by Heidi Hunter
Research is one of the most powerful tools in a novelist’s toolbox, helping your story feel authentic, your characters believable, and your world fully realized. It’s also easy to get stuck. Whether you’re writing historical fiction, a contemporary mystery, or something speculative, the sheer volume of resources available can be overwhelming.
Here are ways to approach research that keep it fun, informative, and focused, enhancing your story without derailing your writing.
Every novel starts with a quest for knowledge. Whether you’re exploring a distant past, an imagined future, or a specific subculture, immersing yourself in your story’s world is essential. Start broad: books, articles, and reliable online resources are invaluable. The library is your ally, and the internet is your treasure trove.
For my time-travel short mystery, set at a lavish 1930s party, I researched fashion, jewelry, wallpaper, and furniture. I didn’t need to become a 1930s expert, but I provide just enough detail to make the setting feel immersive and believable. That story, “No Honor Among Thieves”, appeared in the Crime Travel anthology.
This kind of research grounds your story without turning it into a history textbook. The lesson? Start broad, then focus on the specific elements that will bring your story to life.
As you gather information, remember this golden rule: be a sponge, not a Hoover. Writers often fall into the trap of overloading their manuscripts with every fact discovered.
I learned this firsthand while writing a mystery about alpacas. After hours of research on gestation, fleece production, diet, and behavior, I stuffed it all into the story. The result? A story that read more like a research paper than a short story.
During revisions, I pared it down to essentials: alpacas can kick and spit. Those details mattered; the rest didn’t. The story, “Killer Alpaca”, was published in A Murder of Crows anthology.
Sprinkle authentic details throughout your story to enhance the reader’s experience, but avoid overwhelming them with data.
Talking to people who live the experience is often more valuable than any online search. For a crime novel, I consulted my brother, a law enforcement officer, who clarified investigation procedures I had misunderstood from TV shows.
For another project, I reached out to a poison expert I’d met at a writers’ conference. She not only answered my questions but helped me select the right toxin for the plot.
Interviews, emails, and social media can be excellent bridges to expertise. Just remember to credit your sources when possible.
Experiencing an activity firsthand adds richness to your writing. If your character bakes bread, take a class. If they’re a trapeze artist, try aerial skills yourself (like I did!). Experiencing the action adds sensory and emotional depth to your narrative.
For a hypnosis scene in my crime novel, I attended a course on weight-loss self-hypnosis. Observing the hypnotist’s voice patterns, the environment, and my own reactions gave me insights I couldn’t have learned from reading alone, details that will enrich the fictional experience for readers.
Going hands-on is fun, and you learn new skills.
Field trips, whether in person or virtual, help capture a location authentically. Visit historical sites if you’re writing a historical mystery, explore Google Earth to get a sense of the geography where your story takes place, and watch people’s travel videos.
For a woodsy setting in my crime novel, I walked the trails in May (when it was set), noting the walking paths, lingering snow, types of trees, sounds, and smells. These details enriched the story, making it vivid and believable.
Bonus tip: Take plenty of photos and notes to refresh your memory when writing.
A growing pile of research can quickly become overwhelming. Whether you use digital folders, notebooks, or software like Scrivener, keep everything in one place. I store PDFs, emails, notes, links, and photos in the same folder as my story drafts. This organization saves time and prevents frustration during revisions.
The most important research skill? Knowing when you’ve done enough. Writers love to explore, but endless research can become procrastination. Ask yourself: Do I need this for the story? If the answer is no, move on. You can always pause mid-draft to verify a specific fact—but don’t let the pursuit of total accuracy keep you from making progress.
Final Thoughts
Research is an essential part of the writing journey, but it shouldn’t be a roadblock. Embrace it as an opportunity to learn something new, challenge your assumptions, and enrich your storytelling. With a thoughtful approach, your research will serve your story and allow you to craft narratives that feel real, immersive, and credible, without drowning in facts.
Heidi Hunter writes short mystery, crime, and horror fiction, drawing on her earlier career as a financial investigator specializing in Medicaid fraud and elder exploitation. A self-described “schemer and screamer,” she is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Short Mystery Fiction Society. Her work has appeared in anthologies and e-zines, including Crime Travel, Behind the Shadows, Wrong Turn, Rock and a Hard Place, and Mysterical-E. You can follow her publishing journey at hollyhyattauthor.wordpress.com
Heidi Hunter writes short mystery, crime, and horror fiction, drawing on her earlier career as a financial investigator specializing in Medicaid fraud and elder exploitation. A self-described “schemer and screamer,” she is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Short Mystery Fiction Society. Her work has appeared in anthologies and e-zines, including Crime Travel, Behind the Shadows, Wrong Turn, Rock and a Hard Place, and Mysterical-E. You can follow her publishing journey at hollyhyattauthor.wordpress.com
