what makes your research study novel

Educational resources and simple solutions for your research journey

Novelty in Research: What It Is and How to Know Your Work is Original

One of the key prerequisites for researcher success, irrespective of their field of study, is identifying the novelty in research. They hope to make new discoveries that build on the work of others and produce fresh perspectives on existing knowledge in their field. To achieve this, researchers invest considerable time and effort in reading relevant literature, conducting experiments, and staying up to date on the latest developments in their own and related fields. Most journals seek to publish research that is novel, significant, and interesting to its readers. Establishing novelty in research is also critical when applying for funding, which makes it essential to prove this early in the research process. But what is meant by novelty in research and how can one judge the novelty of their research study? This article will help you answer these questions in the simplest manner.

Table of Contents

What is meant by novelty in research?

The word ‘novelty’ comes from the Latin word ‘novus,’ which simply means new. Apart from new, the term is also associated with things, ideas or products for instance, that are original or unusual. Novelty in research refers to the introduction of a new idea or a unique perspective that adds to the existing knowledge in a particular field of study. It involves bringing something fresh and original to the table that has not been done before or exploring an existing topic in a new and innovative way. Novelty in research expands the boundaries of a particular research discipline and provides new insights into previously unexplored areas. It is also one of the first things academic journals look for when evaluating a manuscript submitted for publishing. This makes it essential for researchers to ensure novelty in research in order to create new knowledge and make a significant contribution to their field of study.

How can you ensure novelty in research?

Academics are often immersed in their research and so focused on excellence that it can be difficult to examine your work as an author and judge its novelty in research objectively. But this challenge can be overcome with time and practice by adding research reading to your daily schedule. Assessing novelty in research means evaluating how new and original the ideas or findings presented in a study are, in comparison to existing knowledge in the field. Here are some ways to judge the novelty of research:

• Conduct a literature review: A literature review is an essential component of any research project, and it helps to establish the context for the study by identifying what is already known about the topic. By reviewing the existing literature, researchers can identify gaps in the knowledge and formulate new questions or hypotheses to investigate, ensuring novelty in research.
• Compare with previous studies: Researchers can assess the novelty of their work by comparing their findings to those of previous studies in the same or related fields. If the results differ significantly from what has been previously reported, it can be an indication that the study is novel and potentially significant.
• Read target journal publications: Subscribe to your target journal and other reputed journals in your field of study and keep up with the articles it publishes. Since most high-impact journals typically ensure novelty in research when publishing papers, this will help you keep track of the developments and progress being made in your subject area.
• Assess contribution to the field: One way to assess novelty in research is to evaluate how much it contributes to your specific field. Research that makes a significant contribution to advancing knowledge or addressing important questions is often considered more valuable than those that simply replicate elements from previously published research.
• Consider an alternative methodology: Even if the topic or area of study has been studied, one can bring in novelty in research by exploring various methodologies or by tweaking the research question to provide new insights and perspectives. Researchers can highlight aspects of the study that have not been done before, introduce these in the proposed research design, and illuminate how this will ensure novelty in research.
• Get support from your peers: Engage with your mentors/supervisors, professors, peers, and other experts in the field to get their feedback on introducing novelties in their research. It’s a good idea to join and actively participate in scientific research and scholarly groups or networks where users provide updates on new technological innovations and development.
• Make research reading a habit: An overwhelming number of research papers are published every day, making it difficult for researchers to keep up with new, relevant developments in the world of research. This is where online tools for researchers can help you simplify this process while saving on time and effort. Smart AI-driven apps like R Discovery can understand your areas of interest and curate a reading feed with personalized article recommendation, alerts on newly published articles, summaries to help you quickly evaluate articles, and many other useful features for researchers. By taking the search out of research, it gives you back time that you can then spend to stay updated and ensure novelty in research.

In an ideal world, all research done would be completely original. Yet with rapid advances in technology and research, there are bound to be overlaps with previously published papers. The key here is to find a new way of looking at old problems, trying new methodologies and angles, and coming up with interesting insights that can add to or alter current knowledge in your field of research. Smart online tools have made it easier to read and keep up with the latest in research and we’re sure the tips above will help you better assess your project and judge the novelty of your research study.

R Discovery is a literature search and research reading platform that accelerates your research discovery journey by keeping you updated on the latest, most relevant scholarly content. With 250M+ research articles sourced from trusted aggregators like CrossRef, Unpaywall, PubMed, PubMed Central, Open Alex and top publishing houses like Springer Nature, JAMA, IOP, Taylor & Francis, NEJM, BMJ, Karger, SAGE, Emerald Publishing and more, R Discovery puts a world of research at your fingertips.  

Try R Discovery Prime FREE for 1 week or upgrade at just US$72 a year to access premium features that let you listen to research on the go, read in your language, collaborate with peers, auto sync with reference managers, and much more. Choose a simpler, smarter way to find and read research – Download the app and start your free 7-day trial today !  

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How to organize novel research

Follow this step-by-step guide to learn the modern process of organizing research in Milanote, a free tool used by top creatives.

How to organize novel research in 7 easy steps

Whether you're writing a sci-fi thriller or historical fiction, research is a crucial step in the early writing process. It's a springboard for new ideas and can add substance and authenticity to your story. As author Robert McKee says "when you do enough research, the story almost writes itself. Lines of development spring loose and you'll have choices galore."

But collecting research can be messy. It's often scattered between emails, notes, documents, and even photos on your phone making it hard to see the full picture. When you bring your research into one place and see things side-by-side, new ideas and perspectives start to emerge.

In this guide, you'll learn the modern approach to collecting and organizing research for your novel using Milanote. Remember, the creative process is non-linear, so you may find yourself moving back and forth between the steps as you go.

1. First, add any existing notes

You probably know a lot about your chosen topic or location already. Start by getting the known facts and knowledge out of your head. Even if these topics seem obvious to you, they can serve as a bridge to the rest of your research. You might include facts about the location, period, fashion or events that take place in your story.

Create a new board to collect your research.

Create a new board

Drag a board out from the toolbar. Give it a name, then double click to open it.

Add a note to capture your existing knowledge on the topic.

Drag a note card onto your board

Start typing then use the formatting tools in the left hand toolbar.

2. Save links to articles & news

Wikipedia, blogs, and news websites are a goldmine for researchers. It's here you'll find historical events and records, data, and opinions about your topic. We're in the 'collecting' phase so just save links to any relevant information you stumble across. You can return and read the details at a later stage.

Drag a link card onto your board to save a website.

Install the  Milanote Web Clipper

Save websites and articles straight to your board. 

Save content from the web

With the Web Clipper installed, save a website, image or text. Choose the destination in Milanote. Return to your board and find the content in the "Unsorted" column on the right.

3. Save quotes & data

Quotes are a great way to add credibility and bring personality to your topic. They're also a handy source of inspiration for character development, especially if you're trying to match the language used in past periods. Remember to keep the source of the quote in case you need to back it up.

Add a note to capture a quote.

4. Collect video & audio

Video and movie clips can help you understand a mood or feeling in a way that words sometimes can't. Try searching for your topic or era on Vimeo , or Youtube . Podcasts are another great reference. Find conversations about your topic on Spotify or any podcast platform and add them into the mix.

Embed Youtube videos or audio in a board. 

Embed Youtube videos or audio tracks in a board

Copy the share link from Youtube, Vimeo, Soundcloud or many other services. Drag a link card onto your board, paste your link and press enter.

5. Collect important images

Sometimes the quickest way to understand a topic is with an image. They can transport you to another time or place and can help you describe things in much more detail. They're also easier to scan when you return to your research. Try saving images from Google Images , Pinterest , or Milanote's built-in image library.

Use the built-in image library. 

Use the built-in image library

Search over 3 million beautiful photos powered by Pexels then drag images straight onto your board.

Save images from other websites straight to your board. 

Roll over an image (or highlight text), click Save, then choose the destination in Milanote. Return to your board and find the content in the "Unsorted" column on the right.

Allow yourself the time to explore every corner of your topic. As author A.S. Byatt says "the more research you do, the more at ease you are in the world you're writing about. It doesn't encumber you, it makes you free".

6. Collect research on the go

You never know where or when you'll find inspiration—it could strike you in the shower, or as you're strolling the aisles of the grocery store. So make sure you have an easy way to capture things on the go. As creative director Grace Coddington said, "Always keep your eyes open. Keep watching. Because whatever you see can inspire you."

Download the  Milanote mobile app

Save photos straight to your Research board. 

Take photos on the go

Shoot or upload photos directly to your board. When you return to a bigger screen you'll find them in the "Unsorted" column of the board.

7. Connect the dots

Now that you have all your research in one place, it's time to start drawing insights and conclusions. Laying out your notes side-by-side is the best way to do this. You might see how a quote from an interviewee adds a personal touch to some data you discovered earlier. This is the part of the process where you turn a collection of disparate information into your unique perspective on the topic.

That's a great start!

Research is an ongoing process and you'll probably continue learning about your topic throughout your writing journey. Reference your research as you go to add a unique perspective to your story. Use the template below to start your research or read our full guide on how to plan a novel .

Start your research

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How to Research a Novel: 9 Key Strategies

by Joslyn Chase | 2 comments

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Have you ever started a story, gotten halfway through, and realized you don't know key facts about your story's world? Have you ever wondered how to find out the size of spoons in medieval England for your fantasy adventure story? Is that even relevant to your plot, or could you skip that fact? Here's how to research your novel.

As fiction writers, our job is to sit at a keyboard and make stuff up for fun and profit. We conjure most of our material from our imagination, creativity, and mental supply of facts and trivia, but sometimes we need that little bit of extra verisimilitude that research can bring to a project.

When it comes to research, there are key strategies to keep in mind to help you make the most of your time and effort.

9 Strategies to Research a Novel

Readers who’ve posted reviews for my thriller, Nocturne In Ashes , often comment about how well-researched it is. While that can be a positive sentiment, that’s not really what you want readers to notice about your book. The best research shouldn’t call attention to itself or detract readers from the story so I’m always relieved to hear those same reviewers go on to rave about the thrills and suspense.

When you're writing, you want to get the facts right and create a believable world. Doing research for your novel is the way to do that. But you also don't want to get sucked into a research hole, so distracted by the local cuisine of a small town in 1930s France that you never actually write. And you want to hook your readers with a page-turning story , not a dissertation on some obscure topic.

Here are nine key research strategies I’ve learned to write an effective (and exciting!) story.

1. Write first, research later

Research can be a dangerous enterprise because it’s seductive and time spent in research is time taken away from actual writing of the creative process. Getting words on the page is job one, so it’s important to meet your daily writing goal before engaging in research.

So if the piece you’re working on requires research, your first order of the day should be to write something else that doesn’t need research, something you can draw purely from imagination and your own mental well. Fill your word quota, practice your skills, meet your production goals, and THEN move on to research, so you don't derail your writing process with it.

I always have multiple works in progress. I’m writing project A while researching project B and thinking about and planning projects C through M.

2. Research is secondary; telling a good story comes first

After all the precious time boosting your knowledge of historical events or the feel for a subject, this point might hurt: only use a tiny fraction of your research in the story.

Don’t give in to the temptation to dump everything you've learned into the story. Sure, it’s fascinating stuff but you risk burying the story in scientific or historical detail.

A little bit of researched material goes a long way. Only use info related to the issues your character would know about and be concerned with. Leave out the captivating but irrelevant details.

Your research should enhance the story, not dominate it.

3. Write for your fans

Your story should be targeted to the readers who love what you write—your fans. Stop worrying about the five people out there who might read your story and nitpick that your character used the wrong fork or wore the wrong kind of corset.

A lot of writers fake it or write only from the knowledge they do have. They don’t let their lack of esoteric knowledge get in the way of the story. They do research for their novels, grab a few details for the sake of authenticity, and wing the rest.

With the exception of 11/22/63, Stephen King does very little research, but there are few who can write a more riveting story.

4. Don’t obsess over accuracy

Frankly, there are instances and reasons where you don’t really want to be accurate. For example, if you write historical romance, research might show that people of that time period rarely bathed and lost most of their teeth and hair at a young age. That’s probably not how you want to portray your heroine and the man of her dreams.

Sometimes, including a historically or scientifically accurate detail would require pages of explanation to make it credible for today’s audience—almost a surefire way to lose your reader. When in doubt, leave it out.

And no matter how hard you work at it, you’re not likely to cover every detail with one hundred percent accuracy, so don’t obsess over it. Do your best, but remember—story is what matters, not accurate details.

5. Go with the most interesting version

When researching an event, you’ll usually find a number of different accounts, especially when using primary sources, none in perfect agreement with the others. When this happens, do what the History Channel does—go with the most entertaining version of events.

Remember, you’re a storyteller, not a historian. Your goal is to grab and hold your reader’s attention and keep them turning pages. If it makes you feel better, you can include endnotes with references so interested readers can dig deeper into the “facts.”

6. Keep a “bible”

This is especially important if you’re writing a series. You can’t be expected to remember every important detail about the characters and settings you put in book one when, years later, you’re working on book seven.

Record these details in an easy-to-reference format you can come back to later to provide continuity and reader confidence in your ability to tell a coherent story.

7. Don’t fall down the wormhole

I love doing research. It’s fun, fascinating, and absorbing—so absorbing, it can suck you in and keep you from moving on to the writing. You need to be able to draw the line at some point. As Tina Fey says in her book, Bossy Pants , “The show doesn't go on because it's ready; it goes on because it's 11:30.”

Know when it’s time to leave the research and get to the writing. Pro tip: set yourself a time limit or a deadline. Even if you don't “feel” finished with research, you'll have a clear marker for when you have to put the research down and get back to writing.

8. Save simple details for last

Sometimes when you’re writing along in your story, you’ll find yourself needing a simple detail. Make a notation, resolve to come back to it later, and move on. Don’t let this interrupt or distract you from getting the story down on the page.

Later, you can come back and do the minimal research to fill in these little details like a character name , a location, a car model, etc. Shawn Coyne calls this “ice cream work” because it’s fun and feels frivolous after the concentrated work of writing the story itself.

9. Finish THIS project before starting another

One great thing about research is that you learn so much and find the seeds for so many new story ideas. The challenge is to not get distracted from your current project.

Make a note to yourself to pursue these other ideas somewhere down the road. Let those seeds sprout and grow in the back of your mental garden, but keep your focus on the story you’re writing now .

Resources: Where to Actually Research Your Novel

I’ve touched on how to do the research. Here, I’m adding a few suggestions about where to go for the goods.

• Wikipedia, and don’t forget to dig into the links at the bottom of the article
• Reenactor sites for historical battles, uniforms, etc.
• Costuming sites
• Travel guides
• Writer’s Digest Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in … fill in the blank (these are loaded with details of landscape, clothing, household items, and more)
• Biographies and autobiographies, and don’t overlook their bibliographies and footnotes
• Blog posts of expert and amateur historians
• Journals and diaries
• Weather reports
• Price lists, to find out how much were salaries, groceries, mortgage payments, etc.
• Birth and death certificates, court documents
• Etymology websites
• Museum exhibits and gift shops, including the little touristy booklets, maps, tour guides
• Libraries! Talk to a reference librarian—they’re awesome at plumbing resources.

Novel research rocks!

Research really is intriguing and a lot of fun. There’s so much to discover, but beware because you can get lost in it and never find your way out. You’re better off under-researching than over-researching, so know when to get out and move on.

Also, be aware that your novel's research requirements will differ somewhat based on the genre you’re writing . For instance, with historical fiction, you need to give your readers a travel adventure into the past with sensory details to draw them into the time period.

With science fiction, you need to be able to extrapolate from scientific fact and theory to the fictional premise of your story. In doing so, don’t get bogged down in the journey from point A to point B. Just get to the conclusion. The more you explain, the less credible it sounds to the reader.

With fantasy, it’s the little world-building details that count for so much. Know what your reader expects and craves and meet those demands.

And no matter how much research your book requires, don't discount your personal experience with being human—those emotional, intellectual, and philosophical experiences often cross time and space.

I wish you many happy hours of successful novel research, but don’t forget to write first!

How about you? Do you do research for your novels? Where do you turn for information? Tell us about it in the comments .

Use one of the prompts below or make up your own. Conduct a little research—just enough to add verisimilitude to the scene, a few telling details. Spend five minutes researching two to three facts that will help you set the scene. Then, take the next ten minutes to write a couple of paragraphs to establish the character in the setting.

The death of her father leaves Miss Felicity Brewster alone in regency England and places upon her the burden of fulfilling his last wish—that she marry a safe, respectable gentleman.

Accused of treason, Frendl Ericcson sets out to find his betrayer and restore his honor.

Dr. Vanessa Crane makes a breakthrough in her nanotechnology research. But will her discovery benefit mankind, or destroy it?

With the help of his mortician friend, Victorian-era detective Reginald Piper must use cutting-edge forensic methods to solve a string of murders.

When you are finished, post your work the Pro Practice Workshop here and don’t forget to leave feedback for your fellow writers! Not a member yet? Check out how you can join a thriving group of writers practicing together here.

Joslyn Chase

Any day where she can send readers to the edge of their seats, prickling with suspense and chewing their fingernails to the nub, is a good day for Joslyn. Pick up her latest thriller, Steadman's Blind , an explosive read that will keep you turning pages to the end. No Rest: 14 Tales of Chilling Suspense , Joslyn's latest collection of short suspense, is available for free at joslynchase.com .

I wish I’d read point 6 – keep a bible a couple of years ago before I wrote my 450k word magnum opus, because I’m now writing several supplemental short stories in that universe and I’m forever digging through for minor character’s names, details of meeting places etc

My current WIP is involving a lot more research than I expected. I had to re-write a hunting scene twice, because the first version, which I showed to a real bow-hunter, had him going after the deer right away, and my hunter-friend said to wait a half hour before you start tracking a deer. I don’t hunt myself, so I took his word and re-wrote it, but my gut said it wasn’t right. So I did some surfing and found both his advice, and advice that said you should go after a hip shot right away (basically agreeing with what my gut said should be happening). So was he wrong, were the sources that agreed with me wrong, or was he getting a wrong impression of what was going on? I decided I was overly in love with the opening sentence of the scene and re-wrote the whole thing yet again, using the “simple details” I’d discovered to clarify the deer had taken a hip shot. Minor scene, but a major position: it’s introducing the #2 member of my hero team.

Could it wait until later? Possibly, but I’m seriously considering serializing this thing, so the beginning chapters might be getting published before the end chapters of the first book get written, and I’m hoping for seven books out of this (probably close to 1M words total).

The Devil is in the details!

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Novel Research: 12 Ways to Ace Your Book

Maybe these self-directed questions will sound familiar:

• What if my novel research isn’t good enough?
• What if I put a street on the wrong side of the city?
• What if I’ve got the dialect all wrong?
• What if I’ve included a glaring anachronism?

The book I’m currently at work on—my historical superhero saga Wayfarer —is set in London during the Regency era (think Jane Austen). In many ways, it has been the most difficult of all the historical novels I’ve written, primarily because it takes place in such a popular period. I had some leeway in writing about the medieval Crusades (for one thing, the language is so different, perfect accuracy isn’t desired much less demanded) and the American west (where legend has taken over fact in so many areas).

But the Regency period? Put a chapeau-bras out of place, and fanatical readers will know it.

Never mind that the book is also set in London, which means correctly portraying a city I’ve never visited.

And don’t get me started on the language. Unlike the Middle Ages, 1820 isn’t so far away that the language of the period isn’t still decipherable to modern ears. What that means, of course, is every word choice must be filtered through not just the demands of British English, but also the question: Did that word even exist back then?

Cue the paranoia.

The Two Sides to Novel Research: Accuracy and Authenticity

There are two good reasons for any author to indulge in this paranoia over “the facts” in a novel (whether it’s historical or not).

Reason #1 to Panic: Your Readers Are Smarter Than You

Scary thought, ain’t it? Now granted, not  all of them are going to be smarter (aka, better read on your subject than are you). But I guarantee there will be a lot of them. No matter how conscientious you are in your research about Roman sewer systems or stamp collecting, there will  always be someone who knows something you don’t . And if that person happens to read your book, they may well call you out on your mistakes.

Reason #2 to Panic: Poor Novel Research Destroys Suspension of Disbelief

This reason is by far the more important of the two, however closely related. The whole point of novel research, after all, is to create a seamless reading experience. We want to immerse readers in the detailed and realistic worlds we create for our characters. If you’ve got your Olympic equestrian character casually mounting her horse on the right side (instead of the left), you’re going to instantly pop that suspension of disbelief bubble for any reader knowledgeable about horses and riding.

Commit to Accuracy in Your Novel Research

In short, blatant inaccuracies can ruin your book. So do your research. End of story. Stop panicking.

Does this sound too simple a solution after all that fear mongering up there?

Maybe a little. But let’s be practical.

There is absolutely  no way you can achieve perfect accuracy in your novel.

Never mind what Yoda says, the best you can do is try. After that, stop worrying about accuracy and start worrying about …  authenticity .

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), 20th Century Fox.

Why Authenticity Is More Important Than Accuracy

A story, by its very nature, is an illusion.

The characters aren’t real. The events aren’t real. The settings and events–even if portraying real life– are Shakespeare’s “but shadows.”

That’s why readers must suspend their disbelief in the first place. And they do. They willingly buy into the magic trick–as long as the magician (that’s you!) makes it  look real.

By far, the most important factor in convincing readers to suspend disbelief is creating a story world that  seems real. Readers aren’t asking for reality ; they only want something that  seems real enough for them to pretend, for a couple hours, that it  is real.

That’s where authenticity comes into play. As long as you have accuracy enough to provide a solid basis for your story, you then have a wide-open canvas upon which to create the illusion of an authentic experience .

To put it indelicately: Hook your readers with the truth and they’ll swallow all the rest of your story’s lies.

How can you find this balance of accuracy and authenticity in your book? Let’s examine twelve steps you can put into action right away.

6 Steps to Achieve Accuracy in Your Novel Research

Novel research is easy. All you have to do is read and remember. But it requires time and discipline upfront. Use these six steps to break your task into manageable bites.

1. Begin With a Basic Understanding of Your Subject

Presumably, if you’re interested in writing about a particular subject, then that very interest has led you to at least a  basic knowledge about it. For example, if you want to write about a homicide detective, then you might have been drawn to the subject because you enjoy TV shows about detectives. You know enough to at least create the framework, in your mind, for a story about a detective of your own.

Castle (2009-16), ABC.

2. Discover the General Questions You Need to Ask

Using that general knowledge, from Step 1, write your outline–or, if you’re a pantser, at least figure out the general beats and events in your story. This will help you get a handle on the general questions you’re going to need to answer about your subject. For example, after writing my outline for my 1920s barnstorming novel  Storming , I ended up with a list of specific research topics I knew I would need to research:

3. Collect a Bibliography

Using those questions/topics, create a research bibliography. Search your local libraries and Amazon to find sources that will answer all your major questions. Depending on the nature of your subject, you may also want to seek out experts with whom you can talk or who can give you access to hands-on experiences.

4. Commit Serious Time to Novel Research

Writers often ask me how much time I devote to novel research. Basically: as long as it takes me to read through my list of research books.  Wayfarer ‘s research took me six months.

And where do I find the time to do all that research?

Easy: writing time. Whatever part of the process I’m working on (whether outlining , researching, writing, or editing), I do it during “writing” time, which for me is two hours every morning. This, of course, means that during the research period, I get to sit around reading all morning and call it work.

5. Organize Novel Research Notes

Don’t trust your memory. Write down everything. Personally, I find it well worth the extra time it requires to  transcribe everything I highlight in my novel research (e-readers make this super easy, since you can find all your highlights online and simply copy/paste them).

This makes my notes searchable on the computer and allows me to collate them under pertinent headings. Your research will do you little good while writing if you can’t access it. (Plus, you can use your discoveries as part of your book marketing campaign to tease readers about your upcoming novels.)

6. Discover the Specific Questions You Need to Ask

Armed with all that general knowledge you gleaned during your novel research, you can then write your book. You should be well equipped to write knowledgeably and confidently about your subject. Even still, you’ll inevitably run into further questions during the blow-by-blow action of the actual story. Some of these questions will be simple enough for you to look up on the Internet during writing. For those that prove more complicated, include them in a running list and do whatever follow-up research is necessary after the first draft.

6 Steps to Achieve Authenticity in Your Novel Research

All that research was your logical left brain’s contribution to your story’s verisimilitude. Now, it’s time to unleash your creative right brain and let it take the scattered pieces of your research and connect the dots between them to creative an  authentic  experience for your readers.

1. Do Your Research

Authenticity must begin with a pursuit of accuracy. You can’t build an authentic experience of life as a concert pianist if you know nothing about music. Emphasizing  authenticity over  accuracy does not provide permission to simply ignore the facts. You must start with a solid foundation of reality if you’re going to have any chance of convincing readers to believe in the  unreal parts of your story.

Amadeus (1984), Orion Pictures.

2. Support Every Lie With Two Truths

In writing any kind of story, you will occasionally find yourself faced with situations in which you either  don’t know the facts or in which the story demands you  tweak the facts to serve the plot.

In either case, here’s a good rule of thumb for protecting the authenticity of your story: Every time you make something up, make sure the “lie” is supported by at least two “truths.”

Historical novels do this all the time by surrounding a fictional character with people who actually existed in the period. We believe in Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, so why not a general named Maximus while we’re at it?

Gladiator , directed by Ridley Scott, produced by DreamWorks.

3. Show Readers What They Expect to See

The very essence of authenticity is in validating the experience readers  expect to have. Did Al Capone really say, “I want him dead! I want his family dead! I want his house burned to the ground!”?

The Untouchables (1987), Paramount Pictures.

Doesn’t matter, because this is exactly what we  expect Al Capone to say. It creates no cognitive dissonance in our expectations about 1920s gangsters.

The flipside of this is that sometimes you will find you  can’t use certain accurate facts. If a fact doesn’t jive with your readers’ expectations, then you need to question whether its (totally legitimate) inclusion is worth the risk of jostling their suspension of disbelief.

Funny story. In researching my 1901 novel, I was trying to be careful to use slang of the day, syntax–everything. We try, right? Well, I found that even innocent things they WOULD have said sound much too modern. Such as, “You have the coolest yard in town.” Um… sounds all wrong.

4. Don’t Sweat the Details

Remember my paranoia over  Wayfarer ‘s presentation of an accurate 1820 London experience?

On this last edit, I’ve been conscientiously researching the etymology of any word I thought might be suspicious. That’s a lot of suspicion. It’s also, after a certain point, ridiculous.

Can you tell me what’s “wrong” with this excerpt?

He had no notion life wasn’t always a long journey to a distant horizon. Sometimes it ended in a blink, in a blur of fire and pain.

Turns out “blink” and “blur” didn’t mean then what they mean now .

Now, Emma Woodhouse may not have been able to “blink” away the tears that “blurred” her eyes after Mr. Knightley gave her what for. But I gotta tell you: my protagonist totally does. Even though these words aren’t accurate within the historical setting, I would be shocked to discover any reader who noticed, much less took exception, to them.

As an author, you must occasionally make the call to depart from the smaller details of accuracy, for the sake of your overall story. Don’t sweat the details  too much. It is fiction, after all.

5. Maintain Consistency

Here’s the secret to authenticity: it must walk hand in hand with consistency. Indeed, consistency is the whole point . It’s why we avoid every detail that might jar–even if it’s an accurate detail. It’s why we don’t sweat the little, unrecognizable errors. As long you’re presenting your story’s truth with absolute consistency, readers will buy into it with little effort.

6. Show Your Bravado

Finally, be brave. Trust in your skill to create an authentic experience for your readers, and trust in that experience to help readers glide right past the places where you’ve sacrificed absolute accuracy for the sake of the bigger picture.

As any magician knows, you have to sell the performance. If you look like  you believe 100% in the illusion you’ve created, readers will be all the more likely to follow your lead and believe in it themselves.

The Long Trail by Brad Dennison (affiliate link)

But also be wise. Sometimes, no matter how perfect a word is to a scene, it still won’t belong, as in western writer Brad Dennison’s tongue-in-cheek comment to me:

The things you wish you could include in a story. In the western I’m working on now, Johnny McCabe … didn’t even know [his brother] Joe was in the area. … Johnny says to him, “How is it I didn’t see you out there?” Joe says, “Ain’t a man alive can find me if I don’t want to be found.” I would so like to have Johnny say, “What are you, Batman?”

The balance between accuracy and authenticity is ultimately the balance of the entire story. If your mastery of authenticity is strong enough to convince readers to suspend their disbelief, then they’ll forgive–and even embrace–your occasional lapse of accuracy.

Wordplayers, tell me your opinion! What has been the most difficult part of your novel research? Tell me in the comments!

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K.M. Weiland is the award-winning and internationally-published author of the acclaimed writing guides Outlining Your Novel , Structuring Your Novel , and Creating Character Arcs . A native of western Nebraska, she writes historical and fantasy novels and mentors authors on her award-winning website Helping Writers Become Authors.

Egyptian Hieroglyphics.

In my recent manuscript, I had the kids visiting Olympus (easy, it’s like going to the corner store everyone knows it so well) Asgard (just make some stuff up, nobody will know – but again, most of the pantheon are well known), and then the pyramid of Khufu, where I’ve never been, and there will be hieroglyphics that lead them to the secret entry.

Oh man, and the internet can’t agree on the meanings of those!

So I made some reasonable calls based on the majority of what I found, and if I run afoul of a scholar reading my kids’ book, then I might learn something in the dialog that follows.

Good for you! This is exactly the sort of thing I’m talking about. When you *can’t* find the truth, don’t be afraid to make educated guesses.

Hey Andrew! Egyptologist here 😉 Ask away! (and it’s “hieroglyphs”, “hieroglyphic” is the adjective….) If you have a lot of text to cover, you can e-mail me at: fam.focke (a) gmx.de. Just please say you’re Andrew from Helping Writers Become Authors in the title so you don’t land in the spam… Actually, I’d need your email address anyway to send the hieroglyphs – though there ARE fonts, they’re a pain. It’s easier to use a hieroglyph program and export as a JPG.

Actually, that’s just the sort of thing that annoys me as an Egyptologist and history buff (sorry, Andrew). If someone gets the little things wrong (hey, you might not realize that the Egyptians didn’t have the “l” sound and name a character with an l in it) – okay. But something like translating a text – there are people out there who can help. Ask University faculties. Museums. I know there are some snobs out there, but there are also tons of people eager and willing to help. I suggest, in fact, if you are writing a historical novel to try and find an expert to read your novel AFTER it’s finished (I guesss around Beta level). The thing about research is that you have to look in the right places, and if you don’t know what the right places are, you can read tons of books and still make some glaring mistakes. That’s okay. It is, as we historians like to say, “not your field”. But it’s also something that can be fixed 😀 My husband and I are always amused by the fact that, apart from the obvious (and purposeful) anachronisms, A Knight’s Tale and the Three Musketeers movie with all the airships have some of the best and most historically accurate costumes and props. More so than “historical” films for any period except Regency. Go figure!

That’s interesting about Knight’s Tale and Musketeers . Supporting the theory of the bigger the lies, the bigger the foundation of truth must also be, perhaps?

No offense, but every time I read something like this I get really paranoid about my long-time unpublished novel. I did research on my NYC love story ( only been to NYC via internet) several years ago and felt good about it, however, I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say Gothic Bridge so I say a dark bridge, Empire State Building I say a tall building or the ferry to Staten Island I say island, Mayflower Tower I say a brownstone apt., etc. Can we be sued because I have a kidnapping in the Mayflower? Also, if I publish on Create Space Amazon instead of a traditional publish who has a reputation to lose, will the hungry perfectionist guru be less critical with mistakes? Thank you.

Names of places and things are not copyrighted. You can even use the names of real people, as long as you’re not libeling them.

Not sure what you mean by “hungry perfectionist guru,” but self-publishers need to be just as vigilant against mistakes as traditional authors–if not more so.

My series of historical novels (you’ve read them) involve a protagonist who’d been raised in England, but joined the German army in 1912 and pursued his military career through two world wars… (and went to the Berlin Olympics in 1936!!) My greatest problem of authentic language was avoiding any taint of Americanism that could not possibly be in his (or the story’s) jargon before 1945. I say ‘taint’, because we in Canada stand between a rock and a hard place in our use of the English language, and Americanisms are second nature. One slip with an “okay” and it would be ‘game over’. (another Americanism, I THINK.) My British beta reader told me of a number of language errors that had slipped through. Thank God for beta readers.

Hi Lyn, I was thinking a while back that I should read one of your historical novels. Having strategic beta readers to help with inaccuracies sounds extremely pivotal in this case.

Benjamin, I would love you not only to read one of my novels, but to give me your reaction, good, bad, or ugly. The truth from readers always helps the next effort.

Sounds good. The book covers look great!

I’ve always been incredibly impressed by how effortless you make your research look in your novels. As for Americanisms, I breathe in terror at the thought right now! I definitely need to nab a pair of British eyes to help me check this current WIP.

*raises hand to volunteer*

Hey, thanks! Are you in London?

I’m not British, but I’ve lived in England for several years now and notice when American words are used in a book that is supposed to be set in England. Drives me nuts 😀 But I try to remember that I hear the words every day while the author does not.

Thanks for this post. I needed it right now…research is hard for me becuase I know I need it for the book I’m working on, but I’m a little nervous I won’t get it right.

Americans get dinged for this a lot (and rightfully so), but it definitely happens the other way around. There was a memorable Doctor Who episode, set in Depression-era NYC that had all the American characters calling the elevator a “lift.” 😉

Thanks to Hulu, I watch British, Australian & Canadian (esp Vancouver) TV shows.

I got the impression that the folks in BC tended to speak an Australian vocabulary with an American accent.

Great topic! I’ve been waiting for something like this to pop up. First I’d like to congratulate you and all those who make an attempt to write historical fiction. Hats off you, seriously. Easier said than done. By the way, I had never even heard of historical fiction before discovering this blog and your writing. I also admire your approach as well your fine tuned writing process. Quality versus quantity. You certainly take your time to produce a quality novel and it definitely shows. That in itself is a testament to your own standard, mindset, and authenticity as you put it. The linguistics and semantics alone would stymie me. And I like languages!

I’ve thought about writing some historical fiction when I grow up. Inspired by you of course. There’s at least 2 or 3 ideas already on the backburner. But that’s definitely down the road as I learn about structure, outlining and the whole realm of writing. I do however, find the research part pretty daunting with my own kind of paranoia. Will they buy into this? Is it believable? They’ll see my mistakes! Sometimes I’ll dismiss doing too much research and rely on my imagination to write fantasy because I don’t have a complete grip on a subject. Know what I mean? Maybe I do have some obsessive tendencies! I’ll get too bogged down in all the “research” that I’m not writing at all and get overwhelmed. I HATE that feeling. On a positive note, it is fun too! I’ve consulted professionals about certain topics on justice and getting great feedback! One of them is a lawyer/SFF writer who happens to have an awesome book. Closest to the Fire: A Writers Guide to Lawyers and the Law.

I have a lot bottled up about this subject. When do you know you’ve done enough research? When do you draw the line before getting to overwhelmed or lost in the details? Or how much should you research? The more I research something, it seems the list just never ends and I end up going down a rabbit hole. Do you set parameters for yourself? Like, I’ll research only for six months or does it vary?

There definitely comes a point where you just have to *stop* researching. For me, that point comes when, as I say, I finish reading the list of books I’ve created for myself–and also, whenever, I’ve answered all the important questions posed by the story. Deadlines can also play a part for me if I feel I’m starting to waste too much time.

That definitely sounds doable.

Benjamin – start writing. The moment you get into the act of telling a story it becomes easier. An adventure. It’s not written in stone. Don’t stop to correct mistakes, just write. When you come to the end of telling the story, you then begin the editing process. This is as much fun as writing the first draft. Here is where you double check the historical facts and break up those information dumps and catch those little phrases inappropriate to the time and place… I could go on, but Katie covers all of this very thoroughly in her writings and on this site. GO for it. At this point the reader is the last thing you worry about.

Your right. I’m kind of a pantser at heart, or a tweener, so I think I need to feel my way through a little. Learning so many things at once.

Perfect timing! I’ve been tossing around a World War II story idea, and the research is intimidating. How to eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Now I’ve a strategy to do just that.

Thanks so much! 🙂

Another trick I’ve picked up over the years is to do a lot of “casual” research long before I ever start the book. For instance, right now, I know I want to eventually write a fantasy trilogy based on Tudor England. Every time, I run across an interesting tidbit in my pleasure reading, I make a note of it and type it up in a research folder for the book. I’ve already “effortlessly” collected over twenty pages of notes for that one story alone.

I like this.

Another great tip–thanks!

@Samantha: I’m writing a WWII story at the moment – let me know if you want any resource recs or anything like that, I’m happy to share the good ones 🙂

Sarah, how sweet of you to offer! Thank you.

If it’s okay to share a few links, and it isn’t too much trouble, I’d appreciate that. 🙂

The series taking the most research is the two thirds of a trilogy I’ve written in the Canadian North. Language, culture, history, mythical history, police procedure in the North. It’s been interesting. Especially as I’ve blended a few town together to create the setting for my stories. (Working on the rule of using a fictional setting if you are going to create mayhem.) I have one more book to write and will need to look at junior miners, prospecting, investments, and some new ways to create mayhem.

Hah, yes, sometimes it’s better to make a few things up rather than risk people in a real-life town getting upset. It’s also an easy way to base a setting on a real-life place without being 100% tied down to its facts.

Great tips – bad research can kill a novel for me, and I find a lot of American authors don’t know what they don’t know when it comes to British and European history (or they can’t be bothered finding out. It’s hard to say).

I like authors who provide an author’s note which separates fact from fiction, although that raises the question of whether they should be at the beginning or the end. At the beginning, and they can spoil the story. At the end, and I’m sometimes too frustrated by the “mistakes” to care that they were deliberate.

I recently read a disclaimer at the beginning of a novel (sorry, but I can’t remember which one), where the author apologised in advance for the facts she had changed. I thought that was clever – it told me she had done her research, but also that she had made deliberate choices to go against the facts to strengthen the story. I can respect that.

This might be the way to go – an introductory acknowledgement that certain facts have been changed, then a fuller disclosure at the end, where it won’t give away any important plot points.

“Don’t know what they don’t know”–that’s what always scares me. :p

I included an Author’s Note of that ilk in my medieval novel Behold the Dawn . I chose to put it at the end, since it was definitely spoilery.

Excellent advice in your latest piece. I’ve always believed that if the facts are right, the reader will believe the fiction, and that you contradict the laws of nature at your peril. Even fantasy (especially fantasy) has to be credible. Even minor characters need to be real and believable, so researching their lifestyles and ‘look’ has to be done. This is why I write stories set in today’s world, or in times I’ve lived through myself.

Settings and locations are best if you know them personally… even if only from a short visit… as the ambience of a place will come through in your writing. If it doesn’t, you’ll notice it yourself. It’ll feel wrong. The finer details can be honed by using ‘Streetview’ (or by visits if the location isn’t too far away) I’ve used ‘Streetview’ to verify sight lines when a character is observing others (I write crime novels) or to check on road layouts or what a character might see from a vehicle.

It’s also worth calling the reception desk at public buildings or companies etc. I needed to know where the gents’ toilets were in Cardiff County Hall, as a murder victim was to be killed on his way to relieve himself after a meeting. (The online building plan didn’t show the detail I needed.) I got all I needed from the security desk by phone. I’ve phoned police stations to check details, and specialist garages to ask about certain details of the classic cars they work on (for hiding things – It’s no good having those diamonds hidden in a magnetic box stuck inside the oil pan, if the oil pan is aluminium.) If you phone a place for information, and tell someone you’re an author, they’ll usually be happy to help. It brightens up another boring day at a desk.

In one book, I very nearly fouled up. I had my villain make an escape by stealing a boat, but my knowledge of the idiosyncrasies of the Bristol Channel’s sand bars and currents was limited to on line searches. I made the escapee a novice too, which almost worked… until I had the chapter read through by someone who’d sailed the area. A few changes to techniques and alterations to the boat’s course ended up with a far more interesting piece with even more sense of jeopardy. It was worth a phone call, followed by e-mailing the piece. I’d underestimated the dangers and the problems. I hadn’t realised the effects of those particularly fast tidal flows on steerage. I do now though.

I’ve made a rule for myself that if my knowledge is limited on a subject, and research doesn’t quite fill in all the details, then it’s better to keep things simple than to risk dropping a howler by stating something completely wrong. I leave that to the movies. I’ve seen too many Hollywood films where a character drives from one location in London to another by passing every known tourist landmark… (check ‘Brannigan’ – it’s a real howler from that point of view). As a former London based motorcycle despatch rider and delivery driver for twenty years, I know the city well enough (but still I’ll check Google Maps etc. because road layouts and new buildings have changed a lot since those days, and I now live in the West of England.)

A very useful piece for everyone. I particularly liked the point about readers perceptions of situations, even if they’re not entirely correct. I hadn’t thought of that. I suppose we’re all influenced by popular beliefs anyway, but having it spelled out made me think about it.

Keep up the good work.

Chris, a motorcycle despatch rider? LOVE it. I also love how you put it. “…it’s better to keep things simple than to risk dropping a howler.” KISS. I’ve always followed that route. One way I do it is to write from the protagonist’s PoV, so that everything in the novel shows only what he knows and sees. Many times I’ve taken refuge in showing his swift impression, allowing me to avoid hard details. Also, the passage of time in a narrative transition can gloss over missing factual research.

“It’s better to keep things simple”–I totally agree. Many times, I’ve gone back and deleted a seemingly great detail just because I could verify it.

I feel your pain- recently I was reading some Amazon reviews of Behold the Dawn (haven’t read it- looking into reading it) and encountered all the “controversy” over your use of the word “bucko.” Give an author a break, people! Seeing how many noticed and commented on an out-of-place word has me terrified about what might happen if I ever slip up.

For the story I am planning, I need to research medieval Japanese and Bedouin culture. I’m a little overwhelmed about where to start on research, especially since my library had zero books on these topics. Making a list of specific areas to research is a great idea.

Japanese and Bedouin, Brenna? Is there any connection?

I will be combining elements of the two cultures in my fantasy world. The novel will take place in a desert, but there will also be samurai-type warriors, an honor system, etc. Of course, the setting will be more cemented once I have done my research.

Sounds great. I love the Japanese ancient culture with its samurai and ninjitsu.

Brenna, Methinks you can do anything in Fantasy, including creating your own world background and history… But you’re right. You need a firm anchorage for the reader.

I completely agree with you, Lyn Alexander. I am creating my own world and history, with many elements from no source but my mind. However, I will be using Japan and the Middle East somewhat in the way Tolkien used England- as a backdrop, and for inspiration from the real world as I create my own.

I wonder if the Gobi Desert had (or still has) any honorable samurai. Wait, are you saying the Bedouins don’t have an honor system?

Ah … you do realize the ninjas were only a few families on the islands of Iga and Koga?

Hah! Thanks, Brenna. 😉 In all truth, that’s not a word choice I’d make for that book if I were writing it now. I’ve changed it in recent editions.

There’s another type of source, if you can’t find historical sources (although I think your library can probably get those via interlibrary loans). Consider anthropologists. I think both fantasy and science fiction writers could both do with lessons in anthropology, as this is the study of culture and societies.

Bedouins are nomads, if I remember correctly. There will be a difference in nomads vs. agricultural people. But nomads and farmers /land owners tend to cooperate with each other, and the farmers might even be offshoots of the nomad’s tribe.

In his book on the fall of Rome, historian Peter Heather mentioned that because anthropologists studied modern nomads (e.g., Bedouins), historians realized that nomads do not aimlessly wander. They travel in fixed patterns between their summer and winter pastures, so if they start showing up suddenly in new places, like the Huns, it’s a clue that something has happened.

So if you can’t find history books, give anthropologists a shot. There might be material to reverse-engineer the culture you’re trying to build.

Thank you for the recommendation! I am overwhelmed by the interest everyone is showing in my story. 🙂 Yes, actually I got the idea to use Bedouin culture because my main character is going to fall in with a group of desert nomads. I will definitely look for both historical and anthropological sources. Thanks again!

This really sounds like a good book. Sounds interesting!

Thank you, Benjamin. Of course, it’s only in the beginning planning stages, so time will tell if it turns out to be good and interesting!

Hi Brenna… Have you read ‘Dune’ (or any of the sequels). Frank Herbert did something very similar with his epic fifty years ago. Now that’s what I call desert culture.

Check it out. It might give you some ideas. (It’s an excellent book… A real classic, but it stands the test of time well.)

Good luck. I admire those who can create new worlds. I write in the real(ish) world of contemporary crime novels.

I saw the movie Dune when it first came out and loved it. Your right, the sand culture is amazing. I just rewatched the trailer for it last week.

Thanks! I’ll look in to reading those. I read a lot of classics. 🙂

Dune is my favorite! And I second the recommendation; Herbert did do his research. During the last Iraq War, a couple of sci fi nerds were convinced that Saddam Hussein had stolen some ideas from “Dune,” specifically the fedayeen, who are also called “fedaykin” in the book.

A few people had to gently explain that the Fremen were modeled on the Bedouins and the other cultures of the Middle East / North Africa.

Which reminds me, that Tuaregs / Berbers would be another nomadic culture. For my fantasy, I read “The Berbers: The Peoples of Africa,” by Elizabeth Fentress and Michael Brett. Sadly it didn’t have enough about their history, but it does talk about their modern culture.

Hah! I didn’t know that about Saddam “stealing.” That’s hilarious. :p

Excellent RECOMMENDATION. That’s a great idea.

One thing I discovered when working on my currently-backburnered historical trilogy was a tendency to get bogged down in the details. I once spent two weeks trying to figure out exactly when, between the Civil War and Wild Bill Hickok’s death in 1876 it became common to have numbers as well as suits on playing cards. Two weeks! It finally dawned on me that *it doesn’t matter* and I rewrote the scene to remove references to the cards. Gah!

As a history teacher, I think you’re spot on in the accuracy vs authenticity issue. Make us *feel it,* or as I say to my students *could* it have happened that way, and we’ll forgive a great many small error, if we even notice.

Sadly, I don’t have any recommendations for Bedouin or medieval Japan, but as a college history teacher, I can recommend some books on the Tudor period. Alison Weir has a ton of excellent books that are both academic-level history and very accessible to the non-academic (not a ton of jargon.). Pretty much any of them. There are enough excerpts from primary sources to give you a feel for the language, and details about life,as well as the lives of the nobility.

Anyway, wonderful post! Thank you

Thanks for thinking about it, anyway!

I did think of one for Japan, but it’s fiction and you’ve probably read it. Shogun is amazing for its accuracy and characterization of its Era…

I want to read these when you’re done!

The best source on ninjas is Stephen Hayes.

There’s another author his last name is Cummings that have weight into the secret life of ninjas and a translation of some of their ancient writings. Cool stuff.

Actually, I haven’t read it. I’ll look for it. Thank you for the recommendation!

Hey, thanks for the Tudor recommendations! I’m doing a lot of “painless” research on this series, since I won’t be writing it for several years yet. I’ll add these to my reading list right now.

My personal favorites are Princes in the Tower, Wars of the Rose’s, and Children of Henry VIII, buy they’re all good.

I’ll look forward to your foray into that time period as I do everything you write!

The Children of Henry VIII immediately caught my eye!

Alison Weir! I was coming here to say this, and I’m glad a bonafide history teacher likes her, too. Weir is very readable, and I don’t think there will be a minute of pain reading her 🙂

Another casual resource is the History Channel, assuming they still do history. I’d sometimes note the names of historians who popped up to give commentary on this or that historical event.

Thanks! Good to have a backup vote for Weir!

I want to put in a word for YouTube. I wanted to visit some of the places that my fantasy is based on, but they became unsafe suddenly (well, one always was). But YouTube came to the rescue, allowing me to see tours of the landmarks I wanted to explore, especially the ones narrated by historians.

Thanks to YouTube, I also learned how an astrolabe worked and exactly what’s happening during the “lost wax process” the ancients used in metalsmithing. For one thing, the name does not mean that people lost knowledge of how the wax process worked, so it’s a good thing I did not attempt to wing it in the story. Rather, it’s referring to what’s happening to the wax, and should be spelled “lost-wax.” I never go into the process in my fantasy, but I needed to be able to picture what the silversmiths were up to in the scene in which they appear.

I love the advice to be general, although some instances would probably happen by accident for me: it never would have occurred to me to mention what side someone was mounting a horse from. Just get on and giddy-up 🙂

I’m afraid of the British vs. American English from the other direction. My dad is from a more recent colony, and I grew up watching British television. Some of the books I read as a kid used ‘sceptical’ vs. ‘skeptical.’ This is where a lexicon dictionary comes in handy, because their etymologies say what language a word comes from and what it meant in that language, and when we started using it. Mine helped me to decide how to spell the name of the mythical creature with the eagle foreparts and the lion hindparts: gryphon is the original spelling, so I went with that to set the tone.

Also, browse the magazine racks for history magazines, including the Smithsonian’s. They taught us in school to always check the copyright date when it comes to history and science. A book on Roman Britain written before the discovery of the Vindolanda tablets will be missing some juicy tidbits. Magazines and news articles have nice updates to what’s in the books. Now we know for sure that Richard III was a hunchback; it wasn’t just Shakespeare’s propaganda.

Another resource: websites like the British Museum and NY’s Metropolitan Museum of Art are fantastic, not just for letting you see what objects were around in the time period — oh, that thingamajig existed back then, so I can let my heroine have one, etc. But also they’ll often list bibliographies in their articles.

For verisimilitude, don’t forget about historical reenactors. Bonus if historians are the reenactors; it turns out some historians have blogs. I wondered if the style of “bra” my Roman era fantasy heroines were wearing would be too hot (wool) or too uncomfortable. A reenactor demystified the whole thing on her website. Which was good, because now the characters had a hiding place for certain objects.

I don’t know how to conlag (making up languages or words in fake languages). So I’ve relied on Lexilogos.com which is one-stop shopping for dictionaries of ancient Greek, Latin, etc. I found another online dictionary for Akkadian. They’re great if you need to have a character say a spell, or you need to name a creature. Remember that “Aslan” just means “lion” in Turkish, so even the greats cheat, too 🙂

All that said — definitely do not sweat the details. At some point, you just gotta write. I like the idea of the author’s note. I plan to have one, just to point people to some of the sources I used for my people and monsters: Pliny, Herodotus, etc. I just took them seriously … it’s amazing how rich a fantasy can be just by going to the source material. Support one lie with two truth indeed!

Great, great stuff here, Jamie! I, for one, appreciate the reminder about YouTube. It should be a no-brainer, but I hardly ever think about it when I’m searching for visual info.

Google Maps has street views for many places

I think Google Maps street views are super helpful. I used it for researching my trips to London, and I truly did get a very accurate idea before I actually visited.

That’s right! I found a slew of info on YouTube alone.

Just a suggestion for those working on historical fiction—-the more esoteric the better—-see if you can find a historic reenactment group that’s focused on your chosen time and place.

Online enthusiast groups are great sources. In my novel (SF, with the early part in a post-apocalyptic setting) a lot of people are back to using horses and carts, buggies, etc., and I knew I could get myself in trouble. I found an online forum-—The Horse Forum—-and joined it just so I could seek help. I simply posted in the general forum, told them I was working in SF, and what I needed to know about.

They LOVED it! A few of them were SF fans as well, but those who responded were all vocal in their gratitude that I wanted to get it right. I’m thinking that if I ever get this thing finished, I’d like to figure out a way to offer those people discounted or free copies, personalized if possible (market strategy, right?).

What’s strange about this is that I hardly used any of what I learned. Importantly, though, I had *confidence* in it. In this, I think it’s like an impressionistic painting: tiny detail may not show up, but the Big Picture is consistent, correct, and easily identifiable; everything fits.

Hope this helps.

I second this. Most people who are passionate about a subject are *ecstatic* to get to talk about, especially if they think it will end up in a book. I’ve met a lot of great people this way.

Great points. It seems like a lot of this is intuitive (at least for me). As I was reading, I found myself sort of saying, “yeah.. THAT makes sense.” Of course it’s always good to have someone else (who’s a writer) solidify some of the same thoughts you have — so you know you’re not crazy! I also think, with all of this said, and even with an imperfect work, that honest negative feedback on the topic of research, is the next biggest step to improving. Like you said, no one should be expected to know every single little thing about a topic, because there is too much nuance and information that feeds realistically into your subject. BUT, if you can figure out (from the negative feedback) what area of research you might have failed in, there’s a good chance you can use that information so that the next time around, you’re thinking in these new ways: whatever they are, ways that help you approach research or maybe even a better way to organize research, etc.

I won’t say that I *like* it when a reviewer calls me out on historical quibbles in my published works. 😉 But I’ve definitely learned and grown from it as both a writer and a researcher.

Truth. It’s all in how we respond as learners. It’ll just help us grow.

The “You Can’t Say That” website you linked to is amazing! I had to force myself to stop reading it. 😉

Isn’t fascinating? Makes me want to go out and buy the full set of the Oxford English Dictionary.

It’s my DREAM to own the full set of the OED!

I have the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. In 2 volumes at 3750 pages, it’s adequate for me.

Ah, I should look into that. I was looking up the full set, and it only costs around $1,500. Um, no. :p

Hmm. I missed that. I’ll have to check that out.

Thanks for writing this. It’s very reassuring!

Yeah, perfection is just too hard a taskmaster. 😉

This post could not have come at a better time! I’m working on an alternate history (steampunk) story. I’ve been doing some research on when certain things happened here versus when said things (abolition of slavery, for example) happened in England (or the UK, depending on precisely when – something else for me to look up [again]). Now if I can only remember to make notes…

Alternate history is a lot of fun–just enough facts without being absolutely chained to their veracity.

Oh, alternate history stirs up my imagination. I’d like to give a whirl someday. Already collecting some info. *he he*

Wowsers. You guys are amazing. A lot of you sound like history buffs, which is certainly my worst subject. But I guess that’s what research is for right? I actually do like history more everyday and currently researching the history of kung-fu, wing-chun kung-fu, shaolin kung-fu as well as judiciary legal systems for my upcoming novel.

Thanks for this post Kate. Especially having the questions prior to diving into research for some sense of pararmeters. Research is FUN. But I need to limit myself to the necessary information critical to the story.

You guys rock!

I think I can safely say that my love of history is a large part of why I became a writer. After all, what is history except a story?

Don’t just restrict it to the facts pertinent to your story, Ben… Soak it all up. If you have a fuller understanding of the background, it’ll seep out into the writing and breathe life and reality into the story.

You never know when those facts will be useful. If they’re in your mind, then they’re there to inform your thoughts as you work out where you’re going next. Even when I’m dreaming in bed at night, I’ll sometimes get ideas for my plot, or how my characters are going to progress. These get informed by some of the ‘useless junk’ floating about in my head. It all helps.

Yes! I’m really liking that. I have a “soak it up” kind of mentality, so this goes along with my gut feeling. I’m a sponge when it comes to stuff like this.

Thanks for this! I can’t stress enough how important research is. Usually writers argue they don’t have time research. Well, in that case, they shouldn’t expect people to take their work seriously! Research should be the primary ingredient in a good story.

Your article is superb! What I found very difficult is for non-native English speakers to write in English. Even if their English is fluent, it’s very difficult to imitate everyday dialogue, unless you have actually lived in an English speaking country.

Actually, this is very much true even for dialects *within* the same language. Getting the British dialects right in my WIP was very important–and very tricky–for me as an American.

Thank you so much for this! I am in the middle of writing the first draft of my second historical novel and was really worrying about how to go about doing research when I am done. I hate squashing the inspiration of the first draft with wondering if I got a technical or minor historical detail right, so I tend to write and then research, writing down questions and things to check on as I go. This was very timely!

That’s actually one of the reasons I like to sandwich my research in between the outline and the first draft. I get to create my story in the outline and figure out exactly what I need to know, then research to find the answers, and then write the first draft with pretty much no concern about whether or not I’m headed in the wrong direction with my representation of facts.

That’s a good way to do it too! I’ll have to give it a try, usually I am just to impatient to get started on the writing and end of researching as I go 🙂

Well, I’m very much of a “ounce of preparation is worth a pound of proofreading” kinda person. 😉

The only thing I disagree with in this article is surrounding a character with real historical figures. For me, nothing pulls me out of a book faster than when a fictional character interacts with too many real people, especially if he/she influences either that character, or has a ridiculous influence over actual historical events (i.e., Moses’ former true love influencing Pharoah to go after the Israelites in The Ten Commandments, when in the Bible it was Pharoah’s own pride and hardness of heart that caused him to do it, no nagging wife needed). I’d rather the historical figures be more on the sideline myself, part of the atmosphere more than a Who’s Who of whatever time period it is that the MC goes around hobnobbing with. //rant over 🙂

Let me clarify: definitely not suggesting all historical stories need to incorporate historical characters.

Dear K. M. Weiland, My name is Haley and I’m thirteen. I am a writer. I know that you published your first book when you were fourteen. How did you write your book and still keep up with school work and other things? I know you must be busy with the book that you are currently writing but if you know of a way to help me I would really like to know. Thank you for giving good advice for writers and myself.

Welcome to the site, Haley! I was actually 20 when my first book came out. However, I’ve been writing steadily since I was 12. The key, as it is for writers of any age, is to set aside a doable amount of time and be consistent at showing up to write every single day. That’s a habit that will generate a huge amount of productivity and serve you very well over the long run.

Thank you for such great advice and for listening. I shall surely try to follow it.

I can’t wait to read Wayfarer! It’s so hard not to obsess about minor errors that slip in, but I don’t think they affect the quality of the work if the story is good. I seem to recall that some of Shakespeare’s plays have really egregious anachronisms — like a clock in Julius Caesar. I have to confess that sometimes I really superenjoy picking up on tiny little errors about something I am familiar with, like law or law schools or Louisiana or the South. This happens on television shows all the time and frankly adds to my enjoyment of the story, if it’s a good story. If it’s not, and I have to watch it for some reason, it gives me something entertaining to think about… (And of course no one would want courtroom scenes to be accurate. There are few things more boring than real-life courtroom scenes. More “can you identify this spreadsheet” than “you can’t handle the truth!”)

Actually, Shakespeare is a great example! We’re not so aware of it these days, but his plays are actually extremely inaccurate in the larger details, as well as the small. Didn’t seem to have hurt his authenticity too much. :p

Exactly! The important part is whether he tells the truth about the human condition — and he does!

“I do it during “writing” time, which for me is two hours every morning. This, of course, means that during the research period, I get to sit around reading all morning and call it work.”

I’m told ENFP personalities have these “energy spikes” that they rely on for creative work. It’s certainly true for me. I can’t set a writing schedule for beans– all I know is that I can’t do it first thing in the morning, when I can’t even tell the difference between my left hand and a refrigerator. XD But I did discover that simply setting a couple of alarms on my phone– one to go off in ten minutes, the second to go off thirty minutes after that– gives me enough motivation to sit down and write pretty quickly. I always go over that thirty minute limit by at least an hour.

I never thought about it before, but I wonder what would happen if I did the same thing for sitting down to read and do research? I get so easily sidetracked during my research phase sometimes. I find interesting links that *look* like they might be important to what I’m researching, but they don’t always turn out that way… and then I’m off “researching” a neverending chain of links, and before I know it, I’ve learned a lot more about recipes containing peanut butter or techniques for defeating the final boss fight in Spyro the Dragon than I have about Second Order Cybernetics. (To this day, I still don’t understand half this stuff I’m reading on it.) @_@

Which brings me to a question: What do you do when your research suddenly turns so agonizing that it’s no better than reading Wikipedia pages and you have to fight to stay focused? (I don’t know if other people are as put off by Wikipedia as I am.) Sometimes I feel like I’m learning about the entire universe, then sometimes I feel like the stupidest little insect, like I’ll never understand what I’m reading about, and therefore will fail at what I’m writing about. How do you get through it?

First of all, I believe it is *so* important to understand your personality in figuring how to “hack” your own process. I’m an INTJ, which means I eat, sleep, and breathe schedules and structure. That’s how I roll. It’s *not* how everyone rolls, and it’s valuable to recognize that and to recognize there isn’t a right or a wrong way to do any of this. There’s just one of many, many different ways that *work* for the individual person. So kudos to you for recognizing that in your life! You’re saving yourself a lot of grief.

As for your question, honestly, there’s no pretty answer. There’s only: keep at it. Sometimes taking breaks can help prevent your attention from wandering. But sometimes you just have to slog through the boring stuff to find that one little kernel you needed.

I have never fully taken control of those P energy spikes (I guess that’s the nature of the beast), but I find that making to-do lists is the best way for me to manage myself. (Yeah, I know — lists — that’s so J, isn’t it?!?)

I absolutely suck at sitting and deciding to do something for a certain amount of time. I really do well when I’m free to jump from task to task (I’m a big believer in the insights that come when you stop focusing directly on the subject). The best way for me to keep the energy rolling is to make a manageable list of things I can do in that sitting or in that workday and race through it as quickly as I can. This often turns out to be several hours, which flies by much more quickly and productively than if I had attempted to schedule the day.

I’m superb at putting out fires. I’m less superb at steadily plowing through non-emergency tasks, but the best solution for me is to make them emergency tasks by putting them on the TO DO RIGHT NOW list.

I have much more experience of how to manage this as a lawyer than as a writer, but as a writer, I find it MUCH better to structure my work around tasks than time-blocks.

I just had to share this since I’ve been struggling with this issue for years as a P-oriented lawyer. Another lawyer once told me that “J is the essence of being a lawyer.” I obviously don’t entirely agree, as I’m quite good at what I do, but it’s certainly true that a P has to fight the tendency to be a wild pony wandering aimlessly across the plain.

And, because Ps often need encouragement, please keep in mind that NOBODY can do precision work more quickly than a P on an energy spike! (And this may be because NOBODY gets more done when they’re not actually “working” than Ps.)

I would bet good money that though you may struggle to fit into a “J” occupation, the “unusual” perspective you bring to as a Perceiver makes you very good at your job indeed!

Thank you, Katie! On a good day, this is true. It helps that I am surrounded by people who know how to manage and/or support me, and that I’ve found the right area (complex regulatory compliance) and work situation (independence without having to be in charge).

“Every time you make something up, make sure the “lie” is supported by at least two “truths.””

You know, I did something similar to that once. My femal protag superhero rides a motorcycle, and she wanted a way to disguise it so people wouldn’t recognize it. At first, she and another character were considering paramagnetic paint (running an electric current through the paint would cause it to change colors), but another character pointed out that the YouTube video that popularized the idea of paramagnetic paint was a hoax: It was just that YouTuber’s demonstration of his use of Adobe After Effects. However, they went with electroluminescent paint. (Do a search on “The Science of LumiLor to see what it is.)

Along with the electroluminescent paint, they modified some of the motorcycle’s parts to open out and change shape, and I threw in a 3D printer for them to make some of the parts. So in the end I included a lie that remained a lie, threw in some truth, a bit more truth, and hopefully by the end of it all, nobody will notice or care that I haven’t got the faintest clue on how to modify a motorcycle. XD

Haha. That made me grin. As someone else who has no idea how to modify a motorcycle, I for one will suspend my disbelief. 😉

I found the internet quite useful in researching for my writing, especially with my last novel. I needed to know how an Uzi worked and the only time I fired one was when I was in the service more than 30 years ago. I was able to look at a clip on line and see one fired so that gave me what I needed to know. I found other things as well.

The Internet is great for gun and machine info. That is one thing I usually remember to use YouTube for.

How did we writers ever live without it? The only place you can look up what “that thing you use to do whatsit” is called.

For a while, I’ve been working on a science fiction/fantasy story that has A LOT of different environments, characters, technology-levels, etc. I think it’s a common misconception among non-writers that if you write speculative fiction — particularly fantasy — you don’t have to do any research, that you can simply make up everything and it will be fine. However, any writer worth their salt knows that this couldn’t be further from the truth. I will make no claim that speculative fiction requires more research than any other genre, but it certainly can have just as much as any historical fiction novel; which is saying something, considering the amount of work historical fiction writers put into their work. I’m definitely not an expert on the art of researching for writing, seeing as I am young and inexperienced in life in general, but I found a researching strategy that works well for me at least. With all the different planets and characters in my story, it gets hard to keep track of all the research and ideas I have for specific ones. So, (this is going to sound weird, I can feel it) I use the Pinterest secret boards to store all my research. I’ve created a board for each of my planets and characters. Then, when I do research online for one aspect of whatever setting or character I’m researching at the moment, I can pin the website to the board and type up a short summary of the information or some tags so I can find it again very quickly using the search engine. I don’t know if this is the best way, but it’s worked so far; plus it sure makes me happy to see all that research work lined up in perfectly straight columns!

Definitely agree with this. I do a lot of research for my fantasy novels, even though I don’t have to be as rigidly factual.

I wrote a short preface in present day, then the rest is a flash back to 1979. I minimized my research by sticking to the area I grew up in, in a time when I was a teenager.

It’s fun to write about a recent time when the technology was different. The house had one TV and maybe two telephones (you had to make sure someone wasn’t eavesdropping on the other extension). No computers and only a wrist watch to tell time while on the move.

Then there was trying to get an authentic dialect without going overboard. I slip in some iconic words, but try to avoid alternate pronunciations. How would I easily let the readers know that ‘wash’ is said as ‘worsh’?

Still, this week I was thinking of given names for new characters and realized even that’s changed. I’ll go through some high school yearbooks from our area at that time and make a list of the names people were giving their children in the late 50’s and early 60’s.

My last book was set in my hometown. It was such a change from the far-flung (and usually imaginary) settings I typically write, and it was a ton of fun!

I’m an INTP, so I just have to look something up and then tell you about it!

My HS, classes of 1977-1979, most common names (7 or more instances, in descending order)

Susan, Debbie, Cindy, Kathy, Mary (Ann, Jane, Jo, Kay), Barbara, Carol, Kim, Lisa, Nancy, Michelle, Patty

Dave, Mark, Jim, Jeff, Mike, Bob, John, Tom, Dan, Rick, Ron, Scott, Steve

Should’ve done it earlier for my own WIP, but for a particular location/time period, I can see making a list like this, and when you need a name for a character, pick one off the list.

We also have a good number of eastern European families that live here, so when I decided to give one of my characters a Serbian surname, I checked carefully to match the given name, that it wasn’t Croatian or whatever (which someone would get offended over)

The Social Security Database is another good place to look for top names of the year.

I am working on my first novel which is realistic fantasy about Ireland and the fairie faith. I need to be accurate about an American teen suddenly moved to live in Ireland with a rural Grandmother who strongly believe in fairies. The realism comes in where I want the Tuatha de Dannan to be a race that could manipulate matter and shape shift using advanced quantum physics. My biggest problem comes from that fact that that period and that of druidism have such limited real facts. It should make it easier to write but there is so much out there that has already been fantasized and I don’t want this to sound like a typical fairy fantasy story. Is there anyone out there who can tell me more about Ireland than I can find on the internet and in books on the fairy faith?

Not so much about fairies, but I just read a good book on early Ireland: Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd. It talks about the Tuatha de Dannan.

This was extremely helpful! Thank you for always giving concrete steps and examples – I see so many vague posts that just rehash the same things all over the internet. Your posts are always spot-on.

[…] Some writers love it, some hate it. K. M. Weiland considers the two sides to novel research: accuracy and authenticity, and Donald Maass thoroughly explores relevance in […]

[…] https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/novel-research-2/ […]

[…] as K.M. Weiland stresses in her great post on writing historical fiction, even more than getting the facts right (which you need to do), what […]

[…] Novel Research: 12 Ways to Ace Your Book […]

[…] than two thousand years. This presented its own special set of challenges (see K.M. Weiland’s great blog post for some tips on writing historical fiction), but it felt right so I scrapped the first draft […]

[…] to Cut the Crap and Research Your Novel Effectively, Researching Your Novel: The Ultimate Guide, Novel Research: 12 Ways to Ace Your Book, and Fact-Checking Your […]

[…] Strive for accuracy but be happy with being authentic. Do the best you can to be accurate in your story. But unless you are writing non-fiction, you have wiggle room to be creative. K.M. Weiland says, Hook your readers with the truth and they’ll swallow all the rest of your story’s lies. […]

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How to do Research for a Novel

March 30, 2022 10 min read Fiction Historical Fiction

There is an abundance of information in books and online about how to research for a novel. Many writing books only discuss the topic peripherally, in sections focusing on character, theme, setting, or viewpoint. There are mentions of research in chapters examining the craft of writing, or planning.

Research, it is claimed, is a poor substitute for what you have experienced yourself. Online sources indicate how to keep notes, 5 steps to research, 7 steps or 7 tips, 21 steps, 9 key strategies, or other such itemized approaches.

But this article is about the process of research through direct and indirect experience , a case study with a focus on indirect experience.

So, what is direct and indirect experience, anyway?

Direct experience is life experience. You have gone places and done things in your life, and this is researching your topic through direct experience. If you have direct experience, how do you begin transcribing those experiences and making them interesting, coherent, and structured enough for a novel ?

Indirect experience can be studying life during a specific time in history where direct experience is not possible. So, in that case, what do you do? Where do you start? 

Direct Experience

To take your memories and create the basis for a novel, you can begin by looking at your own unique past.

Novels created from direct experience can be very unique. 

I lived and worked in Ecuador, South America for a year. This formed the basis of my first two novels, Poor Man’s Galapagos , and Abundance of the Infinite . 

In Poor Man’s Galapagos , Tómas Harvey is an irrigation engineering student living on a small, impoverished island in Ecuador. His father is a renowned British travel writer who has travelled to many of the places I have visited. Many of the characters are conglomerations of people I knew there.

I was once locked in the university where I worked, along with students who were protesting against the president of the country. Tear gas bombs were being tossed inside by an armoured military vehicle. Burning tires lined the streets to prevent entry into the small town of Portoviejo. This forms the opening for my novel. 

Abundance of the Infinite is about a psychologist who travels from Toronto to a small coastal fishing town in Ecuador. It is a story about the blurred line between lucid dreams and reality in a place so utterly foreign as the tropical rainforest through which I, and the main character, travelled. 

Even with direct experience, some research is still required. This leads in to the next section…

Indirect Experience

In my latest novel, Intervals of Hope, the main character Nicholas lives with his mother and brother in London, England between the world wars. His father served with the First Battalion, First Canadian Regiment in the trenches of the Great War, and worked in the coal mines of South Leeds. This may seem, at first glance, like daunting research. 

In beginning this research, I had the looming question later posed to me in the book launch . How many other books are out there set in the same time and place, and what makes mine different? So these are questions you should keep in mind.

As I answered in my book launch, there were some crime novels that took place in England between the wars, and some mass-market type books with scenes in that time period such as Ken Follett's Fall of Giants and Winter of the World .  These were published within the last decade or so. A London Family Between the Wars , published in 1940, was written as a memoir but had a lot of interesting details.

So, I didn’t find a lot of interesting literary fiction set between the wars that explored the fascist movement in Britain at the time, the conditions leading England to war, the stories of the coal miners (although George Orwell’s Road to Wigan Pier was appealing), as well as the reality of those who chose to escape their countries in a time of war, and the homing call for them to return and fight.

A key to the uniqueness of Intervals of Hope is the examination of the father-son relationship during that tumultuous time, given that the main character’s father was a WWI veteran, and the novel’s examination of the effect his father’s legacy had on his son as WWII loomed and ultimately took shape.

Copious Reading

As the novel starts in London, England between the wars, that's where I started my research. I read books such as the history of London (which was long and quite dry, highly recommended for insomniacs) and In the News , a book of newspaper clippings from 1930-1939. And George Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier about life in the coal mines of South Leeds.

A 1930s scrapbook showed common household items and magazines of the time. And Inside Europe by John Gunther, the October 1938 edition. That is a rare book, published just before WWII broke out, so it showed what the state of Europe was at that time without any skewed historical lens. 

So, where does your novel start? Perhaps your non-fiction research can start there.

Look for unconventional books, rare books that can help you put a unique spin on the world you are attempting to create.

But what of fictional influences? I read other books of fiction before and during the writing of the novel, and these are listed below. 

What fiction has influenced you to write the novel you are working on? Re-reading them might provide some fresh insights and inspiration, and infuse your book with renewed vitality.

Timothy Findley's The Wars . This was an interesting literary novel exploring the effects that WWI had on an empathetic main character. I once met with a publisher who said that Intervals of Hope shouldn't be published because The Wars was done so well. I disagree with his assessment, as under that presumption all writers should put their pens down based on the excellence of what's been done before.

Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road. Joseph drew upon family stories from his grandfather and uncle, who served as soldiers during WWI. For Intervals of Hope , I was provided with e ighty-five letters, which were sent home during WWI by my great-grandfather. These letters were discovered in a family attic, and form part of the novel.

Ken Follett's Fall of Giants and Winter of the World. This is a mass-market, sprawling epic focused on an assortment of characters in WWI and WWII. With the epic scope, the inner life of the characters was not explored in great detail, which is what I was after in my novel. However, these books provided interesting aspects of these times. 

Want to write better short stories? Sign up for a 1-on-1 consultation with our short story expert, Author  Tevis Shkodra .

Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls . Robert Jordan was an explosives expert with a mission to destroy a bridge in the Spanish Civil War. Pablo, the anti-fascist guerilla leader, and his wife Pilar are excellent secondary characters. A real inspiration.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. A very funny book set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of a bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him.

Roddy Doyle's A Star Called Henry about Henry Smart in the Irish Rebellion, which was quite comical at times. Well written, lively, not one I would have sought out but a reading suggestion from the publisher as I was engaging in rewrites. This is a real study in unique and bold characterization.  

Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage was published thirty years after the American Civil War had ended, by a man who was born after the war. It was acclaimed for its realism by veterans of the war. So maybe you are attempting something similar with your novel, and it may be worth a read. 

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, about WWI from the German perspective. The idealism of youth turns sour from what they see and experience. Another story similar to The Wars , exploring the effect of war on the individual.

There was also a book on Canadians who deserted the battlefields during WWI, which I found interesting and which forms part of the conflict that two of the characters face in the novel.  

So, that was my reading list. What is yours? Think about allocating space on your bookshelf for a reading list pertaining to your current novel. Refer to your books from time to time. Seek inspiration from them when needed. Immerse yourself in the world you are attempting to create. 

Reading for research and inspiration is essential, to which any author can attest. Read what has been done before. Learn why it is considered great.

But what else gives authenticity and life to your novel? 

Interviewing

In the course of writing Intervals of Hope , I wanted to get some details right. So, I contacted a man named George Sharp who lived in London, England between the wars. I was able to read his story online, and ask him questions about his life at that time.

Unlike the novel’s main character, George was a police officer. But he provided a lot of good input, clarifications, and details, and he seemed interested in sharing his memories and experience.

A key element of the novel is the father-son relationship. But originally, the father was not fully formed. He was a stale character , lacking any substance that would make for conflict between him and his son.

But then, I read about a man named Gordon Schottlander in a local newspaper. Gordon was a veteran of WWII who lived in London, England between the wars, and his father was a soldier in WWI. This paralleled the novel’s main character. So, I reached out to Gordon and he graciously agreed to be interviewed for the book. We had many wonderful conversations that I will always remember.

He attended the book launch. He read the book, and enjoyed it. There will be an interview with him and the publisher online, which is scheduled for early next month. Gordon was highly-trained as a British Commando, a special operations force formed by Churchill to engage in secretive and dangerous missions.

He was a commissioned officer who stormed the beaches on D-Day. He is an amazing and humble man and it's been a blessing to know him. And a lot of his story comes through in the book.    

Gordon sharing his experiences with me enriched the novel in countless ways: his wartime experiences , living in London in the 1930s, and Gordon's relationship with his father. This is part of what provides the book with authenticity and makes it unique. 

Look for opportunities that you may have to interview those who have lived the life of your characters, or can provide you with unique perspectives that will enrich your novel and bring it to life.

Letters and Correspondence

When searching for historical documents, look to libraries and public archives. Seek them out within your own family.

Look to others you know, or individuals you can contact about your subject. Pursue opportunities to obtain unknown historical documents. 

While writing Intervals of Hope , I learned that e ighty-five letters sent home during WWI by my great-grandfather, Wilfrid Littlejohn, had been discovered in a family attic. Wilfrid was in E Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade and was one of the first Canadians to be sent overseas and among the last to return. He was one of 70 out of 1000 men in his regiment to have survived.

The letters were sent home to Wilfrid's parents, his brother, and his aunt from the trenches, hospitals and camps. Some sections of the letters were scribbled over by censors who would review the letters prior to sending them.

Letters were censored during WWI to prevent the enemy from obtaining secret information about upcoming battles , numbers of troops in specific locations, etc. so I had to surmise what might be in those sections.

When I received the letters, they were digitized and arranged chronologically. So, I read through and then transcribed them. When looking at what to include in the novel, I went through what effect certain letters would be on the main character at specific points in his life, knowing what was happening in his country in the 1930s in England, and what was occurring in Germany, Italy, Spain, and Japan.

Seek out opportunities to find such documents to be utilized within your novel, or as reference or research material. Such documents can prove to be invaluable.

Travel can not only add realism to your novel through details, but it can also inspire you to get to the business of writing! 

I travelled to London England many times and went around the city as the main character would have, visiting most of the places he frequented in the book. I took notes as I walked around, carefully documenting my surroundings and how these may have been perceived by the characters in the novel.

This helped inspire the story by allowing me to experience part of the life of the main character, and others. 

Final Thoughts

Good research lends credibility to your work, and gives the reader the feeling of direct experience. Imagine your readers feeling that they have lived the life of your characters as they read your book, and have therefore had a direct experience. What about that for a goal?

As a last word, given direct or indirect experience, you will still need to: 

• Read copiously. You should be interested enough in the research to read many books about your subject. Even boring books (for example, a book about the history of London, England) can also feed into your writing.  
• Interview , if possible, to derive from first hand experiences of people who were there.
• Communicate with others who know about your subject.
• Research on your own . When researching online, know that some sources such as Wikipedia can be changed and are therefore potentially unreliable. I have found information on Wikipedia that could not be corroborated elsewhere.  
• Travel to the places in your novel, if possible.
• Look at resources that are rarely used . In researching for an upcoming novel, I obtained a researcher card at the Toronto Library Archives and used a microfiche to get countless documents about my subject. I was able to learn about the basis for the main character of my novel.
• Don't get bogged down in research while you're writing . Focus on telling the story. Write out your scenes. See where more research is needed, and then add details utilizing research.

Now, get that novel going!

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• Tags: Fiction Research , Fiction Writing

The most basic understanding of “fiction” in literature is that it is a written piece that depicts imaginary occurrences. There is this unspoken assumption that fiction, because it is of imagined events, has nothing to do with reality (and therefore researching for a novel is not important). This is far from the truth. 

The history of fiction writing presents an inherent paradox: the most gripping of novels require you to write of imagined events in a realistic way. If we accept literature as a reflection of the world around us, then we must also acknowledge that the best of fiction stems from reality. It may be an account of imaginary events, but is still heavily rooted in the real. 

Elevate your novel after research and writing. Learn more

For a writer, this means in-depth research about various aspects of novel writing , including cultural and social context, character behavior, and historical details. 

Your task is (ever so slightly) easier if you are writing about situations contemporary to you. But the further you go back, through the annals of history, the harder it becomes to strive for such authenticity.

Grammar mistakes are jarring, but so are plot holes. An inconsistent story is off-putting to even the most immersed reader. So, here’s the bottom line: do n’t assume, and get your research down.

Why is research important for fiction?

Because even William Shakespeare, one of the most iconic figures of literature, erred in making anachronisms. One of the most famous literary anachronisms is in his play Julius Caesar , in Cassius’ line:

“The clock has stricken three.” (Act II, Scene 1)

The error is that clocks that “struck” were invented almost 14 centuries after the play was set! 

But Shakespeare was a giant. We have forgiven these misgivings because Shakespearean literature is rich even with such minuscule errors. As for us foolish mortals, it’s probably best to do our research thoroughly. 

Having a detailed understanding of the landscape that you are writing about is one of the most effective ways to draw your reader into the story world. Your extensive knowledge of your chosen topic will also give you a stable and authoritative voice in your writing.

What should you be researching?

As you might have realized by now, there are various aspects of your novel you should be researching. To start with, we’ve split fiction writing research into two categories: content and form. By content, we mean the details and elements you should focus on within your story. By form, we mean the style and genre of writing you wish to eventually adopt.

Needless to say, these two categories will overlap with each other as you make your story more streamlined.  

A story’s setting is one of the most important elements of fiction writing. It is essentially the time and space that your narrative is set in or the story’s backdrop. A story might have a gripping narrative and well-rounded characters, but it is incomplete if the reader doesn’t have a sense of where it’s all happening. As part of your setting, you can include geographical, cultural, social, and political details that you feel are relevant to the story.

In other words, you are essentially creating a “world” for your story . These may seem like tiny details to add to your otherwise imaginary story, but they provide depth and plausibility to your story.

One cool way to get a lowdown on these intricate spatial details like roads, mountains, hills, monuments, and other geographical landmarks is through tools like Google Maps and Street View . This is especially useful if you have to write about a place you can’t visit or you simply want to get geographical descriptions right.

The worst thing you could do as a writer is to assume things. This is a misstep that is quite unnecessary and can easily be avoided with some research. The information you have already gathered while researching your setting is a good enough start. What you now need to do with all these seemingly scattered pieces of information is to make sure they do not contradict each other.

Character details and human behavior

In plotting your story, you will also automatically gain an understanding of the intention and goals of your characters. In order to flesh them out and ensure that they are dynamic and interesting, research is required.

An understanding of human behavior and nature is a very important skill for a good writer. The stereotype of a perceptive and observant writer is, in fact, due to quite a practical need! Even if your characters do not exist in reality, they should seem real enough for your readers to be able to relate to them.

Historical and social background 

Your story world is not just the time, place, and immediate surroundings of your characters. Irrespective of what setting your story has, it also has the larger context of the world that your characters reside in. This could be from a real point in history (like Victorian England, 1920s jazz era, etc.) or it could be completely made up (Oceania from 1984, or Panem).

But irrespective of whether you’re writing historical fiction or creating a new world altogether, it must be thorough and consistent in supporting your plot. As a writer, you must clearly understand the culture and systems that your characters are a part of. A well-rooted universe also gives readers an insight into a character’s identity.

Writing style and genre 

If you are writing a novel in a particular genre, it’s important to be aware of writing conventions and tropes commonly used in that genre. The best, and most obvious, way to do this is to read novels and stories in your genre of choice. Look at the top-rated and critically acclaimed books and study them carefully. Be critical in your study, try to understand the author’s creative writing process, and look at the style and tone they try to evoke. 

Aside from this, you could also take a look at books about novel writing in general. These will give you general, but useful information about novel writing, like when to write long descriptions and when to cut straight to the action.

How should you be researching?

• Read about what you are researching. Books, articles, and other forms of print media are great ways to gather information on culture, history, and society. Biographies and memoirs are great for character insight (especially if you’re basing your book on a real person). If you’re basing your novel in the real world, you know what to do next. If you’re creating your own world, this is still a good basis for whatever you cook up within your world.
• Films and TV are great sources for helping you develop your character as they help you understand character traits and motivation in your story. Additionally, they might also help you visualize your story.
• If you are writing about characters with a niche profession (for example), take interviews with people who are in that field. For instance, if you are writing a detective story, talk to people in your police precinct and observe their behavior.
• If you are writing about specific locations, read up about that. In the age of the internet, there are many resources and forums where you can interact with people around the world.
• Try to visit the locations you are writing about and spend some time there , to gain an insight into what life in that place is like.

Incorporating research into fiction

Be selective about your details. Whether or not you actually incorporate the details that you have researched, knowing your world well will make your writing infinitely better. 

Because of all the information you have amassed, there is a certain bias you acquire as an “expert” on the subject of your story. So if you include a lot of information, there is a danger of your work sounding too technical.

Make sure that every detail you include is directly relevant to the plot. Keep it simple: and avoid unnecessary plot holes.

You can use these practical tips to research for your next story. Once you research and complete your story, the next step is to edit and publish your work.  As a trusted brand offering editing and proofreading services , we’d love to help you refine your work. 

Here are some other articles you might find interesting: 

• 5 Elements of a Short Story & 6 Stages of a Plot
• What is Flash Fiction? Definition, Examples & Types

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How to research for a book: 9 ways to prepare well

Deciding how to research for a book is a personal process, with much depending on your subject. Read 9 tips on how to research a novel:

• Post author By Jordan
• No Comments on How to research for a book: 9 ways to prepare well

How to research for a book: Scope, process, tools

• Define the scope of research
• List headline research you’ll need
• Do a ‘quick and dirty’ search
• Lean on .edu and library resources
• Speak to pros and specialists
• Shadow an expert if applicable
• Read authors on how to research a book
• Have a system for storing research
• Stop when you have enough to write

1. Define the scope of research

Research for a novel easily gets out of hand. You’re writing about Tudor England, for example. The next thing you know you’ve read every doorstop ever written about Anne Boleyn.

Define the scope of research you need to do, first.

This is particularly crucial if you’re new to researching novels.

‘Scope creep’ (where the task becomes bigger and bigger, and the focus dimmer) is a common challenge in research.

If, for example, you’re writing a novel featuring the Tudors (rulers of England between 1485 and 1603), ask questions such as:

• What duration within this era will my story span? (e.g. ‘the last five years of Henry VIII’s life’)
• What information is vital to know? If, for example, you’re writing about a monarch firing a particular associate, this will narrow down your research
• What broad picture elements do I need? (For example, a timeline of key background social or political events within a historical period)

Narrow down what you need to learn to the essentials necessary to begin writing.

2. List headline research you’ll need

Once you know the scope of your research, list the big, main events and subjects you’ll need to cover.

For a historical figure subject like Henry VIII, you might have a list of research to do like this:

• Timeline of major events in the king’s life
• Personality – accounts of what the king was like
• Appearance – descriptions of what the king looked like
• Controversy – king’s many wives, execution of Anne Boleyn, etc.

Make a document with a section per each of the core areas of the story you’ll need to research.

Populate these sections with article snippets, links to educational resources.

(Google, for example ‘Henry VIII reign .edu’ to find information from credible learning institutions.)

3. Do a ‘quick and dirty’ search

In learning how to research for a book, learn how to work smart, not hard. Research the way a student with an assignment hand-in due the next day would, to start.

Use Wikipedia (a no-no in academia). You can find broad information and an idea of what to look for to verify and fact-check later on .edu and library websites , or in physical book copies.

Search amateur history blogs, too. There are many subject enthusiasts who have devoted hours to digging up interesting historical and other information and share their learnings for free in blog articles.

If you’re writing about a real place, use Google Maps to do a street-view virtual tour. You can explore cities you’ve never been to before. Read more more on researching place when you are unable to get there.

Note details to include in scene-setting and worldbuilding such as specific landmarks and architectural details.

Get a professional edit

A good editor will help pinpoint major factual inaccuracies and other issues.

4. Lean on .edu and library resources

When deciding how to research for a book, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, favour credible resources.

You can even find fantastic primary source scans and recordings. Some examples of excellent, free online research resources:

• British Pathé : Pathé News, a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the UK has a rich and varied archive. It includes original footage (trigger warning: disturbing footage of aircraft explosion) of the Hindenburg Disaster.
• Tudor History: Historical .org websites such as this website on the Tudors provide a wealth of research information .
• The Smithsonian has regular online webinars, exhibitions and more where you can learn about a diverse range of natural history topics from experts.

If online research feels overwhelming, consider taking a course in online research skills.

The University of Toronto also put together this thorough list of questions to guide doing research online .

5. Speak to pros and specialists

Learning how to research a novel is made much easier by experts who are happy to share their knowledge.

If you are researching a specific place, language, historical figure, biological or medical issue or another detail, make a list of experts to reach out to.

Explain your fiction or non-fiction project and why you’d value their insights. You’ll be surprised how many are only too happy to contribute accurate, informed knowledge.

You can also find specialist knowledge in online forums devoted to specific subjects.

6. Shadow an expert if applicable

There’s no single ‘right way’ in how to research for a book.

You could take a leaf out of the method actor’s book, for example, and actually job shadow an expert [ Ed note: Once COVID no longer sets stringent limits on contact ].

Depending on the subject or industry, you may have variable degrees of success. For example, shadowing a medical professional has other issues involved, such as patient privacy/confidentiality.

In a roundtable discussion on preparing for roles, British actress Vanessa Kirby described job-shadowing on an obstetrics ward to research a role. Because she had never had a child herself, she wanted to give an authentic performance of a woman in labour (around the 18:15 timestamp).

Writing is very much like acting in this respect: You need to be able to fill in the blanks in your own imagination to prepare.

7. Read authors on how to research for books

In deciding how to research for a book, one also needs to decide how/where to use (or alter) source material. It’s helpful to read authors who write historical fiction and other research-heavy genres. What do they say about process?

Hilary Mantel, for example says this about taking creative license with historical facts:

History is a process, not a locked box with a collection of facts inside. The past and present are always in dialogue – there can hardly be history without revisionism. Hilary Mantel: ‘History is a process, not a locked box’, via The Guardian

8. Have a system for storing research

Research for a book easily becomes cluttered.

How do you keep research tidy and manageable, so that you have the information you need when you need it?

Organise your research for a novel with these apps and tools:

• Google Docs: Outline mode creates a clickable outline of your document in a left-hand panel – perfect for jumping between different categories of research.
• Evernote: This handy app makes it easy to snip bits of articles from your browser into collections to sort and store.
• Sytem folders: Create a folder on your operating system for your project, and subfolders for each research topic.
• Novel Novel Dashboard: You can also fill out character profiles and other prompts on Now Novel using historical sources (see an example below).

9. Stop when you have enough to write

In deciding how to research for a book, it’s important to set a stop point.

Ask yourself how much you really need to begin writing. Need to know what would have been served at a royal dinner in the year 1600? Make a note to add this detail later and describe the details of the occasion you can make up to keep going with your draft.

Balancing research and writing will ensure your research is fit to its purpose – finishing your book with relevant and precise detail.

Need help researching your book? Watch our webinar on writing research (and enjoy future live webinars and Q&A sessions too) when you subscribe to a Now Novel plan.

Related Posts:

• 5 easy ways to research your novel
• Historical fiction: 7 elements of research
• Book ideas: 12 fun ways to find them
• Tags how to research your novel

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

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How to Plan a Novel Study Step-by-Step

If you’ve been teaching with a reading textbook or basal reader, the idea of guiding your readers through an entire novel unit can be overwhelming at first. Add planning your first novel study to the mix, and it can be enough to dissuade even veteran educators. However, incorporating novels and chapter books into your reading instruction doesn’t have to be scary or stressful.

Today I want to share the steps I use to plan my novel studies. I’ll walk you through the process step-by-step and show you approachable strategies for getting started.

I’ll also share a free novel study planning roadmap I created to help you plan for your novel study.

What is a novel study?

Before we dive into planning your first novel study, it is essential to make sure we’re on the same page regarding what a novel study is…and isn’t.

First off, a novel study is NOT a way to effectively teach phonics and decoding.

Younger or struggling readers will also need explicit, sequential phonics instruction to continue building their word attack and decoding skills.

In addition, a novel study is NOT teaching a book.

We aren’t quizzing kids on what happened on page 54. We don’t need them to just be able to regurgitate the text. A novel study is so much more than that.

The reality of the situation is we should always center our focus around the fact we teach kids. A novel study allows those kids to develop their reading comprehension and thinking skills through high-quality literature. It lets them practice and refine their skills related to the standards in a much more engaging format than the typical reading textbook.

A novel study is an opportunity to build a love of reading.

When done as a whole group, it can create a shared experience that builds communities and creates connections.

And with the right text, it can help the skills and strategies you’ve been teaching your readers become tangible.

What is the purpose of a novel study?

There is no single purpose for doing novel studies in the classroom. In fact, the purpose of the novel studies you do may differ across the year.

That being said, it is important to understand why novel studies are a common practice in many classrooms.

There are so many great benefits of using novel studies in your classroom . For starters, a literature-rich curriculum has been shown to improve reading and writing skills (Fook & Sidhu, 2010).

Novel studies can also expose students to perspectives or experiences. They help readers visualize and develop an understanding of things that have never happened in their lives. Even when a novel covers a familiar experience, it often offers a different perspective.

Conversations about reading can also be a tool for building students’ abilities to carry on an intellectual discussion with peers and develop social and communication skills.

That said, novel studies take a significant amount of time. To make them successful, it’s important to approach them with purpose and planning.

Planning Your First Novel Study: A How-to-Guide

Now that we’re on the same page with the background information, it’s time to dig into the steps to planning a novel study.

I’ll break down each step below, but here’s the general overview:

• #1 – Set your purpose.
• #2 – Identify target standards.
• #3 – Pick a framework & texts.
• #4 – Determine your timeline.
• #5 – Map your unit.

If you’re all about action, grab my Free Novel Study Planning Roadmap. That way, you can start working through the process right away!

Ready to plan that novel unit?

Step 1: set your purpose..

This step is really about making sure you’re focused on backward design. When you started considering a novel study for your class, you had a purpose. If you aren’t sure, consider asking yourself some questions –

• Why did you decide this might be the next logical step in your instruction?
• When you finish this unit, what are you expecting your students to know or be able to do?
• What are you hoping students will carry into the real world?

Sometimes this will relate to a few core comprehension standards. However, you’ll often find that your novel study serves a larger purpose.

Maybe you’re introducing students to the characteristics of a specific genre. 

You might also use a novel study to introduce a historical period or event you discuss in social studies. 

Regardless of whether your purpose has cross-curricular connections or is singularly focused on a specific reading component, you must begin with the end in mind by defining this goal.

Step 2: Identify target standards.

Now that you’ve identified why you’re doing a novel study, it’s time to focus on the standards.

This is where you’ll begin creating your plan of action, which you’ll dive into throughout the next few steps.

One benefit of novel studies is the ability to connect multiple standards. That said, we all know that some standards could use extra attention.

Summary, for example, often gives students a hard time, and it is also a great skill to address through the lens of a novel.

As you work through this step, look at your recent reading data and identify 2-3 standards that have been particularly troublesome for your class.

These will be the standards you aim to address 2-3 times throughout your text.

You should also keep these steps in mind as you begin to consider the books you select and how you’ll organize your student groups.

Step 3: Select your framework & text(s).

So far, you’ve focused on the big picture, considered your novel study’s purpose, and outlined the core standards you need to pay extra attention to. With these things in mind, you can start digging into the details.

It’s time to choose your texts and the framework for organizing your study. You can either start by selecting specific books for students to read or focus on grouping them first. Both approaches are effective, but complete this step before moving on to the next phase.

Here’s what I mean. If you’re trying to build a shared background understanding of a historical period, you may want to do a whole class novel study with lots of conversation.

If you’re delving into the complexities of friendships and their impact on characters, consider using book clubs. This approach allows students to share their personal insights and lessons learned from their reading experiences.

For example, a whole-class novel study might not be the best fit if your students have varied reading levels or must meet different standards. In this post, we will look at various ways to organize student groups.

Common Novel Study Formats in the Classroom

Not surprisingly, most novel studies are done in one of three formats. These are:

• Whole-Class or Whole-Group Novel Study
• Small-Group Novel Study – Literature Circles or Book Clubs
• Independent Novel Study

Each format offers positives and negatives, so you may find that your students end up experiencing all three across the course of a school year. The most important thing is that the format you select aligns with your set purpose and can be used to address the target standards.

Knowing that, let’s examine the advantages and disadvantages of group and independent reading by breaking down each format.

Whole-Class Novel Studies

In a whole-class novel study, everyone reads the same book. Each student has their own copy and can choose to read out loud. This approach differs from a read-aloud, which is more about listening and enjoying the story. Here, students actively read and see the words.

During the reading, the class might pause for discussions. You can use extra materials like movie clips or news articles to enrich these talks or demonstrate thinking processes.

After reading, students often write their thoughts or summaries. For longer texts, some independent reading may be done to finish the chapter.

This format usually follows a pattern: read, discuss, respond. Students read together, discuss as a group, and then write independently to reflect on their thoughts.

The key aspect of a whole-class novel study is that all students work with the same standards, text, and additional resources.

Advantages of Whole-Class Novel Studies

• Builds community and provides a shared experience to hook later lessons upon
• Easier for the teacher to plan and monitor – makes it great for beginners
• Can serve as an invitation to help students discover a new series or genre of book.
• Provides opportunities for struggling or reluctant readers to engage in rigorous discussions about literature and access lessons on the same higher-level comprehension skills as peers.
• Allows all readers to access the same culturally relevant or meaningful texts.

Disadvantages of Whole-Class Novel Studies

• Easy to incorporate ineffective/harmful practices – like round-robin reading.
• It is harder to encourage equal participation – reluctant learners may sit back and allow peers to dominate the discussion.
• Too often, it becomes one-size-fits-all teaching without differentiation in the novel study activities.

Small-Group Novel Studies – Literature Circles/ Book Clubs

If you’ve got children at various readiness levels or a large class, you may decide that small groups would work better for your novel study.

With a small group novel study, each group has its own text. They may be working on the same skills as other groups or a different set of skills.

The small group reads together and discusses daily reading. Roles are often used to help manage the group’s time together.

After finishing, students may complete a reflection or respond to a question that connects to the discussion.

Advantages of Small Group Novel Studies

• Excellent for supporting social skills and student conversations
• Offers opportunities to explore a theme or idea from numerous perspectives.
• Allows students to have a text that is more accessible to them w/ peers at the same general reading level.
• Each group can have tasks tailored to their individual needs.  
• It provides a semi-structured opportunity for students to take charge of their learning

Disadvantages of Small Group Novel Studies

• Groups can be challenging for teachers – not ideal for beginners.
• Requires planning for several novels and the ability to monitor and support different groups of learners simultaneously. 
• Groups can quickly get off task or off-track in their discussions without an adult monitor.
• Missed teaching opportunities while circulating among groups.
• Difficult to unify pacing so all groups are ready to move on to a new unit at the same time.

Independent Novel Studies

In this format, students complete a novel study independently or with one-on-one instruction from a teacher or guide. 

With an independent novel study, each student has a different text based on their own interests or needs. They read independently (or with the teacher) and then work to respond to literature.

Mini-lessons may be provided to small groups working on the same skill, but the student works independently overall.

Advantages of Doing Independent Novel Studies

• Offers each student a chance to find a book that piques their interest.
• Great for classes with students with diverse interests or skill levels.
• Promotes independent study skills and puts students in control of their own learning.
• Great for advanced learners or as a way to engage early finishers in an extended project.
• Removes element of comparison between peers
• Can be done on a student-by-student basis to supplement the curriculum
• Offers students near mastery the opportunity to apply comprehension skills

Disadvantages of Independent Novel Studies

• Large amounts of planning & prep
• Requires the teacher to read and be familiar with multiple texts. 
• Not for struggling, reluctant, or unmotivated learners unless done one-on-one.
• Not ideal for instruction – designed more for practice/skill application

Selecting Text for Your Novel Study Activities

Since we’ve spent some time outlining the different frameworks you might select for your novel study, I’ll use this section to outline how you’ll select your texts.

Please know that I recommend reading any novels you plan to use in classroom novel studies before you make your selections.

However, I know this isn’t always feasible. Therefore, at a bare minimum, you should look at the synopsis and some reviews online to ensure you don’t end up surprised by some unexpected content or language.

The last thing you want is to expose students to something they aren’t ready to deal with an angry parent or administrator over your novel selection.

That being said, when it comes to picking your novels, you’ll find many different ideas about how to make your decisions.

Quite honestly, much of the decision comes down to your goal and classroom situation, and you’ll likely find no two years are alike.

The great news is that novel study is meant for flexibility. Given the current status of online learning, you may want to select texts that are available digitally, such as those from platforms like Epic . 

(Don’t worry; I’ll be sharing more about how to adjust a novel study for digital learning soon.)

For those of you doing in-person learning, you might also consider whether you’ve got enough copies of a book available on your campus before you select it. If you need ideas for places to find inexpensive class sets of books, check out my post about ways to build your classroom library on a budget .

You’ll also want to consider your students’ current abilities. Selecting a book that is too difficult or too simple can cause students to disengage.

While many conversations are held about the importance of picking a book at the right level for your readers, the reading level is only a small part of what you need to consider.

You’ll also want to consider your students’ background experiences, interests, and passions. For example, selecting a book about a group of teenage girls trying to make the dance team may not be the best choice for your football-loving preteen boys. You’ve got to consider the audience you’re hoping to reach.

Research has shown that students prefer books that reflect some aspect of their lived experience (Ghani, 2009). Texts that discuss the social and relationship issues that arise during youth are also great choices for building connections. 

The appropriateness of the content is also critical. That said, this can be a bit more challenging when you have a young reader with advanced skills or an older reader who struggles. 

To help you get started, I’ve included a list of 100 popular novels in the free guide . Your school or local librarian can also be a great person to connect with to get suggestions.

Step 4: Create your timeline.

Now that you’ve established your foundation, you’ll want to create a timeline and plan how you’ll assess student understanding. 

When I consider how long a novel study should take, I consider the time I’ll be able to devote to the book each day and any scheduling concerns (like extended breaks).

As a personal preference, I try to break the novel evenly into weeks beginning on a Monday and ending on a Friday. While we may have pre-reading activities or post-reading activities that fall outside that window, I find that planning using a weekly calendar makes things easier to manage. 

I’ve included a planning table in the free Novel Study Roadmap to help you as you begin planning. 

I also like to consider the book or books I’m using in my novel study. Longer novels typically require longer units. I don’t want to rush so much that we miss opportunities for conversation and learning. However, I also don’t want to drag it out if the text is short.

By creating a general timeline, I can see how best to break the novel into digestible chunks and where each of the standards I identified in step 2 would best fit.

Step 5: Map Your Unit Plan for the Perfect Novel Study

We’re finally here!! Mapping your first novel study is the final step before you can implement it.

At this stage, you’re digging into the meat of your novel study. You’ll find that my approach to the mapping process may be a bit different from that of other novel study advocates. For me, two significant components to consider while mapping are comprehension skills and vocabulary.

I personally advocate that you focus on one comprehension skill each day.

As I said earlier, we teach kids, not books. There is no reason I should ask a student to sit down and respond to 10 questions about the two chapters they read.

Instead, I’d prefer to ask them ONE question that really gets them to apply the comprehension strategy and their own thoughts and ideas to better understand the text. 

When I conduct a novel study, this format allows me to provide more targeted instruction and focus on building mastery versus surface level. My experience has been that it makes it easier for students to take that skill and apply it later.

I also recommend limiting the number of vocabulary words you study in depth. You’ll want to cover both academic and text-based vocabulary, but I tend to stick with one word for in-depth study each day.

I’ll discuss the specifics a bit more as we work through the mapping process, but since we’ve already discussed the comprehension standards you’ll address, let’s begin there.

Selecting Comprehension Skills

The great news is that you’ve already created a list of reading comprehension standards your students need to work on. (Typically, these are the higher-order thinking skills, like inferring and generating summaries, but it could be almost anything.)

You’ve also already read the book (or at least a good feel for it). That means you’re ready to start matching the standards with the plot of your novel(s).  

(Note that if you haven’t read the text yet, you will likely need to do so as you work through the mapping process.)

As you start to read the novel, find natural breaking points that create approachable chunks of text for students to tackle in the time available. You’ll also pay attention to where your target standards fit within the breakdown. You’ll find that some parts of the book are better aligned to specific comprehension skills than others. This can be a huge help when planning your novel study activities.

For example, you may find that one day’s reading contains numerous examples of cause-and-effect relationships, so you can select that standard to accompany the day’s lesson. 

As you begin to plug your target standards into your plan, you’ll likely find some reading sections that could be matched with nearly any standard. I recommend leaving these for last. This lets you determine what skills you may not have included or have not been given adequate time for and assign them accordingly.

Once you’ve mapped out your target standards and filled in aligned skills for the remaining sections of the reading, you can write your daily comprehension focus in student-friendly language.

I add these to my calendar as the “Skill of the Day.”

From there, I also generate a deep thinking question connected to the daily skill. (Although sometimes I draft these as I’m reading the chapters and assigning skills, this is the stage where I polish the questions.)

For example, I could ask students to identify the narrator and point of view of a story. This would adequately cover the standard in many grade levels.

However, my goal is to get students thinking, talking, and writing about their reading, and listing the narrator and point of view is a simple one-sentence answer.

As an alternative, I might ask students to explain how the narrator’s perspective impacts the reader’s understanding of the story. By doing this, I’ve pushed my students to identify the narrator and point of view while encouraging them to think about impacting their experience as readers.

Whether you’re working with children or adolescents, finding ways to build deep thinking and opportunities to share their own perspectives. At the same time, applying comprehension skills creates a richer, more meaningful, and much more engaging experience for learners.

Identifying Key Academic & Text-Based Vocabulary

After I’ve aligned all my comprehension skills, I like to take time to review the reading and select the text-based and academic vocabulary that will support my student’s understanding.

Since vocabulary can be a barrier to struggling learners , I aim to go deep rather than wide. This means my students may be exposed to a number of new vocabulary words, but they are only expected to master a handful each week. 

For each day, I select one text-based vocabulary word that we work to break down and master. These are the terms you’ll explicitly teach as part of your novel study activities.

You may introduce context clues or dictionary skills. You may also teach students to analyze figurative language for vocabulary building.

Regardless of the strategies you teach, you’ll also want to consider having students define the word in their own terms, create a nonlinguistic representation, and hook the term (via synonyms and antonyms) to words they already know.

The main thing is to keep vocabulary instruction short and to the point.

In about 10 minutes, you can teach and find ways to apply most vocabulary words beyond the text…because we teach kids, not books (see the theme here?).

Consider Pre-Reading Hooks and Post-Reading Culminating Activities

Finally, you’ll want to consider how you’ll introduce and wrap up your novel unit. You’ll also want to consider any tech tools or websites that may help you do this.

Depending on students’ familiarity with the book(s) or topics you’ve chosen, you may find it beneficial to do some pre-reading novel study activities to create links to background knowledge and activate schema. I’ve shared some of my favorite ideas here: Pre-Reading Activities for your Novel Unit .

For younger learners or books set in unfamiliar periods, this may include reading some nonfiction books or watching informational videos.

Adolescents may read related newspaper or journal articles to help them build the foundational understanding.

Regardless of what you select, be sure that the material offers a hook that students can connect to their reading and is a purposeful use of class time. 

You may also want students to share their learning to wrap up your novel unit. This can be especially powerful when students read different books than their peers.

Projects and group discussions are both common ways students are asked to share their experiences. However, many others exist and might be a better fit. Finding an engaging post-novel activity doesn’t have to mean tons of prep or a boring book report. There are so many other great post-novel activities that your readers will actually enjoy!

No matter what you choose, be sure to consider how you’ll differentiate and make sure you’re using instructional time effectively.

Preparing to Teach Your Novel Study Unit

You’ve done it! Your novel study unit plan is complete. You’ve decided what you’ll teach, how you’ll structure the lessons, and how long it will take. 

As you prepare to start teaching your unit, consider how often you’ll review and score literature responses. You might also spend some time teaching students a specific strategy for constructed responses, like the RACE writing strategy .

Try to be realistic. If you don’t truly feel you’ll be able to read 25 journals every day, be sure your unit’s effectiveness doesn’t depend on you doing that. (Although it can help to take a quick look daily to ensure students are on the general right track or whether adjustments may be needed.)

Creating rubrics with key expectations can be a helpful tool to make the assessment process more objective and simplify things for students. You can customize these depending on the skill being addressed or find a consistent rubric that you may use throughout the novel study. 

No matter what you decide to do, NO WHOLE BOOK ASSESSMENTS!

Seriously, if we’re really teaching KIDS, not books, there is no value in doing a test over the book.

Once you’ve got those things in place, you’re ready to get started!

Get the Free Novel Unit Planning Roadmap

If you’ve made it this far and would like the templates to start planning your first novel study, here’s one more chance to do so!

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How to Write a Novel Study: A Complete Guide for Students & Teachers

What Is a Novel Study?

A novel study is essentially the process of reading and studying a novel closely. There are three formats the novel study can follow, namely:

• The whole-class format
• The small group format
• The individual format

Each of these formats comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. Which you will use in your classroom will depend on several variables, including the novel study’s purpose, class demographics, time constraints, etc. 

This article will look at activities you can use with your students in a novel study. Though the focus will primarily be on the whole-class format, the activities outlined below can easily be adapted for small-group and individual novel studies. 

But first, let’s take a look at some of the many considerable benefits of the novel study.

What Are the Benefits of a Novel Study?

The benefits of this type of learning are many and varied. Essentially, the novel itself serves as a jumping-off point for a diverse range of learning experiences that can benefit students’ learning in many ways. 

Here are just three of these benefits.

1. Encourages a Love of Reading

As teachers, we are well aware of how much literature can enrich our lives. However, for many of our students, reading is a chore in and of itself and is to be avoided whenever possible.

The novel study sets aside time in class to focus on reading in an engaging manner that not only encourages students to enjoy reading but helps them develop the tools and strategies required to get the most out of the books they read.

2. Builds a Wider Knowledge Base

Sharing books in this manner creates opportunities for students to become exposed to experiences far beyond those of their daily lives. Not only will they enter new and unfamiliar worlds through the portal of fiction, but they’ll also be exposed to the experiences and opinions of other students in the class. These experiences and opinions may differ markedly from their own.

It will also widen the student’s knowledge and understanding of text structure, vocabulary, punctuation, and grammar . Novel studies are an extremely effective way to practice comprehension skills and improve critical thinking.

3. Boosts Class Cohesion

Whole class novel studies help your students to flex their muscles of cooperation as they work their way through a text together. They also help students to understand each other, take on board the opinions of others, and learn to defend their own thoughts and opinions.

While reading is often viewed as a solitary activity, reading in this manner can become a social experience that helps students to bond as a class.

What Should I Do in a Novel Study?

There are many different ways to undertake a novel study in your classroom. 

For example, some teachers like to read the entire novel to their students first before going back through it as a class, focusing then on student interactions with the text.

Other teachers like to weave guided reading activities into their novel study sessions. However, this often works better with smaller groups where students can be grouped according to ability and assigned texts accordingly.

What shape a novel study takes in your classroom will depend on your student demographics and learning objectives. However, we can helpfully divide the various activities into pre-reading, during-reading, and post-reading. You can select those that suit your situation best. 

Now, let’s look at some of these.

How to Start a Novel Study

Your novel study begins even before the first page is read. The activities below will help students tune in to the book they are about to read. 

This is a crucial stage of the novel study, especially if the book is of historical significance or deals with historical events and where some background knowledge may be essential for understanding the novel. 

Prereading Activities

• Examine the Covers

Before opening the book, have students examine the covers closely, both front and back. What can they tell about the book before opening it based on:

• The cover illustration?
• The author’s name?
• The blurb on the back?

It’s useful to do this as a whole-class discussion to allow for sharing ideas. Ask questions to encourage reflection and get students to make predictions about the novel based on their answers and observations. For example:

• What information does the cover provide?
• Does the cover illustration intrigue you? Why?
• Does this novel remind you of any other books you’ve read? Why?
• Do you recognize the author’s name? What else have they written?

It can be pretty surprising just how much information you can glean from a novel’s covers.

• Generate a List of Questions

Once students have had a good chance to examine the novel’s covers in small groups, get them to generate questions they have about the book and its contents.

These questions may be based on their expectations in the first activity, but they may also be general questions related to common elements in all novels. For example:

• Where is the story set?
• When is it set?
• Who is the main character/protagonist in the novel?
• Who is the antagonist?
• What is the nature of the central conflict?
• What happens in the climax? Resolution? Etc.

While most of these questions will not be answered entirely until the students have read the novel, asking these questions will get the students thinking about the novel’s structure from the outset. This will be extremely useful for later activities.

• Take a Peek Inside

Now, it’s time to open the book to look closer. Task students to go ‘finger-walking’ through the book and, without reading the novel, explore the book’s pages for more surface information. For example:

• When was the book published? Why is this significant?
• Are there any illustrations inside? What impression do they make?
• Does the book have chapters? What do the chapter titles tell us about the story?
• Open a random page and read it. What language register does the writer use? What point of view is employed?

Encouraging students to work in small groups can be helpful here. You can also ask prompting questions to help students maintain focus during this activity.

During Reading Activities

The whole-class format is perhaps the most widely used in the classroom context. In this format, each student will usually have a copy of the text and follow along while the teacher or another student reads. 

The reading will pause at intervals to allow the students to engage in discussion, ask questions, or complete various activities supporting learning goals related to the text they have been reading.

In general, novel study activities will focus on:

• Building vocabulary
• Improving comprehension
• Making text-to-text connections
• Making text-to-self connections
• Making text-to-world connections

In the following section, we’ll look at each of these in turn.

Reading is a fantastic way to build vocabulary; when your students encounter new vocabulary while reading, encourage them to employ several strategies to decipher the word before resorting to their dictionaries.

Firstly, what clues to the word’s meaning can the students find in the word itself? Do students recognize the word’s root or affixes? Does it resemble any other words they already know the meaning of?

Secondly, students should look at the context in which the word is used, not just in the sentence itself but also in the preceding and following paragraphs. What clues can the students find to the word’s meaning?

After analyzing the parts of the word and exhausting context clues, students can look up the word in dictionaries. However, they will still need to do some legwork to make the new word stick. Some valuable ways of committing a new word to memory include:

• Sketching a visual interpretation of the word
• Making a list of synonyms of the word using a thesaurus to assist
• Apply the target words in personal contexts (in conversation/writing sentences)
• Reading Comprehension

Vocabulary is only one aspect of comprehension. Novel studies afford students a valuable opportunity to develop their deep comprehension abilities.

Beyond just understanding the meaning of the words in a novel, students will work on their understanding of skills such as:

• Identifying the central idea/themes
• Examining character/plot development
• Distinguishing between fact and opinion
• Summarizing
• Inferencing
• Comparing and contrasting

While activities for teaching some of the more basic comprehension skills may be more self-evident, activities for teaching higher-level skills, such as inferencing, may require a bit more thought and planning.

We can define inference as the process of deriving a conclusion based on the available evidence in the text combined with the student’s background knowledge and experience. 

Put simply, inference involves reading between the lines.

Inference = What is in the text + What I already know

To encourage students to use inference while completing a novel study, ask questions building on prompts such as:

• Why do you think…
• What do you think would happen if…
• What can you conclude about x based on what you’ve read?
• How does the writer feel about…
• How do you think x feels?

If you want to learn more about teaching inference in the classroom, check out our thorough article on the topic here .

• Making Connections

While vocabulary building and developing reading comprehension skills are a big part of what novel studies are all about, this type of reading lends itself to a deeper exploration of the power of the written word.

Too often, our students read prescribed texts without ever making any personal or profound connections to the material they read. Students can better understand what they are reading by exploring ways of connecting to a novel. There are three main types of connections we can explore:

• Text-to-self connections
• Text-to-text connections
• Text-to-world connections

Let’s look at how students can make each type of connection in a novel study.

Text-to-Self

This is all about the student making a personal connection and responding to the text as an individual. Essentially, this type of connection is about encouraging the students to share their thoughts and feelings on various aspects of the novel. This sharing can take the form of oral contributions to class discussions and debates or in the form of a written response.

Either way, question prompts are a great way to kick things off. Here are some examples to get the ball rolling.

• What does this incident remind you of in your own life?
• Which character do you identify with the most?
• Have you ever been in a similar situation? What happened?
• What would you do in this situation?

Text-to-Text

These connections are all about the student linking the novel they are studying to other texts they have read or seen. This could include other novels, comics, nonfiction books, websites, and poems.

Here are some useful prompts to encourage your students to make text-to-text connections.

• Have you ever read anything like this before?
• How is this text similar to/different from other texts you’ve looked at?
• What other fictional character does the hero of this novel remind you of?

Text-to-World

Making a text-to-world connection requires students to think about the novel in terms of the wider world. Here, students forge links with the broader culture and current affairs. Text-to-world connections will frequently require students to tie the novel into other areas of learning, such as social studies and the sciences.

Here are a few helpful text-to-world prompts.

• How do the events described in the novel relate to real-world events?
• What issues explored in the novel are pertinent in today’s world?
• How does the world described in the novel relate to the world we live in now?

Post-Reading Activities

The number of possible activities you can do to complete a novel is almost endless. Which activities you choose will depend on what aspect of the novel and/or objectives you are trying to teach. Here are just a few popular tasks students regularly complete after they finish reading a novel.

• Create a timeline of events.
• Graph the plot .
• Write a character profile.
• Design an alternative book cover/blurb.
• Write a summary of the novel.
• Write an alternative ending.
• Have a formal debate based on themes or issues explored in the novel.
• Write a book review.

Well, that’s enough to start a novel study in your classroom. However, if you’d like to read more on reading comprehension strategies you can employ in your novel studies, check out our depth article on the topic here .

The flexibility of the novel study format lends itself well to almost any age group; just be sure to choose a text that matches the general reading ability of your class. For older kids, you may even want to involve them in deciding what text to study. 

However you decide to choose your novel, just be sure to read the text thoroughly in advance to stay one step ahead of your students – and don’t forget to have fun with it!

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• Knowledge Base

Methodology

• How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

Published on January 2, 2023 by Shona McCombes . Revised on September 11, 2023.

What is a literature review? A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories, methods, and gaps in the existing research that you can later apply to your paper, thesis, or dissertation topic .

There are five key steps to writing a literature review:

• Search for relevant literature
• Evaluate sources
• Identify themes, debates, and gaps
• Outline the structure
• Write your literature review

A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources—it analyzes, synthesizes , and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.

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Table of contents

What is the purpose of a literature review, examples of literature reviews, step 1 – search for relevant literature, step 2 – evaluate and select sources, step 3 – identify themes, debates, and gaps, step 4 – outline your literature review’s structure, step 5 – write your literature review, free lecture slides, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions, introduction.

• Quick Run-through
• Step 1 & 2

When you write a thesis , dissertation , or research paper , you will likely have to conduct a literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge. The literature review gives you a chance to:

• Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its scholarly context
• Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
• Position your work in relation to other researchers and theorists
• Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate
• Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly debates around your topic.

Writing literature reviews is a particularly important skill if you want to apply for graduate school or pursue a career in research. We’ve written a step-by-step guide that you can follow below.

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Writing literature reviews can be quite challenging! A good starting point could be to look at some examples, depending on what kind of literature review you’d like to write.

• Example literature review #1: “Why Do People Migrate? A Review of the Theoretical Literature” ( Theoretical literature review about the development of economic migration theory from the 1950s to today.)
• Example literature review #2: “Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines” ( Methodological literature review about interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition and production.)
• Example literature review #3: “The Use of Technology in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Thematic literature review about the effects of technology on language acquisition.)
• Example literature review #4: “Learners’ Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Chronological literature review about how the concept of listening skills has changed over time.)

You can also check out our templates with literature review examples and sample outlines at the links below.

Download Word doc Download Google doc

Before you begin searching for literature, you need a clearly defined topic .

If you are writing the literature review section of a dissertation or research paper, you will search for literature related to your research problem and questions .

Make a list of keywords

Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question. Include each of the key concepts or variables you’re interested in, and list any synonyms and related terms. You can add to this list as you discover new keywords in the process of your literature search.

• Social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok
• Body image, self-perception, self-esteem, mental health
• Generation Z, teenagers, adolescents, youth

Search for relevant sources

Use your keywords to begin searching for sources. Some useful databases to search for journals and articles include:

• Your university’s library catalogue
• Google Scholar
• Project Muse (humanities and social sciences)
• Medline (life sciences and biomedicine)
• EconLit (economics)
• Inspec (physics, engineering and computer science)

You can also use boolean operators to help narrow down your search.

Make sure to read the abstract to find out whether an article is relevant to your question. When you find a useful book or article, you can check the bibliography to find other relevant sources.

You likely won’t be able to read absolutely everything that has been written on your topic, so it will be necessary to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your research question.

For each publication, ask yourself:

• What question or problem is the author addressing?
• What are the key concepts and how are they defined?
• What are the key theories, models, and methods?
• Does the research use established frameworks or take an innovative approach?
• What are the results and conclusions of the study?
• How does the publication relate to other literature in the field? Does it confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?

Make sure the sources you use are credible , and make sure you read any landmark studies and major theories in your field of research.

You can use our template to summarize and evaluate sources you’re thinking about using. Click on either button below to download.

Take notes and cite your sources

As you read, you should also begin the writing process. Take notes that you can later incorporate into the text of your literature review.

It is important to keep track of your sources with citations to avoid plagiarism . It can be helpful to make an annotated bibliography , where you compile full citation information and write a paragraph of summary and analysis for each source. This helps you remember what you read and saves time later in the process.

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To begin organizing your literature review’s argument and structure, be sure you understand the connections and relationships between the sources you’ve read. Based on your reading and notes, you can look for:

• Trends and patterns (in theory, method or results): do certain approaches become more or less popular over time?
• Themes: what questions or concepts recur across the literature?
• Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources disagree?
• Pivotal publications: are there any influential theories or studies that changed the direction of the field?
• Gaps: what is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that need to be addressed?

This step will help you work out the structure of your literature review and (if applicable) show how your own research will contribute to existing knowledge.

• Most research has focused on young women.
• There is an increasing interest in the visual aspects of social media.
• But there is still a lack of robust research on highly visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat—this is a gap that you could address in your own research.

There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature review. Depending on the length of your literature review, you can combine several of these strategies (for example, your overall structure might be thematic, but each theme is discussed chronologically).

Chronological

The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time. However, if you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order.

Try to analyze patterns, turning points and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred.

If you have found some recurring central themes, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic.

For example, if you are reviewing literature about inequalities in migrant health outcomes, key themes might include healthcare policy, language barriers, cultural attitudes, legal status, and economic access.

Methodological

If you draw your sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety of research methods , you might want to compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different approaches. For example:

• Look at what results have emerged in qualitative versus quantitative research
• Discuss how the topic has been approached by empirical versus theoretical scholarship
• Divide the literature into sociological, historical, and cultural sources

Theoretical

A literature review is often the foundation for a theoretical framework . You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts.

You might argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach, or combine various theoretical concepts to create a framework for your research.

Like any other academic text , your literature review should have an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion . What you include in each depends on the objective of your literature review.

The introduction should clearly establish the focus and purpose of the literature review.

Depending on the length of your literature review, you might want to divide the body into subsections. You can use a subheading for each theme, time period, or methodological approach.

As you write, you can follow these tips:

• Summarize and synthesize: give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole
• Analyze and interpret: don’t just paraphrase other researchers — add your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole
• Critically evaluate: mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources
• Write in well-structured paragraphs: use transition words and topic sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts

In the conclusion, you should summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance.

When you’ve finished writing and revising your literature review, don’t forget to proofread thoroughly before submitting. Not a language expert? Check out Scribbr’s professional proofreading services !

This article has been adapted into lecture slides that you can use to teach your students about writing a literature review.

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If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .

It is often written as part of a thesis, dissertation , or research paper , in order to situate your work in relation to existing knowledge.

There are several reasons to conduct a literature review at the beginning of a research project:

• To familiarize yourself with the current state of knowledge on your topic
• To ensure that you’re not just repeating what others have already done
• To identify gaps in knowledge and unresolved problems that your research can address
• To develop your theoretical framework and methodology
• To provide an overview of the key findings and debates on the topic

Writing the literature review shows your reader how your work relates to existing research and what new insights it will contribute.

The literature review usually comes near the beginning of your thesis or dissertation . After the introduction , it grounds your research in a scholarly field and leads directly to your theoretical framework or methodology .

A literature review is a survey of credible sources on a topic, often used in dissertations , theses, and research papers . Literature reviews give an overview of knowledge on a subject, helping you identify relevant theories and methods, as well as gaps in existing research. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other  academic texts , with an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion .

An  annotated bibliography is a list of  source references that has a short description (called an annotation ) for each of the sources. It is often assigned as part of the research process for a  paper .  

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Planning a Novel Study (Without Stress)

A Step-By-Step Guide

Planning a novel study can seem like an overwhelming task. And when you’re just throwing things together (we’ve all been there), it totally can be. However, a novel study is a cornerstone in an ELA classroom. You might feel immense pressure to design a unit where students can finally let their foundational reading skills shine and even take them to the next level. Therefore, it’s imperative to create a novel study with intent and purpose. After reading this, you’ll be able to create one with a lot less stress too.

When planning a novel study for your classroom, you want to avoid planning as you go. (That’s my number one piece of advice.) Now, I’m not saying you can’t make adjustments along the way. You’ll likely find that it’s hard to make it through an entire novel without making a tweak here or there. However, having a plan will not only ease your stress but will ensure a meaningful and purpose-driven novel study for your students as well.

So, whether this is your first time planning a novel study for your students or you’re looking to clean up your process and planning, follow this step-by-step approach. Trust me; It’ll benefit both you and your students.

WHAT EXACTLY IS A NOVEL STUDY?

Let me start by clarifying what a novel study is not . A novel study does not mean simply studying a plot, and it’s more than quizzing students on what happened on a specific page of a particular book. It’s not just about who did what when. Planning and facilitating a novel study isn’t synonymous with teaching a book. Why? Teaching a novel study goes beyond the book. Instead, a novel study goes beyond the basics of reading words on a page. Now that your students have a strong foundation of phonics, fluency, and vocabulary, a novel study helps them dive into the next phase of their learning journey.

It’s teaching students how to engage with a book. It goes beyond the words on the page and helps students understand to read between the lines. A novel study helps students develop essential reading comprehension and critical thinking skills that they will continue to build upon throughout their educational journey and beyond.

A novel study is also an opportunity for students to be highly active participants in their learning experience. When done well, a novel study finds the balance between guidance and student-led analysis to develop, practice, and refine their reading comprehension and analysis skills. And perhaps one of the best potential outcomes of a novel study is creating a safe space where students can build a love and appreciation for reading. (What kind of English teacher wouldn’t want that?)

UNDERSTANDING THE BENEFITS.

Before you dive into planning your novel study, you might be wondering if it’s worth the hype. Afterall, if you’re going to take the time and effort to plan it out, you want to be sure your students will benefit. (Hint: They will.)

The purpose and benefits are going to vary from class to class, student to student. You may choose certain novels to hone in on specific skills, standards, and learning goals. The novel study might be part of a larger unit or may stand on its own. Regardless, there are many benefits to introducing a novel study to your classroom.

Teacher Benefits.

A novel study is a great way to check many boxes with one cohesive unit. For starters, novel studies provide plenty of room to address multiple learning goals and state standards within a single unit. I’ve found it’s much more enjoyable for myself and my students when learning goals flow seamlessly from one to another. Additionally, novel studies provide the perfect setting for bringing together reading and writing skills (an ELA teacher’s dream). Student Benefits.

Perhaps one of the most significant student benefits of novel study is exposure. Novels provide students a portal to different experiences and perspectives. Our experiences often shape our lives, yet student experiences can be rather limited. So, whether you’re hoping to expose them to different cultures, historical periods, or circumstances and experiences outside their own, a well-planned and executed novel study can open the door to understanding and even lay the foundation for empathy.

Similarly, students gain skills beyond the book. Students might need to collaborate on activities or practice listening to the opinions of others, helping them develop essential interpersonal skills. So, they’ll gain a sense of perspective from reading and discussing the novel. Students will have many opportunities to understand that not everyone thinks and works in the same way.

Lastly, a novel study is a great opportunity to contextualize new vocabulary. While students might be used to spelling bees and weekly vocab lists, a novel study gives them a context for learning new words. Instead of learning new words for the sake of learning new words, vocabulary is contextualized for a more meaningful and authentic understanding. To this day, I cannot hear the word disillusionment without thinking of the great tragedy of The Great Gatsby and the American experience in the 1920s.

Now that you understand what a novel study is (and isn’t) and some of its greatest benefits, let’s get to planning!

Step 1: Know Your Purpose.

It all starts with a purpose. So, you want to begin planning your novel study with an idea of where you’re going and, ultimately, taking the students. Consider asking yourself the following questions to get you thinking about the bigger picture:

• How does this novel study fit into your curriculum? Is it your approach to your next unit or a supplement to a larger unit?
• What do you want your students to gain from this novel study? Be sure to think beyond the novel, considering both transferable skills and broader knowledge.

Perhaps this novel study is meant to introduce students to a particular genre or literary element. Or maybe you’re honing in on a particular experience or culture. In other cases, especially in middle school, you may be looking to provide a deeper context into a historical event or period students are learning in social studies.

Regardless, novel studies are a great way to provide context and build a rich understanding. However, you must know what that purpose is so you can effectively fulfill it.

WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN DEFINING YOUR PURPOSE FOR YOUR NOVEL STUDY.

• Essential question. As you define your purpose, consider any essential questions you are looking for your students to answer by the end of the novel study. These questions are usually big abstract questions attached to curriculum units. A question might be as abstract as, “What role does tradition play in society?” Or, it might be more literature-focused, such as, “How does character development help move a story forward?” or “How does setting impact a story?”
• Universal theme. Similar to an essential question, you might be planning your novel study around a universal theme such as “The American Dream,” “Identity,” or “Overcoming adversity.” Whatever the theme, it’s essential to understand its role in your purpose. It’s imperative to have this understanding before moving on to the next step.
• Standards. Remember, one of the benefits of facilitating a novel study is hitting multiple standards in a cohesive way. So, when planning your novel study, be sure to identify the target standards your study will cover. (This is especially important if you work in a district where you must submit unit plans that identify key targets.) Even if that doesn’t apply to you, it can help anchor your planning as you move forward. Stick to no more than three standards so you can be sure to touch upon each standard at least twice throughout the novel study. Any more than three standards and it will likely be hard to get beyond the surface level of the standards.
• Learning needs and goals. As you consider your purpose, look toward the specific needs of your class. Needs, and therefore goals, will differ from class to class. So, even if you’re revamping an existing novel study, be sure to revisit this component and adjust to your particular group of students.

Step 2: Choose Your Framework.

Once you have clarity around your purpose, the next step is to choose the framework for your novel study. There are three frameworks to consider:

• Whole-class novel study
• Small-group novel study
• Independent novel study

In a whole-class novel study , the whole group reads the same book. This approach creates a shared experience among the students as they engage in a particular text, supplemental materials, and assessments. Despite being a whole-class approach, you can implement various activities and reading techniques, including whole-class, partner, and independent reading.

In a small-group novel study , each group has a different text. You may decide to give students a say in which book they read, but ultimately, it’s imperative you match the students with the books that suit their abilities best. Depending on the needs of your classroom, the different groups may be working on similar or different skills and tasks. However, I recommend finding a unifying theme, essential question, or experience across all books if possible. That way, students can come together to engage in whole-class discussions.

Just as the name indicated, an independent novel study consists of each student reading their own text. This is a highly independent approach where you might offer mini-lessons throughout the unit, but students work on reading and responding to assignments independently. While some students thrive with this level of autonomy, I do not recommend this framework for struggling or reluctant readers. With that said, you might consider putting together an independent study for highly advanced readers despite a whole-class or small-group approach.

NOT SURE WHICH FRAMEWORK TO CHOOSE?

For this grade level, I recommend embarking on a whole-class or small-group novel study. However, if this is the first time the majority of your students are engaging in a novel study or if they require more direct instruction and guidance to achieve your desired goals, I suggest a whole class novel study. Typically speaking, this framework allows more room for redirection and adjustments on the fly. If your classroom includes a wide range of needs and abilities, a small-group novel study might just be the best way to target particular groups of students. If you are overwhelmed by the idea, I suggest using a similar approach for each group, adjusting the specifics of the supplemental material as needed. For example, perhaps you expect one group to fill out a graphic organizer as a response. However, you may provide the organizer to another group while asking them to turn in a fully developed written response. Alternatively, you can begin the year with a whole-class novel study to lay the foundation, introducing students to the components and expectations of this type of unit. Then, follow up with a small-group novel study later in the year to accommodate varying needs or simply give students more autonomy.

Step 3: Choose Your Book

When you choose the book(s) for your novel study, you’ll want to consider what resources you have available to you. If you’re planning this unit far enough in advance and have a hefty book budget, you might have more choice than a teacher working from a pre-approved reading list or library resources.

Regardless, this is why this step comes after clarifying your purpose. Be sure to select a book that aligns with your purpose. For example, will the book help students gain perspective around a historical event or period? Will students be able to apply the book when answering an essential question? Does it fit within the scope of the unit theme? The good news is novel studies have a lot of wiggle room. Unlike being confined to the content in a (potentially outdated) textbook, you have the freedom to select a novel that fits your goals and classroom needs. So, take advantage of the opportunity if you are able to.

HERE ARE A FEW THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING YOUR NOVEL STUDY TEXT:

• Difficulty. This is your Goldilocks moment. You don’t want to select a book that is too difficult or too easy and risk losing student engagement. Instead, seek out that book that is juuuust right. (Remember, if that seems like an impossible task due to a diverse group, consider setting up a small-group novel study.
• Appropriateness. You want to consider what is appropriate for your student’s age. Just because a protagonist is 15 doesn’t mean you need to disregard it as an option. However, you might want to steer clear of books with vulgar language or references to sex, violence, and drugs. When considering appropriateness, be sure to consider parent and district expectations as well to avoid any potential backlash.
• Interest. Your students will be spending anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months working with this text. So, while it might feel impossible to select a text that will pique everyone’s interests, consider the group as a whole. Will they find the story relatable or intriguing? Does it address a relatable theme or question? Even if you’re choosing (or required) to read a classic text, how can it be made relevant to modern society or students’ lives?
• Why? Again, be sure the text aligns with your purpose. This one is so important that, yes, I mentioned it twice.

Now, if you’ve chosen a book you haven’t yet read, your next step is to read the novel. Trust me; you don’t want to be surprised by inappropriate language or controversial topics. However, if you are crunched for time, I understand you may not have time to read an entire novel. At the very least, I suggest you read the synopsis and a handful of reviews to grasp the general storyline and identify any potential red flags in content. I also recommend doing a “finger walk” through the text to get a feel for the writing, including vocabulary and structure. Not everyone is looking to read a book written in diary format or verse. Alternatively, that might be exactly what you want!

WHILE YOU READ/REREAD

Let’s face it. Even as teachers, we might need a refresh and review on a novel we’ve read before. (Yes, even if we’ve taught it eight times.) So, as you read, consider paying attention to the following as you prepare to plan an entire novel study around the text:

• What from the text is relevant to the students’ lives? Modern society? Other areas they may be studying in other subjects?
• What themes and patterns are you finding? How do they fit into the overall goal of the novel study or overarching unit?
• What are you picking up on that you want your students to notice too?
• What literary elements do you want to teach or (at a minimum) point out in the story? (Things like parallel plot structure, character foils, monologue, extended metaphor, motif, static vs. dynamic characters, foreshadowing, etc.)
• What words might students need to know to build their vocabulary and/or enhance their understanding of the novel?
• How does the story unfold? How could it be broken up into manageable reading assignments for students?
• What parts of the story have a lot to unpack? Where do you feel students would benefit most from your input vs. independent reading?

From there, you can use your annotations to guide your focus when planning daily lessons, discussions, and assessments.

Step 4: Set Your Timeline.

When planning your novel study, you need to know how much time you plan to allot to this unit. In cases where you have limited time, you might need to flip-flop this step and the one prior.

Some novel studies move quicker than others. In some cases, you may only need four weeks, and in others, you may need an entire quarter. Your timeline will also depend on your daily schedule. Does your school operate on block scheduling? How long is each class period? Regardless, when deciding which timeline is right for you and your students, consider how much work you’d like done in class vs. at home. How much whole class reading do you plan on doing? That always takes longer than independent reading. Are you sharing this unit with supplemental minilessons to provide historical context or teach writing strategies? These are all things you want to keep in mind as you determine your timeline.

PLAN AHEAD.

As you’re setting up your timeline, you need to think beyond your novel study as well. I suggest marking off important dates to be mindful of as you plan your daily lessons. You don’t want to forget about half days or holidays– those could really throw off your plan if you’re not prepared. Additionally, it’s worth noting any days you know you will be out of the classroom for workshops, appointments, etc. I always recommend using those as independent workdays or “light” days. Mapping those out ahead of time can save you from stressfully shuffling things around for last minute adjustments.

Lastly, plan a buffer week. This extra week prepares you for the unexpected that is bound to come up. Maybe there was an unexpected school closure or an activity that took longer than expected. Whatever the interruption to your ideal timeline, it’s best to be prepared. Tacking on a buffer week to the end of your timeline will give you the wiggle room you need just in case. That way you don’t have to stress if you need to slow down or run into an unexpected obstacle.

In the rare event you end ahead of schedule (AKA on time)? Enjoy it. You can give the students an extra day or two on a final project, add in a fun activity that didn’t quite make the cut the first time around, or simply move on. (We all know that extra week will come in handy at some point down the line.)

I’m telling you, this buffer week is a teacher’s best-kept secret when it comes to planning a novel study.

ESTABLISH READING ASSIGNMENTS.

Once you establish your timeline, you have a foundation for determining your reading assignments. Use your timeline to help you determine how to best chunk out the novel. Account for both in-class and at-home reading, if applicable.

If you’re not sure how to chunk it out, divide the total number of pages in the book by the number of weeks you plan on dedicating to reading. (Remember, the first and last week might not involve reading, so be sure to double-check your plan.) Then divide that number by the number of days you plan on reading each week, in class or at home. You’ll likely have to adjust the number to match up with reasonable breaks in the text, like chapters, but it’s a dependable place to start. Once you know how many pages will be covered each day, in class or at home, be sure to denote which days will be specific for in-class reading. Feel free to mark down which type of in-class reading you’d like to do, such as whole class or independent reading. While this might seem oddly specific, it will help you when it comes to filling in the accompanying lessons and activities.

Additionally, planning both in-class and at-home reading helps you stay on track. Worst case, students have less homework or have to tack on a few extra pages. But trust me. Having a general idea will come in handy when planning out the details.

Step 5: Choose Your Final Assessment.

Start at the end. No, I’m not speaking in riddles. I am , however, talking about Backward Design. So, before filling your schedule with mini-lessons, formative assessments, and fun activities, determine how you will summatively assess your students at the end of the novel study.

Remember, the purpose of a novel study is to go beyond the basics and get students interacting with a text to build a deeper understanding. It’s about comprehension and critical thinking, not regurgitation. Steer clear of static multiple-choice questions and short answer prompts with limiting right and wrong answers. While these can make for quick exit tickets and reading checks, the final assessment should move beyond basic comprehension.

To do this, you’ll need to revisit your purpose. What are the learning goals and standards you are trying to assess by the end of this unit? Then, you need to determine how you are going to assess student learning. Is it going to be through a formal writing assignment? A reflection? A multi-faceted project? A formal discussion or presentation? Will students have a choice?

Once you have the final assessment squared away, be sure to add it to your calendar, marking the final due date. Then, you can work backward to fill in imperative dates to prepare students for the final assessment as needed. For example, certain assessments might need time for workshop days, peer revisions, or presentations. However, plan all of these dates (including the final due date) before the buffer week.

And don’t worry yet if you don’t have the exact assessment or rubrics finalized. For now, stay focused on the plan.

Step 6: Work Backward to Fill in the Rest!

Now that you have your essential framework laid out, it’s time to fill in the blanks! Using your reading schedule and final assessment, work backward to fill out the remaining blocks. You’ll want to incorporate activities before, during, and after reading to round out your novel study.

INTRODUCE THE NOVEL.

Start by planning out how you are going to introduce the novel. Do students need any background information before they dive in? Would it be useful to learn about the novel’s author, setting, or historical context? You can add other pre-reading activities like analyzing the book’s cover or discussing a relevant issue that appears in the book. Have students complete an anticipation guide or play four corners to begin exploring themes and conflicts in the novel.

CHECKING FOR READING COMPREHENSION.

Reading comprehension is an essential component of any novel study. Therefore, incorporate lessons and activities that address areas of comprehension such as identifying themes, examining character development and plot structure, summarizing, and making inferences and connections. You can accomplish these comprehension checks through group discussions, independently written responses, and group activities.

When planning for reading comprehension activities, be sure to incorporate a variety of activities. Not all students will shine through writing, but that doesn’t mean they don’t understand the novel and its essential elements. Adding a variety to your unit study will ensure each student has the opportunity to shine and showcase their comprehension in one way or another.

You’ll also want to leave room for any minilessons you plan on teaching to aid student comprehension. Do you need to plan a 20-minute lesson reviewing the elements of plot? Do you need to teach a lesson about literary devices or explain how to effectively annotate a text? Leave room for teaching such lessons and completing activities throughout the novel study.

BEFORE THE FINAL ASSESSMENT.

If time permits, consider incorporating a post-reading assignment that serves more as a fun review before jumping into the final assessment. This is a great opportunity for student choice and group mini-projects. Students can put together collages, redesign the cover, create a timeline of events, write a book review, or make a character scrapbook to review the essential elements of the story. Give them as many or as few guidelines as you feel necessary.

However, keep these activities to one or two classes. You don’t want them to take away from prepping for the final assessment. However, it’s an excellent way for students to interact with the whole text, providing a refresher before embarking on a summative assessment.

A FINAL WORD.

A piece of advice? Be realistic when planning. If you know your students aren’t going to be able to read 20 pages, watch a video clip, participate in a discussion, and write a response, don’t set that expectation for a single class period. It only creates stress and interrupts your plan. Instead, feel free to have a bank of optional extension activities you can pull from if needed. Character diary entries, connection prompts, and comic strips are some student favorites.

You’re Ready to Go!

The best part? Once you have a well-mapped-out novel study, you can rinse and repeat with different novels or groups of students from year to year. That way, you won’t have to start from scratch each time. I’m willing to bet there’s already a lot on your plate, so I’d hate for you to reinvent the wheel when you don’t have to.

But, for now, happy planning! Psst… Feel free to save this post to return to as needed throughout your planning process.

If you’re pressed for time or still feel overwhelmed don’t fear. I’ve premade some novel study resources I know you’ll find useful. Check them out!

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Re-reading is inefficient. Here are 8 tips for studying smarter.

by Joseph Stromberg

The way most students study makes no sense.

That’s the conclusion of Washington University in St. Louis psychologists Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel — who’ve spent a combined 80 years studying learning and memory, and recently distilled their findings with novelist Peter Brown in the book Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning .

using active learning strategies is most effective

The majority of students study by re-reading notes and textbooks — but the psychologists’ research, both in lab experiments and of actual students in classes, shows this is a terrible way to learn material. Using active learning strategies — like flashcards, diagramming, and quizzing yourself — is much more effective, as is spacing out studying over time and mixing different topics together.

McDaniel spoke with me about the eight key tips he’d share with students and teachers from his body of research.

1) Don’t just re-read your notes and readings

Photofusion/UIG via Getty Images

”We know from surveys that a majority of students, when they study, they typically re-read assignments and notes. Most students say this is their number one go-to strategy.

when students re-read a textbook chapter, they show no improvement in learning

”We know, however, from a lot of research, that this kind of repetitive recycling of information is not an especially good way to learn or create more permanent memories. Our studies of Washington University students, for instance, show that when they re-read a textbook chapter, they have absolutely no improvement in learning over those who just read it once.

“On your first reading of something, you extract a lot of understanding. But when you do the second reading, you read with a sense of ‘I know this, I know this.’ So basically, you’re not processing it deeply, or picking more out of it. Often, the re-reading is cursory — and it’s insidious, because this gives you the illusion that you know the material very well, when in fact there are gaps.”

2) Ask yourself lots of questions

Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe via Getty Images

”One good technique to use instead is to read once, then quiz yourself, either using questions at the back of a textbook chapter, or making up your own questions. Retrieving that information is what actually produces more robust learning and memory.

retrieving information is what produces more robust learning and memory

”And even when you can’t retrieve it — when you get the questions wrong — it gives you an accurate diagnostic on what you don’t know, and this tells you what you should go back and study. This helps guide your studying more effectively.

”Asking questions also helps you understand more deeply. Say you’re learning about world history, and how ancient Rome and Greece were trading partners. Stop and ask yourself why they became trading partners. Why did they become shipbuilders, and learn to navigate the seas? It doesn’t always have to be why — you can ask how, or what.

“In asking these questions, you’re trying to explain, and in doing this, you create a better understanding, which leads to better memory and learning. So instead of just reading and skimming, stop and ask yourself things to make yourself understand the material.”

3) Connect new information to something you already know

”Another strategy is, during a second reading, to try relating the principles in the text to something you already know about. Relate new information to prior information for better learning.

”One example is if you were learning about how the neuron transmits electricity. One of the things we know if that if you have a fatty sheath surround the neuron, called a myelin sheath , it helps the neuron transmit electricity more quickly.

“So you could liken this, say, to water running through a hose. The water runs quickly through it, but if you puncture the hose, it’s going to leak, and you won’t get the same flow. And that’s essentially what happens when we age — the myelin sheaths break down, and transmissions become slower.”

( Quasar/Wikimedia Commons )

4) Draw out the information in a visual form

”A great strategy is making diagrams, or visual models, or flowcharts. In a beginning psychology course, you could diagram the flow of classical conditioning . Sure, you can read about classical conditioning, but to truly understand it and be able to write down and describe the different aspects of it on a test later on — condition, stimulus, and so on — it’s a good idea to see if you can put it in a flowchart.

“Anything that creates active learning — generating understanding on your own — is very effective in retention. It basically means the learner needs to become more involved and more engaged, and less passive.”

5) Use flashcards

”Flashcards are another good way of doing this. And one key to using them is actually re-testing yourself on the ones you got right.

keeping a correct card in the deck and encountering it again is more useful

”A lot of students will answer the question on a flashcard, and take it out of the deck if they get it right. But it turns out this isn’t a good idea — repeating the act of memory retrieval is important. Studies show that keeping the correct item in the deck and encountering it again is useful. You might want to practice the incorrect items a little more, but repeated exposure to the ones you get right is important too.

“It’s not that repetition as a whole is bad. It’s that mindless repetition is bad.”

6) Don’t cram — space out your studying

Johannes Simon/Getty Images

”A lot of students cram — they wait until the last minute, then in one evening, they repeat the information again and again. But research shows this isn’t good for long term memory. It may allow you to do okay on that test the next day, but then on the final, you won’t retain as much information, and then the next year, when you need the information for the next level course, it won’t be there.

practice a little bit one day, then two days later

”This often happens in statistics. Students come back for the next year, and it seems like they’ve forgotten everything, because they crammed for their tests.

“The better idea is to space repetition. Practice a little bit one day, then put your flashcards away, then take them out the next day, then two days later. Study after study shows that spacing is really important.”

7) Teachers should space out and mix up their lessons too

Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images

”Our book also has information for teachers. And our educational system tends to promote massed presentation of information as well.

”In a typical college course, you cover one topic one day, then on the second day, another topic, then on the third day, another topic. This is massed presentation. You never go back and recycle or reconsider the material.

”But the key, for teachers, is to put the material back in front of a student days or weeks later. There are several ways they can do this. Here at Washington University, there are some instructors who give weekly quizzes, and used to just put material from that week’s classes on the quiz. Now, they’re bringing back more material from two to three weeks ago. One psychology lecturer explicitly takes time, during each lecture, to bring back material from days or weeks beforehand.

the key, for teachers, is to put the material back in front of a student days or weeks later

”This can be done in homework too. It’s typical, in statistics courses, to give homework in which all of the problems are all in the same category. After correlations are taught, a student’s homework, say, is problem after problem on correlation. Then the next week, T tests are taught, and all the problems are on T tests. But we’ve found that sprinkling in questions on stuff that was covered two or three weeks ago is really good for retention.

”And this can be built into the content of lessons themselves. Let’s say you’re taking an art history class. When I took it, I learned about Gauguin, then I saw lots of his paintings, then I moved on to Matisse, and saw lots of paintings by him. Students and instructors both think that this is a good way of learning the painting styles of these different artists.

”But experimental studies show that’s not the case at all. It’s better to give students an example of one artist, then move to another, then another, then recycle back around. That interspersing, or mixing, produces much better learning that can be transferred to paintings you haven’t seen — letting students accurately identify the creators of paintings, say, on a test.

“And this works for all sorts of problems. Let’s go back to statistics. In upper level classes, and the real world, you’re not going to be told what sort of statistical problem you’re encountering — you’re going to have to figure out the method you need to use. And you can’t learn how to do that unless you have experience dealing with a mix of different types of problems, and diagnosing which requires which type of approach.”

8) There’s no such thing as a “math person”

Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

”There’s some really interesting work by Carol Dweck , at Stanford. She’s shown that students tend to have one of two mindsets about learning.

it turns out that mindsets predict how well students end up doing

”One is a fixed learning model. It says, ‘I have a certain amount of talent for this topic — say, chemistry or physics — and I’ll do well until I hit that limit. Past that, it’s too hard for me, and I’m not going to do well.’ The other mindset is a growth mindset. It says that learning involves using effective strategies, putting aside time to do the work, and engaging in the process, all of which help you gradually increase your capacity for a topic.

”It turns out that the mindsets predict how well students end up doing. Students with growth mindsets tend to stick with it, tend to persevere in the face of difficulty, and tend to be successful in challenging classes. Students with the fixed mindset tend not to.

“So for teachers, the lesson is that if you can talk to students and suggest that a growth mindset really is the more accurate model — and it is — then students tend to be more open to trying new strategies, and sticking with the course, and working in ways that are going to promote learning. Ability, intelligence, and learning have to do with how you approach it — working smarter, we like to say.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Planning a novel study – A Step By Step Guide

By  MARISSA DESPINS  Updated Nov 28, 2023

Members of the Creative Classroom Core Community already know how passionate I am about teaching novel studies . I truly believe that the novel study is the backbone of the middle school and upper elementary ELA curriculum, and bring with them a wealth of important learning benefits. Sharing a whole class novel is a wonderful opportunity for students to think deeply about text, refine their reading comprehension skills, and share the love of reading through a collective reading experience with their classmates. However, planning a novel study can be a daunting task.

If you’re just starting out or need a refresher on the basics of planning a novel study, our article  What is a Novel Study?  provides a great foundation before diving into the specifics of planning.

Looking for a complete guide to planning your next novel study? Grab our free guide below!

Today I am here to help make planning a novel study a bit less time intensive and a whole lot easier. These 7 steps will help make your next novel study a roaring success!

1- Text Selection

Perhaps the most important part of planning a novel study involves text selection. Choosing the right book for your learners can make all the difference. With an ever evolving list of new titles and authors to explore, as well as the traditional classics, it can be quite overwhelming to pick the right book.

When choosing books for my learners, I like to keep the following questions in mind:

-Is the book at an appropriate level for my students to read independently, or will I be reading the novel aloud?

-What is the content of the book? Is it appropriate for the age I teach and our school population?

-Does the novel provide windows and mirrors for my students ( see this post for more information )?

-Am I able to integrate other subject areas into the novel study?

-Am I able to connect the novel to other activities we are planning to complete throughout the year?

-Are the characters presented in ways that are culturally appropriate?

-Am I exposing my learners to a wide range of authors, genres, and writing styles throughout the year?

-What is the length of the book? Am I able to dedicate enough time to give the novel the attention it deserves?

-Do I have access to a class set of the novel, or am I able to get by with one teacher copy to read aloud?

Asking these questions before choosing your next novel study will help you narrow down your choices. You can check out some of my favorite novel studies for Upper Elementary here , and some Middle School favorites here .

If you are looking for a list of great middle school novels you can print out and choose from, you can grab this list for FREE by clicking here or on the image below.

2- Introduction Activity

After you have carefully chosen your novel, it is time to start planning a way to introduce it to you learners. This helps to build anticipation and get kids excited about the book.

For a comprehensive approach to this phase, consider utilizing our  Novel Study Planning Framework , which offers structured activities and ideas for introduction.

3 – Comprehension Questions

Comprehension questions are an important part of any novel study. They allow students to show that they understand what they are reading and provide excellent classroom discussion opportunities. That being said, giving students mountains of questions can really kill reading enjoyment. In my experience, providing students with 3-5 questions per chapter allows students to demonstrate their understanding without making the process overly daunting. Asking students to provide text evidence to support their answers is an important skill that they carry with them into other subject areas.

Enhance your comprehension approach with our guide on  Building Reading Comprehension Strategies , offering techniques that can be applied across various texts.

4- Word work

Novels are great ways to introduce students to new vocabulary. Providing opportunities for students to learn and use there new words is an important piece of any novel study. Seeing the words in context helps students to infer meaning, and working with the words really helps them to “stick”.

To see this in action with a specific novel, check out our  3 Favorite Activities for an Outsiders Novel Study , which includes engaging vocabulary activities.

5- Character Analysis

In order to fully comprehend a novel, students need practice with character analysis. Understanding what motivates a character and makes them who they are is an important part of the reading process. Through in depth analysis, students learn to connect with characters, see how they develop and change over time, and recognize how they impact a story’s plot.

6- Elements of Literature

A novel study is a great opportunity to review the elements of literature. When planning your novel study , be sure to incorporate activities focused on key elements like plot, setting, point of view, and conflict.

Looking for some activities to review the elements of literature and incorporate into your next novel study? You can grab my complete Elements of Literature Bundle by clicking here or on the image below.

7- Writing about Reading

Quiet time for reflecting and writing is a key component of a successful novel study. Through writing about reading, students are able to share their personal connections, understandings, and insights. While class discussions can be powerful, students sometimes feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings independently and in written form.

Some activities to encourage student writing and reflection include:

-Journal Prompts

-Open ended questions

-Essay activities

-Student generated reflections

Looking for some free resources for help when planning a novel study?

Check out these FREE novel study resources by clicking on the links below!

Looking for more information on planning a novel Study?

Check out the posts below for tips, tricks, and resources for planning your next novel study!

Upper Elementary Novel Study Favorites

Middle School Novel Study Favorites

Benefits of Teaching Novel Studies

3 Ways to Cultivate a Love of Reading

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If you are interested in signing up for my email list, you can do so by clicking on the link below. I periodically send out emails with free resources, teaching tips, and exclusive deals. Signing up will also give you immediate access to some of my best selling Interactive Notebook resources – foldables, graphic organizers, and other fun activities.

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• My Storyboards

General Novel Study Guide

In ELA classrooms, teachers will often employ a variety of activities in their literary unit plans. These novel study activities can be in the form of worksheets, discussions or specific lessons to enhance students' understanding of the story as well as to broaden their vocabulary and improve their analytical skills. Using Storyboards as a part of your novel studies can help teachers utilize research-based reading comprehension strategies all while engaging students! Students will have so much fun, they will not even realize how much they are learning! These novel study lesson plans for the classroom are designed for teachers to use with any book, as a whole class, small groups, or as an independent novel study. While we have hundreds of tailored lesson plans in our Teacher Resources , if teachers cannot find a particular book, they can find plenty of lessons and activities in the novel study resources below!

Student Activities for Novel Study

Novel Study Guide for Teachers

In this novel study guide for the classroom, teachers can pick and choose from the various activities to suit their needs for any book. The first six activities are widely used lessons when conducting a novel study: Character Map, Plot Diagram, Setting, Visual Vocabulary, Themes, Symbols, and Motifs , and finally, Favorite Quote or Scene . These generic novel study activities make use of the universally well-known story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears for the examples to help illustrate what a final product can look like for students. These activities are often used in novel study lesson plans as they encourage students' to increase their comprehension skills.

The ten additional activities offer deeper analysis and investigation into literary devices as well as more engaging ways for students to "show what they know". They can be used for a broad range of novels, plays and short stories across any grade level, and instructions can be tailored and scaffolded to meet the needs of students. With all of these novel study activities, students' work can be printed and displayed or projected onto the board and include a presentation aspect as well!

It is so easy to customize these novel study activities to meet the individual needs of your students. Teachers can differentiate by adding multiple templates for each assignment. They can include sentence starters or prompts to help students who need more support. Every lesson is designed as a springboard for teachers to customize and make their own!

Novel Study Essential Questions

Teachers can tailor the generic essential questions below to fit the needs of their novel study.

• Who are some of the main characters and what challenges do they face?
• What are some of the symbols and motifs present in the novel? How does the symbolism help you better understand the characters and their motivations?
• What are some of the themes present in the novel?
• What are some allusions and historical references within the text? How does this help you better understand the characters and their motivations?
• Can you relate to the challenges the character's face in the story? How would you try to overcome the obstacles they face?
• How does the author imply the tone and mood of the story?
• How can a person’s choices, actions and decisions change their life?
• What is bildungsroman in literature and is this novel an example of one?
• How can reading fictional stories affect your own life?
• What messages, lessons, or morals does the author try to impart to the reader?

More Information about our Novel Study Lesson Plans and Activities

Character maps.

Character maps can be used in any novel study unit and are a helpful tool for students to use as they read or after completing a book. Students can create character maps of the characters in the story, paying close attention to the physical attributes and the traits of both major and minor characters . They can also provide detailed information regarding the challenges the character faces, the challenges the character imposes, and the importance of the character to the plot of the story. Every time students meet a new character in the story, they can add them to the character map. This makes for a perfect quick assessment for teachers to gauge how far along students are in the book and how well they are comprehending the story.

Visual Vocabulary Storyboards

A popular reading comprehension strategy is to start a unit or lesson with key vocabulary terms. This aids in overall comprehension and encourages students' retention. Prior to reading, teachers can introduce a word list to students that they will encounter when they read. Students can look up the definitions and create storyboards to demonstrate their understanding.

Alternatively, teachers can have students create visual vocabulary boards while they read and update them throughout the unit. Every time students come across a new or unfamiliar word, they can add it to their storyboard!. Students can include the term, definition and an illustration to demonstrate its meaning. By defining and illustrating key terms found in the book , students will be able to better understand the story and retain the vocabulary for future use which is always the primary goal.

Analyzing Themes, Symbols and Motifs

Novels often have a variety of themes, symbols, and motifs that students can identify and analyze. This helps students gain a deeper understanding of the book.

Theme in literature refers to the main idea or underlying meaning the author is exploring throughout a novel, short story, or other literary work. Symbolism in a story is when an object or situation is more than it appears on the surface. The author is using it to represent something deeper and more meaningful. For example, an object that is the color red might have a deeper meaning of passion, or love, or devotion attached to it. Motifs are a technique employed by the author whereby they repeat a certain element more than once throughout the course of the story. This element has symbolic significance and is meant to draw the reader's attention and illuminate a deeper meaning to the story as it is repeated.

All of these literary elements can be conveyed through characters, setting, dialogue, plot, or a combination. Students can explore themes, symbols, and motifs by identifying these elements themselves or in an “ envelope activity ”, where they are given one or more to track throughout their reading. After identifying one or more themes, symbols, or motifs, students can then create a spider map or storyboard where they label, describe, and illustrate what they found!

Plot Diagrams

Any novel unit would be incomplete without a plot summary or plot diagram! Creating a plot diagram not only helps students learn the parts of the plot, but it reinforces major events and helps students develop a greater understanding of literary structures. Students can create a storyboard capturing the narrative arc of a story with a six-cell storyboard containing the major parts of the plot diagram: the Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.

Beginning, Middle, End Summaries

A simpler way for students to summarize plot is by creating a Beginning, Middle, End Storyboard! Summarizing a story in three parts is a great way to introduce plot structure and parts of a story to students in younger grades or to shorten the length of the assignment.

Students can create a narrative storyboard that summarizes the story in three parts: the beginning, the middle, and the end. Their storyboard should include three cells. The beginning , which introduces the story and the problem; the middle , which showcases main events and the climax; and the end , which illustrates how the problem is resolved and the conclusion of the story.

Chapter Summaries

Creating a chapter summary helps students identify the important events in each chapter and provides teachers with an engaging "check in" activity to see how well students are understanding the story. Teachers may choose to do this activity every few chapters throughout the novel study and students will end up with a comprehensive plot summary in storyboards! These chapter summary storyboards can be printed out and made into a book to mimic a graphic novel of the story! A wonderful way for students to "publish" their work!

Storyboarding Text to Self Connections

Having students choose a favorite quote or scene from the book allows them to express which parts of the story resonated with them on a personal level. In this way, students are making a text-to-self connection that demonstrates their understanding of the characters and their development or the themes of the novel. Some students may end up choosing the same quote, but have different perspectives. This is always interesting for students to see and can open up a discussion as to how not everyone can read the same lines in the same way based on their own perspectives and personal experiences.

Storyboarding Setting

The setting of a story is the location and time frame, or the where and when of the story. Settings often play a crucial role in the story as they influence the characters, their motivations, and their actions. The setting can also include the environment, like the weather or the social and political factors within the time period both locally and globally.

Students can create a setting chart to identify the time and place of the story, allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of the characters and their situation. If a story has multiple settings or time periods, they can also explain how those changes affect the characters and plot.

TWIST Analysis

A great way to engage your students in a text is through the creation of storyboards that examine Tone, Word Choice, Imagery, Style, and Theme. This activity is referred to with the acronym “ TWIST ”. In a TWIST analysis, students focus on a particular paragraph or a few pages, to look deeper at the author’s meaning. This can be used for poems, short stories, and novels. Using an excerpt, students can depict, explain, and discuss the story using a TWIST analysis using a storyboard!

Text-to-Text Connections

Many stories are told in different adaptations, with different points of view and in different ways across the globe. It is a great way to examine what is important in a particular culture, or how stories change and adapt as they are spread throughout the world and over time. This activity is wonderful for students to use when reading different adaptations of the same story or while comparing the movie version to a book. Students can complete a storyboard chart filling in each row and column with the texts they are comparing and include illustrations and descriptions.

Storyboarding Point of View

Understanding a book's point of view is something that helps students better understand the story. Point of View (POV) refers to who is telling or narrating a story. A story can be told from the first person, second person, or third person point of view. First person is when “I” am telling the story. The character relates their experiences directly. Second person is when story is told to “you.” Third person limited is about “he”, “she", or "they". The narrator is outside of the story and relating the experiences of a character. Third person omniscient is when the narrator is “he”, "she", or "they", but the narrator has full access to the thoughts and experiences of all characters in the story. After reading the book and discussing the point of view, students can create a storyboard that describes what type of narrator(s) the story has and the perspective(s) in the story using descriptions and illustrations. Students can provide evidence from the text by way of quotes or dialogue to support their claims. Be sure that students understand point of view vs perspective prior to this activity.

Analyzing Figurative Language

Many novels and stories have examples of figurative language that enhance the reader's understanding and help them visualize the events of the story, the characters, their motivations and their emotions. Figurative language is a technique used by the author to describe something by comparing it to something else. The words or phrases are not literal but use metaphors, similes, hyperboles, personification, and other examples to describe the object, feeling, or event they are talking about. With a figurative language storyboard, students can identify different instances of figurative language and illustrate the examples from the text.

Storyboarding Literary Conflict

Literary conflict is often taught during ELA units. Different examples of 'conflict in literature' are: person vs. person, person vs. self, person vs. society, person vs. nature and person vs. technology. An excellent way to focus on the various types of literary conflict is through storyboarding! Students can identify and choose a type of literary conflict and illustrate examples from the text in a storyboard chart.

Analyzing Allusions

Allusions are present in many stories, referencing actual people, places, events, art, and literature. They help to plunge the reader into the time period in which the story takes place. Allusions can reference the political, social, artistic, and technological influences that are present in the characters' lives and, therefore, provide greater insight into the characters' thoughts and motivations. Analyzing allusions is also the perfect way to tie in social studies and provide a cross curricular opportunity for students. Students can create a spider map or chart to identify different allusions referenced in the story and describe them in words and illustrations.

Character Comparison Venn Diagrams

Novel study worksheets such as Venn diagrams are an effective tool to compare characters or events. Comparing characters is a great way for students to understand how different people are, and how different characters affect a story. Using a Venn diagram, students can identify similarities and differences between the main characters in the book. Using Storyboard That to create your Venn Diagram is even better! Students can add images and words to represent the characters, their experiences, personalities, and interests. Using the outer portions of the ovals, they can identify traits, experiences, and attributes that are singular to the character and in the overlapping portions, they can list the ways in which the characters are the same.

Newspaper Front Page Project

Retelling the events of a story doesn't have to be as simple as a written summary. An alternative is to create the front page of a newspaper! This can be done for any book, though historical fiction books may allow students to also "report" on important events that would have affected the life of characters. Students can retell key events from the story as if it were a newspaper. They can include a catchy headline, create images, and write descriptions for each to imitate the look of the front page of a newspaper highlighting the key events of the story.

Book Movie Poster Project

Movie posters are a fun way for students to boil down the most important aspects of a novel. After reading the novel, students can create a movie poster that showcases the setting, characters and a chosen scene or overarching themes of the story. Students can include the title and author of the book, a catchy tagline, and a "critic's review" informing the audience why they should go to see the movie and briefly describing the compelling story. There is a great amount of complex critical thinking involved with creating a movie poster for a book, however, students will be having so much fun, they won't even notice!

Graphic Novel Project

A Graphic Novel Project is the perfect way for students to summarize the plot of a graphic novel that they have read or transfer their knowledge of another piece of literature into graphic novel form! Many popular novels have been turned into graphic novels to meet a broader audience and introduce students of all abilities to rich literary content. Students can summarize the entire story into a graphic novel poster or they can create a poster for each chapter or section of a book. There are many ideas for graphic novels to choose from!

More Storyboarding Ideas for Post Reading Activities!

In addition to our premade activities above, here are some ideas that teachers can customize and assign to students to spark creativity in individual students, pairs, or small groups for a final project. Several of these ideas include Storyboard That template that can be printed out or copied into your teacher dashboard and assigned digitally. All final projects can be printed out, presented as a slide show, or, for an extra challenge, as an animated gif!

• For Groups: Choose a scene from the story and write a short play to reenact it to the class. Use the traditional storyboard layout to plan out your scenes. You can add text to your storyboards, or simply use the cells to visualize each scene of your play.
• Using the timeline layout, retell the story in chronological order. Our timeline layout gives you the options to include year, month, day, and even hour! You may also choose to omit these altogether.
• Choose a setting from the story and create a map of the setting using the small poster or worksheet layout. Use free form or other text boxes to include a key or label the different parts of the map.
• Using one of Storyboard That’s board game templates , create a game based on the book for your classmates to play!
• For Groups: Divide the chapters of the book amongst your group members. Each member of the group creates a storyboard for their assigned chapter. This can be done as a collaborative project, or separately for longer novels.
• Using the worksheet layout and Storyboard That’s worksheet assets, create a test or a quiz for other students in the class. You can create all kinds of questions such as multiple choice, short answer, and even matching! When you are done, be sure to make an answer key.
• Using one of Storyboard That’s biography poster templates, create a poster about the character of your choice. Be sure to include important biographical features such as: place and date of birth, family life, accomplishments, etc.
• Choose a chapter from the novel and create a storyboard that shows that chapter from another character’s point of view. For an extra challenge, use the T-chart layout to compare the original point of view with another character’s point of view!
• Create a book jacket of the novel using one of Storyboard That’s book jacket templates. Use Storyboard That art to create the cover, and write a summary of the story on the back, just like real books have!
• Using one of Storyboard That’s social media templates as a starting point, create a social media page for one or more of the characters in the novel. Be sure to think how the character thinks while creating this page.
• Create a scrapbook page made by one of the characters in the novel. Storyboard That has lots of premade templates that you can use as is, or change to fit your character’s personality! Check out our scrapbook templates today!

How to Encourage Students to Reflect on Their Personal Responses and Connections to the Novel Through Guided Journaling or Reflection Activities in a Study Guide

Set the stage for reflection.

Introduce the concept of reflection and its importance in understanding literature on a personal level. Explain to students that reflecting on their personal responses and connections can deepen their engagement with the novel and enhance their understanding of its themes and messages.

Provide Guiding Questions

Create a list of guiding questions that prompt students to reflect on their personal responses and connections to the novel. These questions should encourage students to explore their emotional reactions, relate the events or characters to their own lives, and consider the relevance of the novel's themes to the world around them.

Model the Reflective Process

Model the reflective process by sharing your own personal responses and connections to the novel. This can be done through a think-aloud activity or by providing a written example. Emphasize that reflection is subjective and that there are no right or wrong answers, as it is a personal exploration of thoughts and feelings.

Engage in Journaling or Reflection Activities

Provide students with dedicated journaling or reflection activities in the study guide. These activities can include open-ended prompts, specific scenes or quotes to respond to, or guided questions that target different aspects of the novel. Encourage students to write freely and honestly, allowing their thoughts and emotions to flow.

Encourage Sharing and Discussion

Create opportunities for students to share their reflections with their peers. This can be done through small group discussions, whole-class sharing, or online platforms. Encourage respectful and constructive feedback to foster a supportive learning community where students can learn from each other's perspectives.

Synthesize and Apply Insights

Guide students in synthesizing their reflections and applying their insights to other aspects of the novel or their lives. Encourage them to make connections between their personal responses and the larger themes or messages of the novel. Help them see the value of their reflections in developing a deeper understanding of the text.

Frequently Asked Questions about Novel Studies

What is the purpose of a novel study guide for the classroom.

Using Storyboard That's lesson plans to delve into a novel study with your students gives them the opportunity to develop their reading comprehension with all different types of literature. It allows students of all abilities to engage in high-level thinking about literary elements and display their understanding in a unique and equitable way. It also affords them the chance to have greater retention of the concepts and terms as they are actively creating while they learn and not just passively learning or utilizing rote memorization. When using a novel study with a small group or whole class, students get to engage with each other fostering a community of learners all while developing a deeper understanding of the novel and a love of literature.

What are the main elements of a novel study?

Novel studies can explore a range of topics but primarily are focused on plot, characters, setting, point of view, new vocabulary, new concepts or allusions in the novel, themes, symbolism, figurative language and other literary devices.

What are the 4 C's in reading?

Storyboarding encourages the 4 C's of reading and learning: Critical Thinking , Creativity , Communication , and Collaboration . Storyboard That helps students of all abilities reach their potential by promoting student agency and active learning.

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October 4, 2013

Novel Finding: Reading Literary Fiction Improves Empathy

The types of books we read may affect how we relate to others

By Julianne Chiaet

How important is reading fiction in socializing school children? Researchers at The New School in New York City have found evidence that literary fiction improves a reader’s capacity to understand what others are thinking and feeling.

Emanuele Castano, a social psychologist, along with PhD candidate David Kidd conducted five studies in which they divided a varying number of participants (ranging from 86 to 356) and gave them different reading assignments: excerpts from genre (or popular) fiction, literary fiction, nonfiction or nothing. After they finished the excerpts the participants took a test that measured their ability to infer and understand other people’s thoughts and emotions. The researchers found, to their surprise, a significant difference between the literary- and genre-fiction readers.

When study participants read non-fiction or nothing, their results were unimpressive. When they read excerpts of genre fiction, such as Danielle Steel’s The Sins of the Mother , their test results were dually insignificant. However, when they read literary fiction, such as The Round House by Louise Erdrich, their test results improved markedly—and, by implication, so did their capacity for empathy. The study was published October 4 in Science .

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The results are consistent with what literary criticism has to say about the two genres—and indeed, this may be the first empirical evidence linking literary and psychological theories of fiction. Popular fiction tends to portray situations that are otherworldly and follow a formula to take readers on a roller-coaster ride of emotions and exciting experiences. Although the settings and situations are grand, the characters are internally consistent and predictable, which tends to affirm the reader’s expectations of others. It stands to reason that popular fiction does not expand the capacity to empathize.

Literary fiction, by contrast, focuses more on the psychology of characters and their relationships. “Often those characters’ minds are depicted vaguely, without many details, and we’re forced to fill in the gaps to understand their intentions and motivations,” Kidd says. This genre prompts the reader to imagine the characters’ introspective dialogues. This psychological awareness carries over into the real world, which is full of complicated individuals whose inner lives are usually difficult to fathom. Although literary fiction tends to be more realistic than popular fiction, the characters disrupt reader expectations, undermining prejudices and stereotypes. They support and teach us values about social behavior, such as the importance of understanding those who are different from ourselves.

The results suggest that reading fiction is a valuable socializing influence. The study data couldinform debates over how much fiction should be included in educational curricula and whether reading programs should be implemented in prisons, where reading literary fiction might improve inmates’ social functioning and empathy. Castano also hopes the finding will encourage autistic people to engage in more literary fiction, in the hope it could improve their ability to empathize without the side effects of medication.

Reading Fiction Improves Brain Connectivity and Function

Reading a novel has the power to reshape your brain and improve theory of mind..

Posted January 4, 2014 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

Neuroscientists have discovered that reading a novel can improve brain function on a variety of levels. The recent study on the brain benefits of reading fiction was conducted at Emory University. The study titled, “Short- and Long-Term Effects of a Novel on Connectivity in the Brain," was recently published in the journal Brain Connectivity .

The researchers found that becoming engrossed in a novel enhances connectivity in the brain and improves brain function. Interestingly, reading fiction was found to improve the reader's ability to put themselves in another person’s shoes and flex the imagination in a way that is similar to the visualization of a muscle memory in sports.

Modern-day reading habits continue to evolve in a digital age. Statistics vary on exactly how many people are reading novels this decade compared to decades past. There is a definite trend for general readers to buy more fiction than nonfiction books—and to get facts, news and crystallized knowledge from the internet. In 2012, only four of the top 20 books were nonfiction titles.

"People are interested in escape," says Carol Fitzgerald of the Book Report Network . "In a number of pages, the story will open, evolve and close, and a lot of what's going on in the world today is not like that. You've got this encapsulated escape that you can enjoy."

When Was the Last Time You Read a Good Novel?

Are you someone who likes to read novels? Surprisingly, 42% of college graduates will never read a book again after graduating college. A 2012 “Pew Internet and American Life Project” survey found that people who like to read fiction are driven by personal enrichment and described what they liked about reading saying things like: “I love being exposed to ideas and being able to experience so many times, places, and events.” Another person was quoted as saying, “I look at it as a mind stimulant , and it is relaxing.” Others expressed the pleasure of living vicariously through a character and having another “life of the mind.”

According to the study, reading is a lifestyle choice that is also driven by a desire to unplug from a constant stream of visual information. Readers said things like: “It’s better for me to imagine things in my head than watch them on TV ... It’s an alternate to TV that beats TV every time ... Reading is better than anything electronic.” One respondent captured the general sentiment of avid fiction readers by saying, "I love being able to get outside myself.”

One of the benefits of getting outside yourself by putting yourself in someone else's shoes through a novel is that it improves theory of mind . As the father of a 6-year-old, I realize the imaginative and cognitive benefits of children losing themselves in a good story and learning to empathize with a fictional character. Although lots of people are still reading fiction, this new study confirms that people of all ages should be encouraged to increase reading time while striving to reduce TV time.

The average American home has 2.86 TV sets, which is roughly 18% higher than in the year 2000 (2.43 sets per home), and 43% higher than in 1990 (2.0 sets). In America, there are currently more televisions per home than human beings. On average, children under the age of 8 spend over 90 minutes a day watching television or DVDs.

Nearly 33% of American children live in a household where the television is on all or most of the time. Children between the ages 8-18 years old watch an average of three hours of television a day. On average, 61% of children under 2 use some type of screen technology and 43% watch television every day. This is disturbing to me.

One of the problems of watching television is that it reduces theory of mind . Theory of mind (often abbreviated "ToM") is the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc.—to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, and intentions that are different from one's own.

Unfortunately, television is the least interactive of any new media and is the one most likely to reduce theory of mind. A paper titled “The Relation Between Television Exposure and Theory of Mind Among Preschoolers” was published in November 2013 in the Journal of Communication . The researchers found that preschoolers who have a TV in their bedroom and are exposed to more background TV have a weaker understanding of other people's beliefs and desires, and reduced cognitive development.

Reading Improves Brain Connectivity

The changes caused by reading a novel were registered in the left temporal cortex, an area of the brain associated with receptivity for language, as well as the primary sensorimotor region of the brain. Neurons of this region have been associated with tricking the mind into thinking it is doing something it is not, a phenomenon known as grounded or embodied cognition .

An example of embodied cognition is similar to visualization in sports—just thinking about playing basketball can activate the neurons associated with the physical act of playing basketball.

“The neural changes that we found associated with physical sensation and movement systems suggest that reading a novel can transport you into the body of the protagonist,” said neuroscientist Professor Gregory S. Berns, lead author of the study. The ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes improves theory of mind.

“Stories shape our lives and in some cases help define a person,” said Dr. Berns, director of Emory University's Center for Neuropolicy in Atlanta. He added, “We want to understand how stories get into your brain, and what they do to it.”

The storytelling aspect of a novel is a multi-faceted form of communication that engages a broad range of brain regions. Although several linguistic and literary theories describe what constitutes a story, neurobiological research has just begun to identify the brain networks that are active when processing stories.

To determine a time frame of which connectivity in the brain lasted the longest, the researchers measured changes in resting-state connectivity before and after reading a novel. The researchers chose a novel over a short story because the length and depth of the novel would allow them to a set of repeated engagements with associated, unique stimuli (sections of the novel) set in a broader, controlled stimulus context that could be consumed between several periods in a brain scan.

The researchers took fMRI scans of the brains of 21 undergraduate students while they rested. Then the students were asked to read sections of the 2003 thriller novel “Pompeii” by Robert Harris over nine nights. The students' brains were scanned each morning following the nightly reading assignment, and then again daily for five days after they had finished the book.

Conclusion: Reading Improves Embodied Cognition and Theory of Mind

The scans revealed heightened connectivity within the students' brains on the mornings following the reading assignments. The areas with enhanced connectivity included the students' left temporal cortex, an area of the brain associated with language comprehension, as well as in the brain's central sulcus, which is associated with sensations and movement.

"The anterior (front) bank of the sulcus contains neurons that control movement of parts of the body," Berns noted. Adding, "The posterior (rear) bank contains neurons that receive sensory input from the parts of the body. Enhanced connectivity here was a surprise finding, but it implies that, perhaps, the act of reading puts the reader in the body of the protagonist."

The ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes through embodied cognition is key to improving theory of mind and also the ability to be compassionate. Although this study does not directly draw these conclusions, it seems like common sense that if we encourage our children to read—as opposed to tuning out through television—theory of mind and the ability to be compassionate to another person's suffering will improve.

Reading a good novel allows your imagination to take flight. Novels allow you to forget about your day-to-day troubles and to transport yourself to a fantasy world that becomes a reality in your mind’s eye. Rarely is the movie adaptation of a book ever quite as good as the original novel. Even the most advanced special effects will always fall short of the visual power of your own imagination.

Berns concluded, "At a minimum, we can say that reading stories—especially those with strong narrative arcs—reconfigures brain networks for at least a few days. It shows how stories can stay with us. This may have profound implications for children and the role of reading in shaping their brains."

Finding a good novel can be tough. I generally only finish about a third of the books I start. Goodreads did a year-end ‘ Best Fiction of 2013 ’ reader’s choice awards which has some terrific suggestions for novels that you might enjoy.

If you’d like to read more on this topic, check out my Psychology Today blogs:

• “ One More Reason to Unplug Your Television ”
• “ How Does Daydreaming Help Form Long-Term Memories? ”
• “ The Neuroscience of Imagination ”
• “ Childhood Creativity Leads to Innovation in Adulthood ”
• “ Too Much Crystallized Thinking Lowers Fluid Intelligence ”
• “ Primitive Brain Area Linked to Human Intelligence ”

Follow me on Twitter @ckbergland for updates on The Athlete ’s Way blog posts.

Christopher Bergland is a retired ultra-endurance athlete turned science writer, public health advocate, and promoter of cerebellum ("little brain") optimization.

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What is a literature review?

Conducting a literature review, organizing a literature review, writing a literature review, helpful book.

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A  literature review  is a compilation of the works published in a particular field of study or line of research, usually over a specific period of time, in the form of an in-depth, critical bibliographic essay or annotated list in which attention is drawn to the most significant works.

• Summarizes and analyzes previous research relevant to a topic
• Includes scholarly books and articles published in academic journals
• Can be an specific scholarly paper or a section in a research paper

The objective of a Literature Review is to find previous published scholarly works relevant to an specific topic

• Help gather ideas or information
• Keep up to date in current trends and findings
• Help develop new questions

A literature review is important because it:

• Explains the background of research on a topic
• Demonstrates why a topic is significant to a subject area
• Helps focus your own research questions or problems
• Discovers relationships between research studies/ideas
• Suggests unexplored ideas or populations
• Identifies major themes, concepts, and researchers on a topic
• Tests assumptions; may help counter preconceived ideas and remove unconscious bias
• Identifies critical gaps, points of disagreement, or potentially flawed methodology or theoretical approaches

Source: "What is a Literature Review?", Old Dominion University,  https://guides.lib.odu.edu/c.php?g=966167&p=6980532

1. Choose a topic. Define your research question. 

Your literature review should be guided by a central research question. It represents background and research developments related to a specific research question, interpreted, and analyzed by you in a synthesized way. 

• Make sure your research question is not too broad or too narrow.
• Write down terms that are related to your question for they will be useful for searches later. 

2. Decide on the scope of your review. 

How many studies do you need to look at? How comprehensive should it be? How many years should it cover? 

• This may depend on your assignment.
• Consider these things when planning your time for research. 

3. Select the databases you will use to conduct your searches. 

• By Research Guide 

4. Conduct your searches and find the literature. 

• Review the abstracts carefully - this will save you time!
• Many databases will have a search history tab for you to return to for later.
• Use bibliographies and references of research studies to locate others.
• Use citation management software such as Zotero to keep track of your research citations. 

5. Review the literature. 

Some questions to help you analyze the research: 

• What was the research question you are reviewing? What are the authors trying to discover? 
• Was the research funded by a source that could influence the findings? 
• What were the research methodologies? Analyze the literature review, samples and variables used, results, and conclusions. Does the research seem complete? Could it have been conducted more soundly? What further questions does it raise? 
• If there are conflicted studies, why do you think that is? 
• How are the authors viewed in the field? Are they experts or novices? Has the study been cited? 

Source: "Literature Review", University of West Florida,  https://libguides.uwf.edu/c.php?g=215113&p=5139469

A literature review is not a summary of the sources but a synthesis of the sources. It is made up of the topics the sources are discussing. Each section of the review is focused on a topic, and the relevant sources are discussed within the context of that topic. 

1. Select the most relevant material from the sources

• Could be material that answers the question directly
• Extract as a direct quote or paraphrase 

2. Arrange that material so you can focus on it apart from the source text itself

• You are now working with fewer words/passages
• Material is all in one place

3. Group similar points, themes, or topics together and label them 

• The labels describe the points, themes, or topics that are the backbone of your paper’s structure

4. Order those points, themes, or topics as you will discuss them in the paper, and turn the labels into actual assertions

• A sentence that makes a point that is directly related to your research question or thesis 

This is now the outline for your literature review. 

Source: "Organizing a Review of the Literature – The Basics", George Mason University Writing Center,  https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/research-based-writing/organizing-literature-reviews-the-basics

• Literature Review Matrix Here is a template on how people tend to organize their thoughts. The matrix template is a good way to write out the key parts of each article and take notes. Downloads as an XLSX file.

The most common way that literature reviews are organized is by theme or author. Find a general pattern of structure for the review. When organizing the review, consider the following: 

• the methodology 
• the quality of the findings or conclusions
• major strengths and weaknesses
• any other important information

Writing Tips: 

• Be selective - Select only the most important points in each source to highlight in the review. It should directly relate to the review's focus.
• Use quotes sparingly.
• Keep your own voice - Your voice (the writer's) should remain front and center. .   
• Aim for one key figure/table per section to illustrate complex content, summarize a large body of relevant data, or describe the order of a process
• Legend below image/figure and above table and always refer to them in text 

Source: "Composing your Literature Review", Florida A&M University,  https://library.famu.edu/c.php?g=577356&p=3982811

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What makes a story successful? Researchers have figured out a way to predict it

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Narrative reversals, or changes in fortune that take characters from heights to depths and vice versa, are a good predictor for how successful a movie, TV show or book will be, Northeastern marketing researchers say.

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There are very few universal truths about humanity, but one thing is for certain: We love stories.

Whether it’s movies, TV shows, books, political campaigns or even advertisements, people are constantly being told or telling stories every day. Entire industries are built around storytelling and understanding which stories connect with people the most.

It’s why a group of researchers at Northeastern University have tried to crack the code and answer one question: What makes a story successful?

“If you watch ‘Mad Men,’ you see it’s more of an art form, having an inspiration of how to tell a beautiful story and everything falls in place and it just magically works,” says Yakov Bart , a professor of marketing at Northeastern. “But lately a lot of people have been thinking maybe it’s not just art –– maybe there’s some science to this as well.”

By applying advanced quantitative analysis and statistical techniques to tens of thousands of movies, TV shows, books and even fundraising pitches, the researchers found one core element of storytelling that helped predict a story’s success with audiences: narrative reversals. 

Most people are familiar with what a narrative reversal is, even if they don’t know it by name. Something is going well for a character –– Romeo falls in love with Juliet –– only for something bad to happen to that character –– Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, is enraged and tries to kill Romeo. Or a character is down in the dumps and has a positive experience that changes things for the better.

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“We develop a way, using these advanced text analysis techniques, to quantify and try to measure the frequency and intensity of narrative reversals across a wide set of storytelling contexts,” says Samsun Knight, a research affiliate at Northeastern’s DATA Initiative and published author. “We show that this does indeed predict which stories tend to be more successful. This holds even if you look in a given TV show which episodes are more successful.”

Using a collection of 30,000 texts, which included TV shows, movies, books and fundraising pitches, the researchers analyzed them based on how positive or negative the language in a given section was. Based on that, they were able to measure how well things are going for the characters in a given story and when that situation changed, or reversed.

They counted the number of reversals that took place in each story, also measuring the frequency and intensity of each reversal and discovered it’s a fairly accurate predictor of how well a story will connect with people. In this case, that meant a movie or TV show’s audience rating on IMDb, how frequently people downloaded a book and how much money a fundraising pitch earned.

“It’s not the sole determiner of how successful a story is, but we were impressed with its consistency and the fact that it’s so simple,” Matt Rocklage , an assistant professor of marketing at Northeastern says. “The more of those reversals there are, the more successful these stories are, and the bigger these reversals are, the more successful these stories are.”

Knight says this research isn’t meant to create a formula for writers to tell their stories, but he hopes it can help writers avoid easy pitfalls when charting their story.

“In the most intuitive sense, people tend not to respond to places where nothing is getting better and nothing is getting worse,” Knight says. “You don’t want these sags in your story. … I love Samuel Beckett –– there are exceptions to every rule –– but broadly speaking, this type of unit of narrative propulsion tends to be exceptionally important. Leon Katz, a prominent dramaturg at the Yale School of Drama, called such narrative reversals the ‘formal unit’ of plot. In the same way that paragraphs are constructed out of sentences, a plot will tend to be structured out of reversals.”

Beyond people who are intent on writing the next Oscar-winning screenplay or bestselling novel, Knight says this research highlights how narrative reversals can be a useful tool in more practical contexts too. For those writing a cover letter to apply to their dream job or working up a fundraising pitch to sell people on their business concept, “tell it like a story,” reversals and all, Knight says.

“Tell us where the reversal came in where now you’re actually needing to ask for help or tell us where things could maybe come back up if you were to receive that help,” Knight says. “Structuring your communications with this rule of thumb in mind might help get your point across and just engage people more successfully.”

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Speaker 1: One of the most frequently asked questions that I am asked all the time across my social media platforms, across my YouTube, across my comments, is about the research process. So how do you start? Where do you even begin? You need to submit a dissertation, you need to submit a research proposal, you need to think of a hypothesis, you need to think of a problem statement, you need to find a gap in literature where do you even begin with the whole research process now it isn't as hard as it seems it's just one of those things that you're never told or you're never taught how to do it's one of those things that you just kind of figure out so hopefully in today's video i will be talking to you about the overview and kind of a quick beginner's guide to the research process, giving you the steps of how you get from zero to having something, having a question, having a hypothesis, having somewhere to start. I'm going to be making this into a bit of a series so in today's video I'm going to be giving you an overview as to the different chapters, the different sections of the process, how you get from nothing to something and then in the following videos I will be going through each of those sections in a bit more detail and hopefully if you are someone who is within one of those kind of parts you can just jump to that video and have a have a quick quick watch if you are someone who is just starting off then this is the best place for you to begin have a little think about how you're going to navigate your research process and how you're going to get from the start to the end it is not difficult but it does require a few steps, a few technicalities, which I'll talk you through today. I'll leave the timestamps down below so you feel free to go and jump to the different sections that you are interested in watching. And if you do enjoy this kind of video and you want to see the rest of the videos from me, then don't forget to subscribe to see more on my channel. So step number one is to choose a topic. Now this is the beginning of something beautiful. This is where you choose what you're actually going to be studying and when you're actually going to be reading about now it's really important that you have chosen a topic that you are interested in that there is an interest in within the research space that has something missing so you don't want to choose a topic that we know everything about you want to choose a topic that we don't know everything about and there are things that we want to try to find more about you want to choose a topic that is within your university guidelines so as much as i would love to do a research on the solar system about space well if my course is to do with cell biology well then i can't so you have to think about your limits think about what you are allowed to do within your university guidelines as well but you do need to think about taking that broad topic and making it into something a bit more narrow so it's not good enough to just say i want to do research on alzheimer's okay alzheimer's fine you've got a topic, but you now need to narrow it down. So what about it are you looking at? Are you looking at the risk factors? Are you looking at what happens once you have Alzheimer's? Are you looking at a specific group of people? Are you looking at a specific cell type? What is it that you are looking at? You need to narrow that down. In order to narrow it down, you need to do a bit of a literature search. So whilst choosing a topic, whilst in this first stage, you need to look at literature. So to find literature you want to go to different websites where you have literature and this could be for example Google Scholar is a good place to start, PubMed is a good place to start. These are places where you can find literature about that topic and kind of read around the subject and identify whether firstly is it something that you are actually interested in and secondly is there enough information for you to gather to be able to write your literature review in the future so that first step your first step of your research process is thinking about the topic because without a topic you there's nothing you can't do anything else so the first step has to always be to find a topic and think about it now once you've thought about a topic and you've narrowed it down to the thing that you're interested in at this stage you will then go to your supervisor to your lecturer to your professor to your mentor to your tutor and you will ask them do you think this is a good topic and that is where you will get some feedback and most likely you'll have to go back have another think or try to refine a bit more or try to think about it in a different way but that is always the first step. In the video that I make about finding a good topic we'll talk about it in a lot more depth but to start off with to introduce this is always the first step. So the second step is to identify a problem and this is what we like to call in as you know in research the gap in literature. So a problem slash gap in literature is the part of research that we that is missing. So when you do research in fact in order to graduate from a PhD you have to and this is one of the criteria you have to produce research it has to be in a thesis or in a in a published paper it has to be research it has to be a finding that is new something that we do not know before we did not know before your research right and that is the number one criteria for for actually getting a phd it is the fact that it has to be something new has to be something novel that you have discovered okay so you need to think about the gap in literature where is there a missing piece i understand this i understand that we know this we know that but what is there that we don't quite know and that is the bit that you are then going to try to identify during your research process right chosen a topic now we need to find the problem where is the missing information now in order to do this you need to have read a lot of papers around your topic. So that's why I said initially, you need to have had approval from your committee, from your tutor, your supervisor to say, right, that's okay. It's good for me to go there. Now you've got that topic that you're looking at. You then want to try to find the gap. Where are you going to slot in? What is it that you are going to provide in terms of knowledge? Now, the identifying a problem is actually quite an important and quite critical part of the research process it's almost impossible you to continue on with your research without having identified the problem because if you don't have a problem you don't know what it is you're looking at you don't know what methods you're using you don't know what your research question is going to be or your hypothesis so at this stage you have to have a very well-defined research problem and your question in order to continue on to the next steps so when i say research problem and we'll talk about this more in in the following video that i'm going to produce about it but when i talk about research problem it could be a number of different things so it could be that we understand or we have the knowledge of a certain situation but now you're comparing it to a different situation so it could be more theoretical where you're comparing two things to each other that haven't been compared before so that would be fine as long as what you have is something original or you may be trying to explore a specific relationship let's say for example in my case with my PhD I was looking at two different proteins and the relationship between them so that is one type of research that you can do as well and so just think about your topic and think about where the gap is in the literature you have to read a lot to be able to find this and a question I get a lot emailed to me and directed to me is about this problem so how do I find a problem like how do i find a gap in literature and it's almost impossible for me to to give you any answers because i have to have read all the papers within your topic in order to answer that question which is almost impossible so it's something that you have to do independently and you can always discuss with me you can discuss kind of trying to refine that question but for the most part you need to read around your subject yourself to get that question then step number three is to actually write down your research question now this is usually in the form maybe of a hypothesis or maybe it could be just a you know a standalone question so this is just you saying this is what i'm looking at so i'm looking at whether actin and myosin bind together to have an impact on the motility of the cortex like that is my question and then i'll have a hypothesis saying actin and myosin bind together and they do this so this is just my question and you're just following on from your problem so you've identified your topic you found the problem the gap in literature and then you write down what your question is so what it is exactly that you are looking for and this will be like your guiding star this will be the thing the question the statement that you have at the top you know at the top of your mind whenever you are looking at literature whenever you're writing a literature review whenever you speak to someone you have that question in mind and so that needs to be something that's really well defined it should also be really specific so it can't just be saying is obesity caused by i don't know fatty food i'm just giving a random example that is too vague is obesity in children in male in female different ages what fatty foods what like you need to be very very specific so specific that someone else should be able to pick up your research question and know what it is you're looking at they need to be able to know sort of what methods you're using is it qualitative or is it quantitative what type of research are you actually doing that should really be in the research question so a good research question is one where that is really well defined then step number four is to write a research design so this is where you're kind of creating a bit of a method a bit of a process within a process so you are now writing down and you're now thinking about how you're going to conduct this research so to follow this will be the research proposal but at this stage here you're just thinking about your research design so how are you going to get this research done what are the factors that you need to think about who are the people the participants that you may need are you doing a lab-based thing do you need cells are you you know what do you need humans do you need animals is it just a review paper so do you just need to think about researchers out there what kind of study are you going to conduct in order to find out the results and the answer to your question essentially the research design is a practical framework so it's giving laying out that frame for you in order to answer your research question. And here, it's more of a thinking process. It's more of a discussion. You might want to ask your supervisor, you might want to ask your tutor to talk about it. How are we going to get the answer to this question? And then to finish off the research process, you now want to write a research proposal. And I have a really good video about this, and I'll leave the link for it down below, where you are detailing all the steps for your research so you're detailing your the background of your research the literature review and you're justifying that there is a need for this research you then want to detail your methods your materials the aim your you know your timeline how long it's going to take you to do these things and then that document is what you take with you to your supervisor and say look this is my research proposal you might take it to a potential phd supervisor and say look this is what i've found and this is what i'm really interested in and here is the proposal and you have it all outlined there for you or it's a document that you're able to use in order to build upon your dissertation and so if you're writing an essay dissertation you are able to use that as well so with your research proposal you are detailing the context you are detailing the purpose the plan and your aims the whole process going from finding a topic finding a problem finding the research question defining the actual research and then now you're compiling all of that and you're putting it into a document called the research proposal and all of this information is in there someone should be able to pick that up see what you found find the review of the literature and say right this is a good study this is a good bit of research we are going to approve this and then you can go on and plan the rest of your research so i hope this video helped you summarizing the steps of the research process to begin with and as i mentioned i'm going to be doing each of these five steps as single videos so i can expand on them and i'll make it into a playlist so you're able to sort of follow up and click on the next couple videos but for now i hope this did help with thinking about the research process and thinking about maybe what stage you are at if you are at any of them if you do want further support you can contact me on thepagedoctor.com where i give support and we have a team of consultants top consultants and top editors that can support you through the process of writing your research proposal or even through the post process of thinking about how you're going to find a gap in literature how you're going to find you know your hypothesis and define that for you so don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know if this was helpful and don't forget to leave me a thumbs up and subscribe to see more from me and I'll see you in my next one. Bye.

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• Literature Review Guidelines

Making sense of what has been written on your topic.

Goals of a literature review:.

Before doing work in primary sources, historians must know what has been written on their topic.  They must be familiar with theories and arguments–as well as facts–that appear in secondary sources.

Before you proceed with your research project, you too must be familiar with the literature: you do not want to waste time on theories that others have disproved and you want to take full advantage of what others have argued.  You want to be able to discuss and analyze your topic.

Your literature review will demonstrate your familiarity with your topic’s secondary literature.

GUIDELINES FOR A LITERATURE REVIEW:

1) LENGTH:  8-10 pages of text for Senior Theses (485) (consult with your professor for other classes), with either footnotes or endnotes and with a works-consulted bibliography. [See also the  citation guide  on this site.]

2) NUMBER OF WORKS REVIEWED: Depends on the assignment, but for Senior Theses (485), at least ten is typical.

3) CHOOSING WORKS:

Your literature review must include enough works to provide evidence of both the breadth and the depth of the research on your topic or, at least, one important angle of it.  The number of works necessary to do this will depend on your topic. For most topics, AT LEAST TEN works (mostly books but also significant scholarly articles) are necessary, although you will not necessarily give all of them equal treatment in your paper (e.g., some might appear in notes rather than the essay). 4) ORGANIZING/ARRANGING THE LITERATURE:

As you uncover the literature (i.e., secondary writing) on your topic, you should determine how the various pieces relate to each other.  Your ability to do so will demonstrate your understanding of the evolution of literature.

You might determine that the literature makes sense when divided by time period, by methodology, by sources, by discipline, by thematic focus, by race, ethnicity, and/or gender of author, or by political ideology.  This list is not exhaustive.  You might also decide to subdivide categories based on other criteria.  There is no “rule” on divisions—historians wrote the literature without consulting each other and without regard to the goal of fitting into a neat, obvious organization useful to students.

The key step is to FIGURE OUT the most logical, clarifying angle.  Do not arbitrarily choose a categorization; use the one that the literature seems to fall into.  How do you do that?  For every source, you should note its thesis, date, author background, methodology, and sources.  Does a pattern appear when you consider such information from each of your sources?  If so, you have a possible thesis about the literature.  If not, you might still have a thesis.

Consider: Are there missing elements in the literature?  For example, no works published during a particular (usually fairly lengthy) time period?  Or do studies appear after long neglect of a topic?  Do interpretations change at some point?  Does the major methodology being used change?  Do interpretations vary based on sources used?

Follow these links for more help on analyzing  historiography  and  historical perspective .

5) CONTENTS OF LITERATURE REVIEW:

The literature review is a research paper with three ingredients:

a) A brief discussion of the issue (the person, event, idea). [While this section should be brief, it needs to set up the thesis and literature that follow.] b) Your thesis about the literature c) A clear argument, using the works on topic as evidence, i.e., you discuss the sources in relation to your thesis, not as a separate topic.

These ingredients must be presented in an essay with an introduction, body, and conclusion.

6) ARGUING YOUR THESIS:

The thesis of a literature review should not only describe how the literature has evolved, but also provide a clear evaluation of that literature.  You should assess the literature in terms of the quality of either individual works or categories of works.  For instance, you might argue that a certain approach (e.g. social history, cultural history, or another) is better because it deals with a more complex view of the issue or because they use a wider array of source materials more effectively. You should also ensure that you integrate that evaluation throughout your argument.  Doing so might include negative assessments of some works in order to reinforce your argument regarding the positive qualities of other works and approaches to the topic.

Within each group, you should provide essential information about each work: the author’s thesis, the work’s title and date, the author’s supporting arguments and major evidence.

In most cases, arranging the sources chronologically by publication date within each section makes the most sense because earlier works influenced later ones in one way or another.  Reference to publication date also indicates that you are aware of this significant historiographical element.

As you discuss each work, DO NOT FORGET WHY YOU ARE DISCUSSING IT.  YOU ARE PRESENTING AND SUPPORTING A THESIS ABOUT THE LITERATURE.

When discussing a particular work for the first time, you should refer to it by the author’s full name, the work’s title, and year of publication (either in parentheses after the title or worked into the sentence).

For example, “The field of slavery studies has recently been transformed by Ben Johnson’s The New Slave (2001)” and “Joe Doe argues in his 1997 study, Slavery in America, that . . . .”

Your paper should always note secondary sources’ relationship to each other, particularly in terms of your thesis about the literature (e.g., “Unlike Smith’s work, Mary Brown’s analysis reaches the conclusion that . . . .” and “Because of Anderson’s reliance on the president’s personal papers, his interpretation differs from Barry’s”). The various pieces of the literature are “related” to each other, so you need to indicate to the reader some of that relationship.  (It helps the reader follow your thesis, and it convinces the reader that you know what you are talking about.)

7) DOCUMENTATION:

Each source you discuss in your paper must be documented using footnotes/endnotes and a bibliography.  Providing author and title and date in the paper is not sufficient.  Use correct Turabian/Chicago Manual of Style form.  [See  Bibliography  and  Footnotes/Endnotes  pages.]

In addition, further supporting, but less significant, sources should be included in  content foot or endnotes .  (e.g., “For a similar argument to Ben Johnson’s, see John Terry, The Slave Who Was New (New York: W. W. Norton, 1985), 3-45.”)

8 ) CONCLUSION OF LITERATURE REVIEW:

Your conclusion should not only reiterate your argument (thesis), but also discuss questions that remain unanswered by the literature.  What has the literature accomplished?  What has not been studied?  What debates need to be settled?

Additional writing guidelines

History and American Studies

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Research in 60 Seconds: Using Tech to Improve Readability

Whether it’s solving the world’s biggest problems or investigating the potential of novel discoveries, researchers at UCF are on the edge scientific breakthroughs that aim to make an impact. Through the  Research in 60 Seconds series , student and faculty researchers condense their complex studies into bite-sized summaries so you can know how and why Knights plan to improve our world.

Name:  Ben Sawyer

Position(s):  Associate professor of industrial engineering and director of The Readability Consortium

Why are you interested in this research? My mother was a children’s librarian focused on building collections, and my father was a high school teacher, and then a professor of education. My own early work was focused on attention and distraction, and I became fascinated by how people get information out of machine systems, and into their minds. My present research centers around human performance in reading: how can we best move information into your awareness, so you can do something with it.

Who inspires you to conduct your research? I’m inspired by people working hard to understand [information, including] children, soldiers, analysts, physicians, and older adults all looking to find the information they need to get them to their goal and keep them safe on the way. My father worked with children with dyslexia, and it’s amazing how much parity I see between the struggles of those kids and the struggle of a physician trying to move through a 60-year medical history in a clunky interface in time to make a good decision for an anxious patient. I’m inspired by that struggle, which all of us face to a greater degree every day.

How does UCF empower you to do your research? UCF provides access to a brilliant community of students and collaborators. Industrial engineering is a friendly and collaborative faculty. I’ve met so many fascinating students in my classes and have been privileged to have some of them join my research group. I have graduated a few of these as scientists and engineers. I love the diversity at UCF: people from every imaginable walk of life are on this campus, and the perspectives they bring to this research make it possible. Moreover, I like the people I get to work with, and I wake up every day happy to see them and excited to move our work forward. I feel very lucky in this.

What major grants and honors have you earned to support your research? My readability research is primarily funded by industry. The consortium’s founding members Adobe and nonprofit Readability Matters provided the initial foundation for a community that now notably includes Google and Monotype. We also are beginning to work with these companies to attract state funding directly, including a 2023-24 $1 million appropriation from the State of Florida.

Why is this research important? Billions of readers have too much to read. The information age is only as miraculous as our individual abilities to access infinite information. The written word, one of the great engineering accomplishments of human history, was literally developed on reeds and animal hide. This research is founded in the idea that writing and reading, is due for an update. Rebuilding the written word to help humans of the information age is also an opportunity for languages that have not benefited so strongly from the digital revolution. Mandarin, Arabic, Hindi, Bengali and other scripts are underserved by modern Latin alphabet centered digital infrastructure but are receiving large investments as billions of these readers move online. Our readability research provides an opportunity to build equity in these languages, while working from evidence-based first principles of readability.

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August 22, 2024

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What makes a story successful? Researchers have figured out a way to predict it

by Cody Mello-Klein, Northeastern University

Narrative reversals, or changes in fortune that take characters from heights to depths and vice versa, are a good predictor for how successful a movie, TV show or book will be, Northeastern marketing researchers say.

There are very few universal truths about humanity, but one thing is for certain: we love stories.

Whether it's movies, TV shows, books, political campaigns or even advertisements, people are constantly being told or telling stories every day. Entire industries are built around storytelling and understanding which stories connect with people the most.

It's why a group of researchers at Northeastern University have tried to crack the code and answer one question: What makes a story successful?

"If you watch 'Mad Men,' you see it's more of an art form, having an inspiration of how to tell a beautiful story and everything falls in place and it just magically works," says Yakov Bart, a professor of marketing at Northeastern. "But lately, a lot of people have been thinking maybe it's not just art––maybe there's some science to this as well."

By applying advanced quantitative analysis and statistical techniques to tens of thousands of movies, TV shows, books and even fundraising pitches, the researchers found one core element of storytelling that helped predict a story's success with audiences: narrative reversals.

Most people are familiar with what a narrative reversal is, even if they don't know it by name. Something is going well for a character––Romeo falls in love with Juliet––only for something bad to happen to that character––Tybalt, Juliet's cousin, is enraged and tries to kill Romeo. Or a character is down in the dumps and has a positive experience that changes things for the better.

"We develop a way, using these advanced text analysis techniques, to quantify and try to measure the frequency and intensity of narrative reversals across a wide set of storytelling contexts," says Samsun Knight, a research affiliate at Northeastern's DATA Initiative and published author.

"We show that this does indeed predict which stories tend to be more successful. This holds even if you look in a given TV show which episodes are more successful."

Using a collection of 30,000 texts, which included TV shows, movies, books and fundraising pitches, the researchers analyzed them based on how positive or negative the language in a given section was. Based on that, they were able to measure how well things are going for the characters in a given story and when that situation changed, or reversed.

They counted the number of reversals that took place in each story, also measuring the frequency and intensity of each reversal, and discovered it's a fairly accurate predictor of how well a story will connect with people. In this case, that meant a movie or TV show's audience rating on IMDb, how frequently people downloaded a book and how much money a fundraising pitch earned.

"It's not the sole determiner of how successful a story is, but we were impressed with its consistency and the fact that it's so simple," Matt Rocklage, an assistant professor of marketing at Northeastern says. "The more of those reversals there are, the more successful these stories are, and the bigger these reversals are, the more successful these stories are."

Knight says this research isn't meant to create a formula for writers to tell their stories, but he hopes it can help writers avoid easy pitfalls when charting their story.

"In the most intuitive sense, people tend not to respond to places where nothing is getting better and nothing is getting worse," Knight says.

"You don't want these sags in your story. … I love Samuel Beckett––there are exceptions to every rule––but broadly speaking, this type of unit of narrative propulsion tends to be exceptionally important. Leon Katz, a prominent dramaturg at the Yale School of Drama, called such narrative reversals the 'formal unit' of plot. In the same way that paragraphs are constructed out of sentences, a plot will tend to be structured out of reversals."

Beyond people who are intent on writing the next Oscar-winning screenplay or bestselling novel, Knight says this research highlights how narrative reversals can be a useful tool in more practical contexts too.

For those writing a cover letter to apply to their dream job or working up a fundraising pitch to sell people on their business concept, "tell it like a story," reversals and all, Knight says.

"Tell us where the reversal came in where now you're actually needing to ask for help or tell us where things could maybe come back up if you were to receive that help," Knight says.

"Structuring your communications with this rule of thumb in mind might help get your point across and just engage people more successfully."

Provided by Northeastern University

This story is republished courtesy of Northeastern Global News news.northeastern.edu .

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