Chapter 4: Do the Homework (Finding What Your Story Really Needs)

How to gather just enough information to make your story feel real without drowning in it.

When people hear “research,” they often think it means digging through books, watching documentaries, or learning obscure facts.

Sometimes it does!

But in story development, research usually means something much simpler:

It means learning enough about a world, experience, or perspective that you can write it truthfully. Not perfectly (no, you do not need t…