Are you a writer who is seeking to expand your literary abilities? Are you curious about what creative writing research is or where to begin? Look no further! I have simplified the realm of creative research into 5 simple ways to help you grow in your understanding and ability to research like a pro – with a creative touch.
1 – Know what creative research is
Oftentimes, when we think of research, we think of people in lab coats surrounded by test tubes, discovering the newest microorganism or disease cure. When we think of these people, we may forget that research can be done outside of a lab, school research project, or Mars. Creative research combines two things we rarely combine – Imagination and Investigation (the 2 I’s). Creative research draws inspiration from these two I’s to gather information from all kinds of sources to create a piece of literature that is written by the creative mind of the writer – you – and sources to inspire that writing.
2 – Have a plan
One of the most critical aspects of combining imagination and investigation is coming up with a plan to help guide you. The nice thing about creating this plan is that it also doesn’t have to be definitive; it may even change as time goes on! To come up with a plan, first, discover what you could be passionate about and what would excite you to research and write. List out what research you may think you would explore: it could be anything from archives, interviews, photographs, newspapers, social media blogs, and more. Once you have general ideas, the details you come across in the long run will be easier to navigate.
3 – Find your resource buddies
“Do you have your exit buddy?!”
This is a noteworthy and applicable line from the beloved child’s movie Finding Nemo.
Think of the resources you will be using as your exit buddy from the planning you have done. Finding and using your resources is essential and tells of how well-prepared you are. Without resources, you have no exit buddy. So, how do you know what your resource buddies are? Well, the resources to choose are the ones that you believe will best support your goals in what you desire to research. The first way to do this is simply by being aware of what is going on around you – the conversations people are having, the settings surrounding you, the vibes, and anything else that comes to mind. Beyond your own experience, you can include that of others. From old news archives found in a library, online databases with thousands of accessible items, films or movies, novels of any genre, and more. However, the most important thing about any of these is that you ACTUALLY have them! Without actually having those things, you’re just making it up! Then, what would be the point of all the hard work you’ve done? Use all the material you find to support what you’re looking for and go from there!
4 – Understand real research
I am nearly positive every educator has told their students at least once not to trust Wikipedia (as they should). If this is the case, then you may be wondering, “Oh no, what if I found my research on Wikipedia?” My answer to you would be to find another resource because you can do better (and deserve better)! The classic way to tell if an internet source is credible is to look for websites with .org or .edu within their URL. If it is more difficult to tell, then it means it’s time to do more investigation into the source. Ask yourself questions like: Is this biased? Who posted this and why? Can I research more about this organization? These are all good to ask yourself. Now, what if it is a photo, video, or blog post? In these cases, I would still ask the same questions and determine how they will best affect your research. What are the positives and negatives of using these sources? When researching and finding resources, continue asking these questions to determine their REAL-iability.
5 – Using your inspirations in your writings
Once you have gathered all you need, your next step is actually to write. Only now, how do you credit all your research and resources? All of this has led up to applying what you have found. This means combining your imagination and investigation to create something that honors the resources you used and making a story from all of it. Let your imagination lead your writing and let your findings trickle their way in, at this point you must be a pro at what you have found! Maybe you are writing about World War II and the day the war began. Imagine you have found all the information about it you could, and now you are writing a scene set in Poland on the day Hitler invaded and the main character is a Polish bystander who watched the war begin on ground zero. Using all your research, combined with creativity, there is no doubt there is a great story in the making.
These are my five ways to help you in your creative writing research. Now, go out in the world and use your newfound imagination and investigation skills!
Extra resources for the extra determined researcher:
JSTOR – https://www.jstor.org/
JSTOR is an excellent resource for a researcher beginning to find the information they are looking for. It is an online library that is free to access by email or a school institution. It contains journals, primary sources, art pieces, and more.
University of Delaware – https://guides.lib.udel.edu/creativewriting/home
The University of Delaware has conveniently created a list that has hyperlinks to research databases based on their subject. To any researcher, this is a great resource to use to find databases that are specific to what you are looking for.
Ari Miranda 
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