Fi Phillips

Research is an issue that scares a lot of writers. For others, it can gobble up their (writing) time. Novelist Cesca Major discusses how she researches her novels. Cesca Major discusses research for writers.

I write murder mystery plays for a living and often, especially for a customer commissioned play, I have to research certain topics. For instance, this year's three new plays have required me to research aerobics routines, theft from railway lines, secret societies, how to construct a shed, the sex change process, Star Wars merchandise, and literary fairies. I'm also working on a children's fantasy novel. To a lot of people, the fantasy genre doesn't merit the same need for research and hard facts. How can you possibly research a fantastical world of goblins and magic and flying cars? Isn't it all in the writer's imagination?  I think research still has a important role to play in this genre. Look at Tolkien, for instance, whose studies in language led to his creation of the Elven tongue in his novels. Ursula  K Le Guin researched real locations, often visiting them, as inspiration for places in her novels, such as the Earthsea trilogy. Personally, f...