When an author writes about a subject in which they have personal experience, he or she may think that they know enough to fill the pages with just enough information to entice their readers. While a subject may in fact be interesting to a reader, the lack of facts can seriously diminish the full impact of the work.

Research is not limited to school, college and the scientific community; it is a basic necessity for any author to utilize for some very obvious reasons and some reasons you may find quite surprising.

When writing non-fiction, research helps the author find more in-depth information to create an educational and enlightening documentation of actual events. Non-fiction can hardly be considered ‘non-fiction’ without facts to back up the points and claims the author is making.

A biography is generally a work that describes the actual life of an individual person that obviously requires the use of research. When writing a biography, the research should be expanded to gain the perspective of the individual for a more idealistic view of what the individual’s life really was like.

When an author chooses to write about a topic that is of a sensitive medical or psychological assessment or problem, this also requires a lot of research and study. Even if the writer has personal life experience on the subject, personal experiences are not enough to label the work as factual. While personal experience about a subject certainly gives the author a unique position from which to start writing, researching the subject takes the topic of choice from ‘a personal account of events’ to a better understanding by backing it up with actual evidence. The amount of research and study done for this type of work may very well make all the difference between whether or not the work will be useful to the reader.

Have you ever heard the term ‘there’s a grain of truth to all fiction’? The reason for that is simple. When an author decides to write a work of fiction, the plot and the characters usually stem from something the author heard, saw or someone they know. While it is wonderful to find inspiration this way, a lot of authors take that to a new level to give a deeply relatable and complex story.

That being said, when the story is written about a specific time period or set of events or pertains to a certain lifestyle, researching the time, place or culture will actually lend weight to the story without ruining the fictional plot. An author that researches the topic they are writing about and then embellishes and twists the concept to suit their purpose for the fictional story will make their readers wonder ‘can that really happen?’ which will keep the reader coming back for more.

So there you have it. Research is not just an annoying or time consuming assignment meant only for those studying in a classroom; it is in fact one of the most useful tools that any author could and should utilize when writing within any genre. While there are surely many more reasons to research a topic, the point is to keep readers interested in reading and what better way to do that than by lending that proverbial ‘grain of truth,’ even if the work is fictional?