Down the Rabbit Hole

If you’ve ever read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, you know that Alice fell down a rabbit hole to get to Wonderland. Though, we fondly use this phrase to describe a different process today. I don’t know about you, but I find that I can get lost “down the rabbit hole” quite easily when I research for my current work in progress. It is normal for you to find yourself down that hole, but it isn’t very productive, now, is it? Nevertheless, research is a vital part of being a writer, so let’s explore some options for research. 

Which “rabbit hole” should I jump down? 

Good question! There are many different avenues you can take with your research, and it all depends on what kind of project you will be working on. My best solution for that is to clearly define your end goal. What questions need to be answered for your project to be successful? There are a few easy questions to ask yourself before you start your research. Think of it as a flow chart. (I’ll insert one at the end of this paragraph.) First, are you writing a fiction or non-fiction piece? Non-fiction is a little easier to research because there are less rabbit holes you can follow. You need to answer a question by the end. If you are writing a fiction piece, there are a few different questions that you can ask yourself. What is your setting? If you are writing a historical piece, then you want to research that time period. You will need to know the ins and outs to make the story as truthful as possible. Next, how are you naming your characters? This can inform you of if you need to research names. Some people like the personality of their characters to be reflected in the name, or you could name all the characters after certain plants, mythological characters. After that, depending on how much you’ve already developed of your story, you could research psychology, characteristics of the setting, or different plot formats. 

Do you have a map of these rabbit holes? 

No, but I can offer you some names of streets that you can take. For plot and character development advice, I would look for books on the craft of writing. These will help you refine the mechanics of your story. For setting, it would depend on how real this place is. If it is a city you can travel to or even a city from the past, you should be able to find articles, historical documents, etc. that can inform you of these cities. If they are fictional and based on a fictional world from literature (like Avalon), I would read about lore revolving these fictional towns. If you created these towns, then you make up the details! As for characters and names, I would explore psychology journals and baby naming articles to give you ideas. 

How do I know if it is the right rabbit hole for me? 

If you are worried about checking credibility of sources for the craft of writing, I would start with reputable authors, like Stephen King, who have written craft books based on their own experiences in writing. Maybe see if your favorite author has a craft book. The thing is with writing, it is all in what feels right to you, so I wouldn’t be too concerned about finding “credible” sources for the craft of writing. You know what you like, and there will always be someone out there who will enjoy it. As for the other websites, I would look at websites that have similar information or are experts in that field. You want someone who is an expert in psychology to teach you about psychology, right? I would also go directly to the source. If you want to know about a city, look at their chamber of commerce page. 

Do I really have to tell people where I got my information? 

Yes and no. It really depends on what type of novel writing you are doing. For me, I mostly live in the realm of fictional literature. If you quote someone’s novel, you’ll want to give the author a shoutout in your book wherever it feels natural. That could be a character saying they love what such and such author said or something along those lines. Fictional literature has a lot of gray areas. If you have some shoutout to the original source, you should be good. Now, if you decide to base your entire novel after another book (say putting it into a different setting), you will have to do a little research into public domain rights. I’ll have to dive into that discussion another time, but the basics of it is if it is in the public domain, you don’t have to ask permission to make something new out of it. If it isn’t, you must ask the original author or whoever owns the estate (if the author isn’t living) if you can base your story off theirs. 

Where do you recommend that I start? 

I really love Stephen King’s memoir, On Writing. It really goes deep into helpful advice to write your best story. He shows the reader his advice and doesn’t just share it. For instance, he will show you where he got his inspiration for certain scenes in his novels and what influenced his writing the most in his life. There isn’t an online option for this, but I highly recommend buying the book at this link: Amazon.com: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (Audible Audio Edition): Stephen King, Stephen King, Joe Hill, Owen King, Simon & Schuster Audio: Books 

Another great resource is the NaNoWriMo website. I haven’t had a chance to participate in this yet, but I want to participate soon. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It is an organization that supports new writers write a novel within a month. They provide websites to help writers finish their novel within the time frame. You can find it at this website: Welcome | NaNoWriMo