When I was a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon, that’s what we called the doctoral level courses that weren’t really courses. Every semester, a supported graduate student was supposed to be registered for 36 units, i.e. 3 classes, but toward the end of the program we’d just be working on our dissertations, sometimes not talking any actual classes. “Reading and Research” was the fill-in term for “I’ve gone beyond coursework and am doing my own thing now.”
Ironically, I’m doing a lot more research as an author than I ever did as a grad student. And it’s more fun, honestly, probably because there is no pressure to impress the resident experts. I can just learn for my own enjoyment and betterment, and to hopefully make better art.
Lately, I’ve been bugging knowledgeable chemists and environmental activists about certain topics organic chemistry. Without giving away spoilers, let’s just say that the villains in my second novel have nefarious plans that involve hazardous materials.
Research for writing is different than scientific research, thankfully. If I were a chemistry student, I would be completely absorbed in these topics, trying to become an expert. But as a writer, my task is easier. I only have to sound like an expert, and only for a few pages.
The measure for whether I’ve done enough research: I want chemists who read the book to not shake their heads at how far off I am, and I want everyone else to wonder if maybe I’m an actual chemist.
The other topic I’m trying to research is Seneca traditions surrounding death and the dying. One of the new heroes in the book is a Seneca woman who is a local science teacher and old friend of the main character’s family, and I suspect she and her family will be fan favorites down the road.
It turns out this is a more difficult topic to research, as every indigenous person I’ve asked has been reluctant to talk to me about it, some of them totally ghosting me upon realizing I’m not indigenous. I guess they don’t trust me to portray things positively and accurately, or maybe would prefer I not write about them at all.
That won’t stop me, of course. It’s ridiculous to suggest you have to belong to a demographic to write about it or create a character from it. Imagine for a moment: Shakespeare being told he should only write stories about English people. Tom Clancy being told his novels are trash because he’s not Russian and shouldn’t write Russians.
Ironically, this only lays bare the importance of doing as much research as possible, as best as I can with whatever resources I can find. I may have to settle for reading a handful of online resources, but if that’s all I have to work with, then it’ll have to do.
It comes down to trusting myself, which is kind of how it always is in writing. Because I’m not an expert on writing, nor am I an expert in most of the topics I write about. I trust myself to fill in the blanks as much as I can with research. I trust my imagination to fill in the rest. I trust that my intent will be clear in the final result. And most importantly, I trust in my ability to spin all of that into a good story.