Researching prior to writing sounds like common sense. Like how Robin Hobb said “If I want to write about a bee keeper, I am not a bee keeper. Therefore, I will do my research on bee keeping before writing about it.” But maybe someone who isn’t experienced in writing understands the depth of research needed, even for a fictional book. You’ll learn some facts, I promise!
The Facts
We start with a story idea. That can be: I want to write about Mars. It is obvious I will be writing about the red surface with no oceans.
However, did you know Mars has the tallest volcano in the solar system? Its name is Olympus Mons and is more than double the height of Everest, and spans about the size of Arizona. It is considered a dormant volcano because it hasn’t erupted in a long time, but not long enough to be considered extinct.
It is also a planet of dust storms and has very little protection from UV rays from the sun. This leaves it more barren and difficult to be on (aside from the fact its atmosphere is mainly carbon dioxide).
There is water on Mars, but instead of oceans, it is mainly found crystalized under the surface, usually as ice. However, just like Earth, it has polar ice caps. Mars has slowly lost its magnetic field over time, meaning atmospheric pressure dropped and most of Mars’ water sources either evaporated or is under the surface.
Alright, I am done with my science essay, now why was all of that necessary? Well, maybe I want to write about new life found on Mars, but actually keep a semi-realistic touch to my topic.
Now that I have my fun facts and research, I now decided I want to make a story about a huge city capital built on Mars, with the epicenter being Olympus Mons. I will now call this city “Mons”.
To someone interested in Mars and space would think that’s awesome. Someone who isn’t as interested can now learn about Olympus Mons in my story.
Over Complicating
Whoa… Are we taking this a little too far? Did we really need all that research? Do we have to include a real science fact to be the base of our story? No. You don’t have to. However, it’s sloppy to write about something you know very little to nothing about. It can make work appear ignorant, lazy, unnatural, and novice.
You wouldn’t write about childbirth without knowing a little bit of anatomy, right? Or are we going back to 2012 wattpad?
You don’t need to use these facts, but you should likely be prepared for someone to question your inspiration and decision making outside of your creativity.
Fictional Topics
“I don’t want to write about Mars. I want to write about my own fantasy land with fictional creatures and a magic system.”
Wonderful! What questions can we ask ourselves when writing our own magic system and fantasy creatures or land?
Are we tropical? What do we eat? What does the sky look like and why? Are we using established creatures like unicorns and goblins or do we want to create new fae? What is the base to our magic system? How does it work? Can anybody use it? How does it appear to others?
You have created your own topic to research. Maybe our fantasy setting has big bugs in place of other animals like horses or airplanes. Let’s research some bugs to find some inspiration.
Ants can carry 50x their body weight, making them a great replacement for train cars with their migration lines. Bees have something called the “Waggle dance”, which is how they communicate to other bees that they found food by flying in a figure 8. They would be great foragers and scouting inspiration for new creatures.
The nitty gritty would be “is it a dragon or a wyvern” based on how many legs you make the serpent have, just an FYI. This is a common argument among authors, and quite entertaining to watch.
Possibilities and Education is Endless
It is so fun to learn fun facts while doing your research. Everything I have written here, I have learned today through some quick research. Honestly, I learned some pretty cool and interesting fun facts. I may have had too much fun doing so, and feel free to take some of these research points for your own creative works.
I hope this was fun to read, and gave some insight about how much research really goes into your favorite works like Robin Hobb and Brandon Sanderson. Shout out to Ryan Cahill for talking about these points in your interview!
Have a blast writing everyone!
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