Doing Your Research The story and characters are arguably the
most important parts of a novel. However, research is just as
important. Getting indisputable facts wrong can jolt readers
from the narrative, no matter how well written. Initially, your
approach should be similar to writing a research paper. Decide
what you want to write about and what you need to know to write
about it. The big difference is that when you write a novel you
may need to do more than one research project, depending on
where you’re going with the story. Historical novels are in some
ways the most challenging. You don’t want to inform your readers
that George Washington invented the light bulb. Careful research
is required to make sure references you make for a particular
time period are accurate. Writing a mystery or crime novel
requires a slightly different approach to research. When you get
into crime-related or forensics topics, research is especially
important. Even those who only occasionally glance at some of
the seemingly endl