Yesterday, I shared some of the random facts I learned about Irish culture (and pseudo-Irish culture) in researching one of my characters. Call me weird, but I love research. I loved learning more about Ireland and its culture and language, as well as the other topics I had to learn about in writing my book (including the Catholic church and the FBI). (Oh, and having a brother. I had to research that, too—I only have sisters.)

My favorite resource for research is, of course, the Internet. Yeah, we’ve already talked about how cool the Internet is this week, and I’m sure you all know, so I don’t need to remind you—but man, that’s a lot of free resources.

However, I also read at least half a dozen books for research as well (some bought, some received as gifts and some from the library), and consulted several others. Crazy as it may sound, I also talked to actual people—a friend who’d lived in Ireland, a friend who had a brother. I had my work critiqued by people with intimate knowledge of the subjects.

Of course, we have to be careful—too much research and we might tend to try to cram it all in there, whether it furthers the plot & characters or not. (“You’ve really done your research, and it shows,” may or may not be a compliment 😉 .)

I think I’ve also been exceedingly lucky in doing my research—often, I discover something that inspires a scene or is a perfect fit for something I needed in my manuscript. Experiences like that could convert any writer to the research!

Do you like research? What’s your favorite source for research? What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned in researching one of your books? (Mine is how to build a certain kind of explosive device, which I do not have any intention of actually doing.)

Photo by Kate Andrews