate research on Internet. . . .or maybe in books.
There used to be another interesting website, an online National Atlas maintained by the US government, but it was removed in 2014. Their previous services and products are still available although they have been distributed to other governmental websites. More information can be found on the USGS National Geospatial Program website.
There are many different kinds of maps available whether you are working online or offline. The following chart will give you an idea:
| Road Maps | Tells us how to get from one place to the other. |
| Physical Maps | Gives us mountains, rivers, lakes, oceans, and other permanent geographic features |
| Climate Maps | Indicates general information about the climate in an area. Ex. Amount of rain and/or snow. |
| Historical Maps | Maps made to illustrate past geographical situations or events. |
| Political Maps | Shows major countries of the world with their capitals and boundaries. These reference maps are used throughout the world mounted on the walls of classrooms. |
| Topographic Maps | Uses contour lines to show elevation. |
| Economic Maps | Indicates an area’s natural resources and economic activity. |
| Aerial Maps | Shows an area as seen from the air (plane or balloon). |
| Satellite Maps | Pictures taken by satellites. |
| City/Utility Maps | Shows a city’s sewers, water mains, manholes, subway systems, natural gas pipes , etc. |
Chapter 6 Researching a painting
Can a painting be a source for a writer? Absolutely!
If we want to use a painting as a source, then we need to treat it as a source. All sources. . . . primary or secondary. . . .have to be checked. Never assume that something is true. How accurate is it? How objective was the painter?
Are all paintings primary sources?
Yes and no. It all depends on the painting, and also on the context.
Let’s take Salvatore Dali as an example. If you were writing a biography on Dali, his paintings would be good primary sources.
They certainly would not be good sources for the writer whose novel takes place in a 16th century village. On the other hand, this painting painted by Peter Bruegel the Elder in 1567, would be both a good source and a treasure trove in itself.
Peter Bruegel the Elder in 1567 – The Peasant Wedding
Reading or analyzing a painting?
A writer, who is researching background information for his or her novel is not interested in analyzing the painting. Analyzing a painting is all about techniques, composition, perspective, and school, and that type of information is of no interest to the researching writer.
What will interest this writer is Reading the painting. Ah! That’s different! So, how do you read a painting?
At first glance you will see that the amount of information in this painting is overwhelming.
The best thing to do is to print it out and cut it up in about eight equal parts. You are wondering why with all the technical possibilities we have on hand do we want to make a hard copy. It will help you to concentrate.
You can enlarge the painting on your PC as much as you want , but by having a hard copy of that little part that you want to study, you’ll take in a lot of the details.
You might even notice that mysterious extra foot under the load of dishes being carried by the two men. Hmmm!
Visualize the scene
Using your 5 senses as you explore the painting will help you write.
Hear the bagpipes.
Smell the beer
Looks like the men in the foreground are bringing in soup. What would it taste like?
Look at objects as if you were really there.
How does the wood the benches are made of feel?
Chapter 7 Visiting a museum online
There are only two ways to visit a museum, go to a conference, or an interview:
The first is to go in cold without any preparation and leave not knowing what you saw or did. It’s ok to get out of the rain—and even in that case, I am not too certain.
The second is to prepare your visit. Go in knowing what you want. All researchers will tell you that this is the only way you do it.
In a nutshell, NEVER go in cold. This is valid for a conference, a museum (online or not), or an interview. Always prepare in advance.
There are three parts to this visit:
- The preparation
Make a list of what you need to know.
If like John in Chapter 2, you are researching background information on the Viet Nam War—don’t go to a WW2 conference or a museum.
Prepare a list of questions and narrow down the questions you want to ask.
These questions are on what you are going to concentrate.
It is possible that the conference, museum or interview you are going to, will only cover one single aspect of what you need. That’s ok. Better a quarter of something than a half of nothing.
If it is a conference know something about the subject beforehand. The same thing goes for the speaker: name and something about him or her. Come back with as much information as you can.
If it is a museum, maybe you can set up a meeting with someone from the “Friends of” association. Not only do these people know a lot about the museum, but they tend to go all out when they find another interested person.
If it is an interview—PLEASE do some background research on the person beforehand.
- The visit itself
Be on time.
If you have prepared everything beforehand it will flow beautifully.
- The follow up
Be sure to thank the person who has helped you and perhaps even send a thank you email.
Keep the door open.
Know the person’s name and how to reach him or her, in case you have further questions.
And that’s it!
Chapter 8 Diaries: digital or not digital
As a researcher, you need to keep a diary. It doesn’t matter if it is digital or not—as long as you keep one.
I won’t give you any tips on how to keep your research diary. Why? Because we each have our own way of doing this.
What I will do, is give you a list of reason why you absolutely need to keep a research diary. These reasons will be enough for you to find the best way for you.
Reasons why a researching writer needs to keep a diary:
First of all, what should go into your research diary? Well, pretty much everything that concerns your research.
It’s a diary, not a note pad. This means you should record what you have done on a daily basis. And if you haven’t done anything towards your research on a particular day —- you still need to make an entry. It keeps you connected to your novel. Sometimes the entry will be long and sometimes it will be short.
What have you done today?
Went to a conference: notes, conversations, contacts you made
Visited a museum
Met people: what did they say, contact numbers, scheduled follow ups.
Read a book or maybe watched a video.
What information did you get out of it.
Last but not least, write down and plan a follow up on all ideas that pop into
your head during the day.
Your opinions about: what you read, saw, heard.
Additional questions.
WHY ARE YOU DOING ALL OF THIS?
It helps you keep a history of your research on a day-to-day basis
It helps you maintain your writing habit. Oh yes, it is a habit and it has to be maintained. There are a thousand things going on around you and they are all asking for your attention. So, you’re tempted to put the writing on the side for a while. You do that, I guarantee you lose the “roll” you were on.
It will keep you organized.
Above all remember this. It is your diary. You don’t need to share it with anybody. Write down things as you saw them.
And keep on writing.
The Joys of Writing 