Setting How much to research BEFORE you write?

[Brandon S. Pilcher]

I've just outlined a fantasy story that is supposed to take place in a fictional era of gods and magic within our world's past, similar to the ancient Greek concept of the "Heroic Age" as well as Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age or Tolkien's Middle Earth. The civilizations of this world are almost all inspired by those from our own world's history, with one nation called Kemet being based on ancient Egypt and another called Nihon being based on feudal Japan. The main plot of the story is about a Kemetian Medjay warrior (basically a sort of professional guard) and a Nihonese ninja having to put aside their differences to retrieve a stolen crown with magical powers from an evil shogun who was the ninja's former mistress.

There are going to be some differences between the story's civilizations and their real-world inspirations. For example, the Medjay warrior, the ninja, and the shogun are all female in my outline since female warriors and rulers are more widespread in this mythical era than in real recorded history. Nonetheless, I still want to get each civilization's cultural vibes right, and while I do know a fair bit about ancient Nile Valley civilizations since that's one of my autistic special interests, feudal Japan and its culture I am not so knowledgeable about. I have a lot of homework to do with that culture at least.

In the past when writing fiction based on history, I've done a large proportion of my research while doing the actual writing. For example, if I'm writing a scene in which the characters are having a meal, I might look up information on what food they would have eaten, what their dining rooms would have looked up, and maybe mealtime etiquette. The problem is that I don't always know what I need to look up when writing something, so this time I feel I should do some of the homework before I start writing. And that's where I am feeling overwhelmed, especially since I'm eager to get on with the actual writing.

Essentially, my question is, how much of the research should you do before the writing, and how much can you do during the writing itself?

 

[Dogberry's Watch]

Something historical like what you're describing, I'd get the basics down before writing, and then do finer details while writing. In my opinion, there's going to be a bit of leeway because you'll have magical elements, but I think as long as you're not dropping Nokia phones in there with your timeline, there can be a degree of wiggle room with accuracy. I do think a kind of "Subject 101" would be helpful during the draft stage so there isn't immediate worry about missing the mark by a huge margin.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

Historical research makes me very happy. Research is essential to developing my outlines, then I continue research as I'm writing the story.

You might check out Academia while doing research. I've found papers and dissertations there I'd not have seen otherwise. The site sends suggestions based on papers one has downloaded. That can get a tad overwhelming, but reducing the number is easy enough.

 

[X Equestris]

Essentially, my question is, how much of the research should you do before the writing, and how much can you do during the writing itself?

To some extent, this is a “how long is a piece of string?” kind of question, in that the answers vary widely depending on what works for you, your process, and the needs of the story.

Before writing or even pre-writing, I would conduct the broad background research necessary to build the world and story. So in your case, this could be histories of feudal Japan, books on real ninjas and samurai (Osprey Publishing would be good to look at here, with their Men at Arms series), etc.

Then, as you get a better feel for your world and what the plot will demand, you can get into the more granular research of things like etiquette and leave the minute details for while you’re actually.

Since you’re writing fantasy rather than true historical fiction, you also have the advantage of being able to let facts take a backseat to what’s fun or works best for the story you want to tell. Howard did this all the time with stuff like the Stygians being obviously inspired by Ancient Egypt yet existing right alongside the Hyborian kingdoms with knights in full plate. In fact, half the reason he set the Conan and Kull stories in a fabricated pre-history was to free himself from the need to do extensive research, which was difficult when he lived in rural 1930s Texas.

So if you keep in mind that you’re trying to evoke a vibe rather than recreate 1:1 replicas of Ancient Egypt or feudal Japan, you should be able to avoid worldbuilder’s disease or falling down particularly long and convoluted research rabbit holes.