Research, Research, Research.

I've been writing since I was twelve, and in the nine years since then, I've gained a lot of knowledge about how to find helpful resources for research, something critical for a writer in every genre. From websites to Tumblr blogs to YouTube channels, information for writers is everywhere, you just need to know what to look for and where to look for it.

Research For Representation:

As you may or may not know, I am a type 1 diabetic, and in the few times I see a diabetic represented in a book, it feels off. The writing may be accurate in terms of medical terminology and the physiological problems, but the character will still act and speak in such a formal manner that a real diabetic never would. I commend non-diabetic authors for doing their research and learning about the mechanics of diabetes, but it is really obvious in most cases that they’ve never spoken to a diabetic before. In my opinion, unconventional research methods are far better than reading medical journals or Mayo Clinic articles. Reading the r/type1diabetes thread on Reddit, reading Tumblr blogs, listening to podcasts by diabetics like Talking Type 1, and of course speaking to real diabetics, are better research alternatives.

I apply this research method myself when I want to write a character of color or a character apart of the LGBTQ+ community. Now, I’m a straight cis white woman, so I’m not going to speak too much on what are good resources to learn about how to provide good representation for other minority groups, but I believe that reading articles or journals won’t be as accurate as hearing from actual people. This may seem like a no brainer, but when you’re taught how to conduct research in school, it’s beaten into you that you have to site your sources and use written documentation to make your point. That’s great for an essay, but if you want your character to feel real, rely on the experiences and knowledge of real people. Of course, there are great articles and more traditional resources for research out there (non-profit organization websites for social movements are a good resource), but like I said, to me all the information it provides comes off as impersonal, and I never feel like I learn much from them. For a character I wrote back in my fanfiction days that practiced the Hindu religion, I poured over dozens of articles, interviews, and journals to try to learn how to write accurate representation for him, but I still felt lost. Then I reached out to another writer who lived in India and had practised Hinduism her whole life. She helped me far better than all the research I had done previously, and I had readers who also practiced Hinduism comment on my accuracy. No article will tell you what it’s like to actually live with type 1, nor will it with any other minority group. Traditional research methods give you facts, but only people can give you truth.

I highly recommend checking out the WritingWithColor Tumblr blog (a blog made by POC to help writers with representation). YouTube critics that review social trends, movies, and tv shows like FriendlySpaceNinja, Kennie J.D., Jarvis Johnson, and Chad Chad are also great resources. Apart from Chad Chad, they’re all POC and not only critique the story structure and writing of different media, but critique the representation of minorities and women, addressing misconceptions and stereotypes. Channels like Jubilee are a great resource; watching people of the same or opposing viewpoints discuss their experiences is so insightful. Don’t even get me started on podcasts: The BCC Club, Violating Community Guidelines, Sad Boyz, We’re All Insane, and The Bald and the Beautiful podcast have all been great help to me in the past. You shouldn’t underestimate the power of Reddit or Quora either, because as someone who's apart of the r/diabetes group, I can assure you that real diabetics go there to complain and vent about the struggles of being chronically ill, and I can only assume the discussions in groups like r/lgbt or r/blackpeople have accurate info being shared as well.

Research For Writing Techniques:

Story Telling:

The best writers in history never studied writing in school or did a profession that allowed them to hone their skills, and some of the best books ever written defy the lessons taught in creative writing classes. The truth is, there is no right way to write. What makes writing, and all art forms, so extraordinary is that it comes from the heart, from your creativity, and individuality. One writer’s methods doesn’t have to be yours. Now, I know that seeing or hearing about other people’s methods and techniques can help you craft your own, so I have some resources that I used in that context.

Something to keep in mind: People talking about how to write in mediums besides books (I.E. movies or tv shows) still provide valuable lessons and advice that you can use in your books. I’ve learned so much from YouTube channels like JustWrite, The Closer Look, Now You See It, & The Take, all of which cover writing and story structure in movies and shows. Don’t dismiss their value because they’re focused on a different media type.

I also recommend listening to published authors in interviews. You have no idea how much inspiration and lessons I gained from watching Sarah J Maas, Cassandra Clare, Alexandra Bracken, and other writers being interviewed during book tours.

You’d also be surprised how much you can learn by watching a movie or show with bad writing, and I don’t just mean dialogue. For example, there’s a show I binged in high school called Roswell (alien romance, right up my alley) and the second and third seasons made narrative decisions that frustrated me to no end. So you know what I did? I wrote down how I would fix it if I were in the writer’s room. It not only felt cathartic, but it was a great exercise in story crafting. And obviously you can learn a lot from great storytelling in books, movies, and shows. Some of the best storytelling in my opinion can be found in The Good Place (show), S1-6 of Game of Thrones (show) Ever After: A Cinderella Story (movie), S1-6 of Once Upon A Time (show), Megamind (movie), The Hunger Games (books), Six of Crows (books), The Folk of the Air (books), and The Firebird Trilogy (books).

Dialogue:

If you want to learn about writing dialogue specifically, I always recommend watching anything written by Quinten Tarantino, James Gunn, and Amy Sherman Palladino. For authors, I learned a lot about writing dialogue from Cassandra Clare, Neil Gaiman, Stephen Fry, Katherine Macdonald, and Ruby Dixon. And just like with bad storytelling, you can learn a lot from bad dialogue. We all have books where the dialogue was so bad we cringe just thinking about it; ask yourself why that is. How would you change it? And when in doubt, say your dialogue out loud. A word of advice: You don’t have to be 100% gramattically correct with your external and internal dialogue; no real human talks so formally. Just because your English teacher would mark you down for it doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

Descriptions:

I’m someone that doesn’t really care about descriptions when I read. When I pick up the book, I decide for myself how everyone and everything looks and ignore the text. But as a writer, I’m pretty descriptive, so I understand being conflicted on how descriptive you should be for your book. That was something I figured out by trial and error, experimenting with different styles and what-not. If you’re looking for examples of good descriptions so that you can decide what you want to do with your own descriptions, I recommend reading Sarah J Maas, Tahereh Mafi, Renee Ahdieh, Katherine Macdonald, and Tiffany Roberts.

Always remember that art is subjective, so something revered for it’s storytelling or dialogue may seem terrible to you, and something that everyone hates may be your new favorite story. There are people out there with YouTube channels, blogs, and English degrees that dedicate their time and energy telling you the dos and don’ts of writing, but you get to decide how much of that advice you take and how much you discard. You are in charge of your writing and your story.

Research For When You Have A Lawyer Character But You Never Went to Law School:

In terms of researching about the Revolutionary War or how to perform brain surgery because your character is a surgeon, that’s when traditional research is where you should go. Medical journals and Google Scholar are your friends in these instances. But, there are still alternative research methods I find helpful. There’s great documentaries on HBO Max, Netflix, Hulu, and Disney +. There’s also YouTube channels with incredible documentaries, especially for history. Timeline, National Geographic, and History Channel are great. There are also a lot of magazines that have pretty resourceful YouTube channels. Wired, GQ, Vanity Fair, and Insider all have videos of some capacity where a person from a certain profession explains the ins and outs of their job or have that person critique movie characters with their job. I’ve learned so much from hearing an astronaut nit pick space movies or a lawyer watch Legally Blonde. Crash Course is one of the greatest gifts of YouTube and of the world, as is Ted-Ed. Just make sure you check that the source is a viable one. Don’t rely on some dude from TikTok to learn about linguistic anthropology for your character.

Research for Character Names and/or Descriptions:

Baby name websites and Pinterest for character names. For descriptions, search up actors in the age range of your character to figure out what they look like. An actor will stick out to you and you’ll have the epiphany that your character looks like that person or a mix between a couple people. It’s a trick I learned during my fanfiction days when you had to use a faceclaim. I figure out pieces of my character’s personality and see what celebrity’s face captures those attributes.