The Importance of Research

Creating Realistic Fantasy

Developing believable characters is an important part of my motivation as a writer. In order to do that, I must give serious consideration to their surroundings and situations so that my readers will be able to relate and connect. Some of the details I have to contemplate include behaviors and activities specific to the character’s jobs, where they live, and activities they participate in. Having grown up in Michigan, I am most familiar with the Midwest, so that’s where my characters have lived as well. While I have featured descriptions of the Lansing area, Grand Ledge, Flint, Grand Blanc, and Metro Detroit as backdrops, I haven’t always named the actual cities in my novels. Use of historical facts or well known monuments can also play a huge role is creating scenes that inspire the mood and vision for the reader.

Some of my research is to confirm the accuracy of information that I know and want to use, other times it’s to correct myself when I’m wrong or uncertain, but most times it’s to learn more about what I need to make my scenes realistic and build my plot. Most of my criminal characters require me to brush up on aspects of the legal system. In Captive Hearts, I used actual maps to create and document the route taken by the characters on their manhunt; I also had to learn about the FBI and equipment they use. For Ruse in Renata I had to brush up on real estate, my computer/IT knowledge, and information on Caribbean weather tendencies. Devil’s Advocate took me on a journey through the then current NFL scheduling procedure and rules for players on the injured reserve list.

Research is necessary for a successful story, but not always intentional. On multiple occasions I have stumbled onto real life situations that gave credibility to fictional events that I was creating. One of them was while writing Devil’s Advocate when I accidentally discovered that Rod Woodson’s catastrophic injury in 1995 was similar to the situation I had already created for my character Tristan Hart. Another realization occurred while writing the original manuscript for Return of My Adonis, when I heard a story on the national news about a couple whose experience was similar to what my characters Tiffany and Brandon are challenged with.

Research is usually not the most fun part of writing, and at times it can be quite frustrating to find verification of a specific fact that you need, but it is without question one of the most important things a writer does. For me, creativity without believability is meaningless. Take the time to build the frame of your work with care so that the end result stands on a strong foundation.