Research is a necessary part of the creative process for every fictional narrative, no matter the genre. Though how deep you have to dive below the surface of a quick Internet search varies by project.
Some writers avoid taking the plunge, intimidated by the very prospect. For many, a lack of formal instruction on how to research leads to it being a boring, never-ending slog, or a huge time suck, or a neverending series of rabbit holes that don't produce anything useful.
The good news is that you don't have to be a scholar or even a university student to get help and learn how to find the information you need to craft great stories.
In the Research Skills for Fiction Writers course, reference librarian Melody Steiner will walk you through the How Tos of research techniques and explore ways that research can be an engaging and exciting process for narrative creators.
You'll finish this course confident in your understanding of research techniques, how to integrate research into your narratives, and more comfortable navigating the resources available to you.
Who Should Take This Course?
Writers of all genres...
Literary • Contemporary • Historical Fiction • Science Fiction • Fantasy • Horror • Mystery • Romance • Young Adult • Middle Grade • Children's Books
...and all mediums...
Prose • Film and TV Scripts •
Comics • Graphic Novels • Games •
Podcasts • Plays
...at any point in their career
This class is designed for all writers from newbie to professional who've had little to no formal training in research techniques.
Want to know what you'll learn? Take a look at the curriculum below! Or...
Curriculum
Your Instructor
Melody Steiner is a community college librarian and a virtual reference chat operator, with a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Washington. She's the author of a small press fantasy novel as well as writings in various speculative poetry and SFF magazines under her penname S.R. Tombran.
She's worked at a variety of bookish places; public libraries, university libraries, and a brief stint at an art museum. She's also served as a first reader for a SFF magazine and a flash fiction anthology. When she’s not helping students at the college or chatting online with library patrons across the country, you can find her in her favorite chair, hunched over her computer with a coffee beside her, writing.
Writing The Other | On Demand
Writing the Other offers writing classes for creators who want to set their narratives in cultures outside of their own and/or include characters whose gender, sexual preference, race, or other major identity differs significantly from their own. We believe that representation, inclusion, and diversity are fundamental to writing great fictional narratives found in short stories and novels, tabletop roleplaying games and video games, comics and graphic novels, TV shows and movies.
The classes you'll find here on Teachable are part of our On Demand library of courses. To see all On Demand, Online, and In-Person classes, visit our website.
Accessibility Statement
All videos in this course have either corrected English closed captions or a full transcript available. Other material is available as text or PDF. We strive to ensure full accessibility for students who use assistive devices.
Please see Teachable's accessibility statement for more detailed information.