Encyclopedia! I can't tell you how many times this has taught me...
Reading articles of different positions.
Live interviews.
Those are the basics anyway. And it also depends what you're studying too.
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.
"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach
I tend to use the internet more than the library (like uniaeca, the libraries where I live suck) and if that fails (and it does ... on a completely unrelated note, does anyone know the aprox. distance someone call fall into water WITHOUT being splattered?) I ask my brother or mum or dad any of the science related ones (execpt that fail too, because they don't know how far you can fall without being splattered when landing in water) my brother the history related ones, my sister the horse related ones, my dad or brother the marine biology related ones etc etc.
Then, if my family failed me and I could think of someone who would know, I'd ask them. But I've never done that before. Just walking into the fire station and asking how fast fire spreads in different conditions is too scary from me. Besides, I bet my dad knows that.
Location: South Australia
YOU'RE KIDDING ME!!! SERIOUSLY, YOU COME FROM SOUTH AUSTRALIA? ME TOO!!! *jumps for joy*
Oh, you're angry! Click your pen.
--Music and Lyrics
I agree, using the internet and reading the articles is a great way for research.
For my assassin story the net and newspapers are crucial!
But more importantly, I travel. Being in another state really boosts my imagination and I often try out things that my assassin might do, and see if I can get away with it.
It could be simple things like finding other passwords for different things or pretending to be someone else, or seeing if 400 push-ups is possible. And yes, by experience, it's very possible!
And yes, I live in South Australia. What part of SA do you live in?
I tend not to do research specifically for a story. I just learn as much as I can about stuff I'm interested in, particularly in relation to the kind of stories I write, and just look something up when I need it. The History and Discovery Channel are useful. I've learn a lot about medieval life, and have reached a point where I know enough to write a book with a medieval setting unless I have any real desire to be 100% historically accurate. Of course, being historically accurate is not something I worry about. Also, while I'm writing a particular type of book, I read books that are relavent, not to look for anything in particular, but just so my mind is in the right space.
Please, sit down before you fall down.
Belloq, "Raiders of the Lost Ark"
Woah...I've been really into the time frame that I'm using for my story for a loooong time...trying to remember what I've done.
Lesse...
1. I was actually lucky enough to get to go to the place about where it's taking place (Rhode Island). Also, if you're doing historical research (like moi), it's good to go to the East because they have Williamsburg and Jamestown and junk like that...I've been to both. YAY!
2. Google/and or Library.
3. JACK! a.k.a. Firestarter...yup...a lot of the junk in my story I got from him. It's best to have someone who probably knows the topic better than you do close at hand.
Graffiti is the most passionate form of literature there is.
Research. I do some, depending on what I'm writing about. For example, currently, I'm doing some scientific research into time and such.. other than that I usually go for history. If you look (er.. once I post more) you can see many paralles between what I'm writing and past world events. Quite fun.
For research itself, I generally use the internet, any textbooks I have at hand, or bug people that know more about the subject then I do (hehe, Sam, that is pure birlliance, I must say). I also read. As much as I possibly can, about the subject, or time period, or even watch the history channel. You never know what seemingly useless information can be quite handy.
***Under the Responsibility of S.P.E.W.*** (Sadistic Perplexion of Everyone's Wits)
Medieval Lit! Come here to find out who Chaucer plagiarized and translated - and why and how it worked in the late 1300s.
Different needs require different research. I will respond here assuming you mean research for a story/play/poem/novel. I have not written historical fiction yet, so I have not had to worry about researching another time period. For research I have done... For a play I wrote in which one of the characters had cancer, I did research online into some of the specifics of how different cancers affect the body, how fast they progress, and what the treatments do. For characterization research, I talk to people. If I am writing about a character who has lost their father(for example), I will talk to a friend or family member about it was like for them to lose someone. Interview I guess. To give a character a career(for example doctor, laywer, small business owner), I might talk to someone in that line of work. For research into how to write differnet styles or genres, the best thing to do is just read as much as posible of other people's work. The writer who produces more than he reads is a poor writer indeed. I can't remember where I heard that last bit.
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