Research & Interviewing Strategies for Writers

Whether you're writing fiction, nonfiction, reported journalism, essays, or memoir, you're probably going to have to do some amount of research. As the author of over a dozen books, including four New York Times bestsellers, I've spent more time on research than writing over the years. Now I'm going to share my methods with you.

• We’ll look at how to use scientific and academic sources, and how to track down experts in any field.

  
  

• We’ll look at historical sources, like old newspapers and archives.

  
  

• We’ll talk about genealogical resources, like Census records and other public documents.

  
  

• I’ll show you how I conduct interviews, and when I hire expert help.

  
  

• I’ll tell you how to spot faulty information and keep it out of your work.

  
  

• I’m also going to teach you to be a skeptic! How do you know what you know? How do you verify your facts?

But before we start gathering all that research, we need a way to keep track of it!

If you’re about to dive into a big research project, whether it’s for a book, a dissertation, or some other kind of writing project, you’ll be so much better off if you set up a good system for organizing it all before you jump in.

This class will also teach you how to keep track of all your research in Evernote. Writers can also use Evernote to brainstorm book ideas, organize a plot, and keep track of ideas for other professional projects, like teaching workshops.

Even if you don’t use Evernote, this section will show you how the digital tools of your choice can help you stay organized.

Whatever kind of writing project you're embarking on, this class will help you up your research game.