Where To Start Your Research

Today's post is about how to start the research process. You have a plot and you have your characters all lined up. If this is your first attempt at writing a novel, there is a tendency to want to include everything. If your culture is well established in international literature, then your job at this point is to decide whether or not to follow the existing well-known format for a story, or to come up with your own. At the very least, you will have a general idea of what works and what does not. 

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If, however, you happen to be the first one to write about your people in a mainstream language, then you will have to make a lot of decisions blind. This is why it is critical that you already have a good reading habit. Your experience as a reader will be your guide as you write your story. Because if you can't know what does or does not work instinctively, then you will have to become extremely technical about it. Technical analysis takes a lot of energy out of the flow of your story. It is best to leave this part to a professional editor. 

One thing to keep in mind is that, the first readers of an indigenous story will be the locals themselves. This does bring its own challenges, in the sense that you will have to cater to local tastes. We will go in-depth on the topic for future videos. Today, we will only focus on where to start getting information.

Public Spaces

Start where you live. We tend to do things automatically especially in surroundings familiar to us. So whenever I find myself in a public place - a waiting room or a transit terminal - I take notes of my surrounding. Since my brain prefers to think in texts, I just make a list of the furniture, tools and signages that I see. If you are writing historical stories, go to a museum and make a list of items found in the exhibits for homes, shops, or ships etc. This will help you see where objects or tools are placed, thus giving you an idea of how they are used in every day life. You are basically creating a props menu with this exercise.

If you want to use a particular space for your contemporary story, for example a bus terminal, draw a diagram of the area. I find that this is more effective than taking a photograph because I am working with text. I have a bad tendency to focus on too much details when I am looking at a photograph. Also, a diagram is convenient, because you can get a bird's eye view of the area. This will help you decide  where  to position your characters to create 'chance' meetings, or a line of sight or lack of it. It is also helpful when you are writing detective stories and you need to get the details just so.

Maps are also a good source. I actually collect those tourist brochures with maps of cities and towns. It is still better though to have visited these places before you write about them, else your descriptions will only be visual. If you can add smell, sound, and touch to the scene, it will be more relatable to the reader.

After you get the information from the real world, you can start putting together your story world. I usually use a project journal for this. Please refer back to Episode 7, on the topic for 'Diagram'.

Important note here: You must be the one to choose what is important for the reader to notice. Don't make your readers decide by giving them ten ideas when only three are necessary to the scene.  All that extra information will just frustrate them.

Literature

I get ideas from news articles, documentaries and history books, and I refamiliarise myself with my culture through anthropology books or travel journals. Another great source of information is the dictionary. Find one where the compiler has taken the time to explain the background or the usage words.

It is very easy to get lost in all the data, so before you start digging earnestly into the materials you must decide which area of the culture you want to cover. I do this by asking three questions.

1. What is the theme? Is it folklore, history, philosophy or customary laws? This question will help you decide where to focus your research. For example, I write folklore based stories, so my focus is on the Iban pantheons, oral history and the customary laws relating to taboos and omens.
2. Decide your backdrop. When is this happening? Where is it happening? This will help you choose the right type of technology, geography or even food to use in your story. For example, when I was writing The Monk Prince, one of my biggest headache was deciding how to describe the keris. The wavy style of this blade became popular during the Majapahit era, but I was writing about a period that was about 500-600 years earlier. I finally decided to use the older design, the straight tapering blade, even though it is lesser known today.
3. Lastly, what is your topic? Is it headhunting, politics, medicine, or trade? Headhunting means, I must focus my research on tribal war strategies, weapons, as well as rites and rituals relating to the practice. Also some topographical maps. Politics means, I have to widen my scope and understand the role of the different kingdoms found in the Malay Archipelago during the period I am writing about. The most important thing to do at this point is to find a topic you love. Because if you have been obsessed about something for years, you will not be starting your research from zero. Plus, most importantly, you will know where to find reliable information.

Your Own Experience

Make use of your own experiences. How do you feel, act and think when you are anxious, happy or angry? Try local food, if you have never tasted them. How do they smell? How do they taste? What is the texture? What do people say about them? If you get a chance to watch the preparation, make a note of it. We all experience things the same way. Remember, I said in the beginning that the first readers of local books written in English or, another mainstream language, are going to be the locals themselves. If you can describe items they are familiar with in a realistic manner, it will help them relate better to the story. If they are living overseas, it will create nostalgia. Use this to your advantage. I am sometimes surprised by messages from young Ibans who have read my work. It is always heart-warming to know that I have helped someone connect back to their culture through my books.

So start writing, keep writing. Good luck.