If you thought research was only for high school term papers, boy are you wrong! Even if you are writing your autobiography, you still need to do research. Why? Because your autobiography needs facts. You may need to research family records or ask your grandmother for information (yes, an interview is considered research). According to the Oxford dictionary, research means to (v) investigate systematically or (n) the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.
However, research doesn’t need to be so harrowing as it was in high school or college. Doing research for your book should be fun. My novella, Eliza Jane, is set in Victorian London. An era I’ve always been fascinated with and to do justice to my book, I needed to do research. I enjoyed it and (probably) bored my family with all the ‘fun facts’ I learned. I admit I did more research than needed because I got caught up in learning.
Whether fiction or nonfiction, you want your story to be as realistic and factual as possible. You want your readers to see you invested time into your book. You want your readers to know you care about what you are writing. You want your readers to come back for more.
Don’t be afraid of research. Remember, it’s your topic you are researching and not something a teacher is telling you to research. So dive in and enjoy!!
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