The Art of Creative Research: A Field Guide for Writers

by Philip Gerard

A guide to finding and using information that enriches your fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, “filled with anecdotes from a wide range of writers” (Choice).All writers conduct research. For some this means poring over records and combing archives, but for many creative writers research happens in the everyday world—when they scribble an observation on the subway, when they travel to get the feel for a city, or when they strike up a conversation with an interesting stranger.The Art of Creative Research helps writers take this natural inclination to explore and observe and turn it into a workable—and enjoyable—research plan. It shows that research shouldn’t be seen as a dry, plodding aspect of writing. Instead, it’s an art that all writers can master, one that unearths surprises and fuels imagination. This lends authenticity to fiction and poetry as well as nonfiction.Philip Gerard distills the process into fundamental How do you conduct research? And what can you do with the information you gather? He covers both in-person research and work in archives, and illustrates how the different types of research can be incorporated into stories, poems, and essays using examples from a wide range of writers as well as his own projects. Throughout, he brings knowledge from his seasoned background into play, drawing on his experiences as a reporter and a writer of both fiction and nonfiction. His enthusiasm for adventure is infectious and will inspire writers to step away from the keyboard and into the world.“Gerard just flat-out gets it. . . . He understands that research is at its core about the human need to know . . . an indispensable book.” —Joe Mackall, author of Plain An Outsider among the Amish

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Crafts, Reference, Research, Academia, Read For School

236 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 21, 2017

About the author

Philip Gerard is the author of 13 books, including The Last Battleground: The Civil War Comes to North Carolina. Gerard was the author of Our State's Civil War series. He currently teaches in the department of creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Reviews

[libremilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good. I read this for a class, but I enjoyed reading it. It focuses mainly on researching for non-fiction, which I didn't mind since I *do* dabble in non-fiction writing relatively often, but I would have liked it more if it had looked at how research should be done for fiction, because that's just as equally important.

Also, for a book on research, it was kind of funny how many grammar errors my edition had. 🥴

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

[Erica Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

absolutely lovely hyperfixation i’ve had for the past week. super digestible, will definitely be taking some things with me

[Halle West]

I am SICK of reading and rereading this book for every single writing and humanities course at my college

[D.E. Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was learning from this book before I finished the first chapter. It's so full of insights that it will be worth reading many years after some of the technical information is outdated. Fantastic resource for someone looking into doing serious research for writing.

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The least boring textbook you would ever need. So fascinating and well-written and full of stellar writers.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful book on research with examples for almost everything from poetry to nonfiction. As an academic, I am very familiar with the research for a dissertation, but not the kind of research for engaging readers and telling stories.

This book covers many types of research for all kinds of projects. It even includes a chapter on memory for memoir. I especially appreciated the chapter on how much research is needed and the importance of filtering the research - explicitly stating that you will need to complete much more and know much more than written in the book or poem or other art.

The exercises at the end of the chapters were also excellent, for example picking a person from a graveyard and researching them or recreating an event from memory and finding ways to fact check your memory.

[Sam DiBella · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this more to be mostly an account of several writers research processes, told concurrently, combined with enthusiastic advice of a generic kind (just ~do~ it, make sacrifices for what you love, sometimes you just need to ask for help). When subtract the above, there's not much left over other than that the styled writing itself, which works nicely. But that does not a guide make.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. Yes, I was assigned certain chapters to read for a class I am taking but I ended up reading even the parts not assigned. The author brought an enthusiasm for the topic that caused the reader to become more interested in and immersed in the research experience. The stories and examples helped a lot.

[Kes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super readable book on how to do research for writing - boils down to experiencing what your subjects might have lived / done, carrying out interviews (and giving space for your subjects being interviewed), visiting museums, etc. Full of good ideas for people wanting solid world building in specific eras of history.

[Lisa Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is useful advice in this book, but it surrounded by too much unnecessary anecdote. It's also repetitive in ways that aren't useful. But given the dearth of monographs and articles that address research for creative writers, it fills an important gap.

[Makayla MacGregor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially liked the last chapter; there were all sorts of really good tips about bringing research to life. I didn't give the book 5 stars only because there were actually too many examples — I felt like I was reading more exemplars of what he was discussing than actually tips.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a great book and it's exactly what it says it is - A field guide for writers and researchers. The best part of the book is the last chapter that is really about using research to write. How to use the data to tell an interesting story vs. just retelling the facts.

[McKinsey Kemeny · Rating 4 out of 5]

So insightful. I learned a ton about better ways to research and approach writing! Sadly, there were more typos than expected for a book published by Chicago…

[Jasmine McCulley · Rating 4 out of 5]

literally helped me write my paper and gave me so much knowledge of life lowkey

[Brendan O'Meara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ultimate toolbox for culling and curating the vast information in the world. Inspiring for any poet, novelist, essayist, or nonfiction writer.

[Mills College Library]

808.02 G357r 2017