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Joined: 2/9/2012
Posts: 427
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The thriller genre often focuses on teasing out the intricacies of different professions (e.g. medicine, law, finance) as the protagonists try to resolve life or death situations. Do you think that having that professional expertise yourself is really important to you? How much research do you do so that you can populate your prose with authentic details? Is research THAT central to your writing process?
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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 412
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I have a few books I haven't written because I would NEED to do that kind of research to not sound stupid. And one because doing the research, I found out that my ideas were unworkable in reality.
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Joined: 2/9/2012
Posts: 427
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Thanks for the input, Alexander! I'm always curious whether research is a "barrier to entry" so to say. I also wonder whether more people are drawn to the fantasy genre nowadays because they perceive it as involving more creativity (as opposed to the grunt work needed for thriller).
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Joined: 1/10/2012
Posts: 28
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To me, research is critical. I would be mortified if I got a point of law or science wrong, especially if the plot hinges on it.
In fact, in my first novel, I had to go back and rework a substantial portion of the plot because my securities law knowledge was inadequate and I did get something wrong, and a securities lawyer friend pointed it out (and also the solution - thank you Jehan!).
But I, personally, revel in the research. I often think that's the coolest part of writing this type of novel. You get to talk to interesting people you wouldn't otherwise have any reason to connect with. And it constantly amazes me just how helpful people are once you say the magic phrase "I'm working on a novel..." Not only will they give you information, but they'll often make introductions to other people with more useful knowledge.
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Joined: 11/17/2011
Posts: 21
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I can't imagine writing a thriller without doing the research. Remember when Lee Child got his first book published, and wrote about putting bullets in the oven "to dry them out"??? The whole shooting world howled in laughter. His books survived, but yours may not.
The thing about a thriller is that is has to have roots in reality, or it changes category to sci-fi/thriller.
Every book I write is based on facts. Sometimes, an agent or publisher chooses not be believe the facts, but I will stack my research against a critic's anytime!
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I too, like Dave, and I'm sure many others, think research is vital. Steve Berry for example, is a master at this aspect of writing. I can't imagine how his books would read with less than what he writes into them. The techno thrillers are the ones that blow me away the most and I love to pour over books with good geographic description based in research. D
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Joined: 2/9/2012
Posts: 427
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I think that the idea that it needs to be "grounded in reality" sums it up pretty well. Thanks, guys. I also really enjoyed the Lee Child story, haha.
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Joined: 3/16/2011
Posts: 279
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That's the reason my thriller hasn't gotten further than being halfway written. The amount of research it needs has had me sideline it until my other research heavy projects are completed.
Dave, I read that book of Lee's with drying the bullets in the oven! I think my eyebrows were going to migrate into my hairline for good when I read that.
Whenever I delve into a subject I don't know a lot about, I try to pick one where I know someone within the industry to proof it for errors like that.
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Joined: 8/31/2012
Posts: 3
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My name is Arden, I'm from Connecticut
and I'm a new member to BookCountry. I've have written a thriller, but more on that later. I believe that research is vital to any thriller which has historical roots or implications.
World War Two Europe plays a part in both my novels, and I have done extensive research, and have had some discussions with people who were involved first-hand. I also consulted with a cardiologist and a psychologist about two of my characters. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that reading a novel and running into something I know is absolutely wrong is jarring, to say the least. I enjoy research. Sometimes I learn something completely unexpected.
I not that this disucssion is what we might call a "golden oldie," but I hope that it is atill very much alive.
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• . Do you think that having that professional expertise yourself is really important to you?
Wrong question, I think. The proper question is if the reader expects accuracy. Assume you're a doctor and you read a medical thriller in which it's obvious that the one writing it got their medical expertise from watching television. How far past the first, "You have to be kidding," point would you read?
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For me research is important when writing about say, police procedures. I do intensive research when creating a serial killer character for instance. In the later case I would research psychological traits and behavioral traits of a particular serial killer or a group of them and that would help me come up with my composite character.
I research setting, a whole lot. I beat it upside the head when say writing a high-speed chase in Stockholm. I may read up on the city for a week simply to write a paragraph (sometimes)
The last thing I want is my reader to poke holes in my story. You cannot put a river between Main and South Street in a city that actually exists if the river is not there in reality.
I use research to spin plausible reality. By blending highly researched reality A with highly researched Reality B, I come up with fictitious reality C, and make sure it sound iron clad serious. No different than would a conspiracy theorist.
Research your real magic spells and they will come to life in your fiction.
Research, research, research, and your readers will thank and love you for it
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Joined: 6/7/2013
Posts: 1356
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@Alexander Hollins--I hear ya! I once got it in my head that I was going to write an historical saga that took place in a Rajasthan palace circa 1500 AD. About 20 minutes later, I realized I'd need to go get a Ph.D. in South Asian history before I could write with any authority about that subject, and it was deflating. 
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Joined: 6/7/2013
Posts: 1356
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I have heard it said that, however, that writers who approach a subject as a novice for a writing project will ultimately do the best job of conveying what's interesting about that subject in their work, because they are approaching it from an outsider's perspective. They'll know what information they need to find, and as long as they check their sources carefully, they'll be more sensitive to the blind spots. After all, they remember what it was like to be new to the information better than the experts do.
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Yes, for sure research is important for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is authenticity. To make the various aspects of the text sound true and have depth I do as much as needed.
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