Research notes

I am often asked about my research techniques.  During the writing of my novels the research process never stops.  At first when planning the novel a certain amount of preliminary research is necessary and this usually takes the form of a small notebook.  Each of my books has a little book like this where all my ideas are jotted down.  I usually make notes about research that I might find useful, and sometimes collect ideas from a range of sources. 

Mostly a notebook like this gets filled with characters names, dialogue, crazy ideas and a lot of stuff that never makes it into the book.  This can be invaluable information and I have found these very useful when writing the Torc Trilogy.  I have often dipped in and out them searching information relating to each book in the series.

Sometimes I come across little Gems that I have forgotten about.

Little A6 notebooks are an invaluable resource.

Highlighted notes in my little book.

The bulk of my research is from the internet.  Pages are printed off and paragraphs highlighted before being filed in a folder.  This folder is a research tool that I use whenever I need to revise on a subject or to learn about some technical aspect, it can often be used to verify a fact.      

The research file used when writing The Belgae Torc.

The file stuffed full of useful research notes.

Sometimes a little medical knowledge is useful, it all depends on what the characters are getting up to!

I needed to know about mythology and folklore.

I had never heard of a Moon pool before but one featured quite a lot in The Belgae Torc

These dive tables were useful although I needed to consult with an expert to understand how to use them.

I had to learn about weapons, so I consulted the internet but I also had to speak with experts.

As you can see my research file was filled with information that took me into lots of different subjects.  I could never plan for this when starting out, but had to wait and see how the novel developed, only then could I decide what subject to research.

All that research leads to this, the first hand written draft.

The hand written draft is then typed up into a first printed draft.

This is how I like to work, I can only assume that others do the same.  

I find my research files a useful resource when planning other books, I'm always dipping in and out of them.