Writing a Novel - Research Help

iMi

iMi

Site Champ
Site Donor
Joined
Oct 9, 2020
Posts
310
So, I have decided to finally write the novel I've been tossing around for several years. It's fiction, but involves ideas and technologies based in real world science. What is the best way to collect sources on the following topics:
- antigravity technology
- antimatter
- dark matter
- behavior of subatomic particles
- quantum physics basics and more advanced theories
- secret societies like illuminati, scull and bones, etc.
- German WW2 technology
- development of the microprocessor
- development of the space technology
- details on history events related to the Manhattan project, ww2, eugenics, etc
- alien abduction, first hand reports, etc.

Those concepts will form the basis of the book. It's a fiction written as "based on true story" type of adventure. The idea is to incorporate real physics, real concepts and some well known conspiracy theories that can plausibly be supported by historical events, evidence.

Any suggestions on how to go about such research? Obviously internet... but I'm thinking more about organizations, places to connect with folks that would have first hand knowledge, etc.
 
iMi said:
So, I have decided to finally write the novel I've been tossing around for several years. It's fiction, but involves ideas and technologies based in real world science. What is the best way to collect sources on the following topics:
- antigravity technology
- antimatter
- dark matter
- behavior of subatomic particles
- quantum physics basics and more advanced theories
- secret societies like illuminati, scull and bones, etc.
- German WW2 technology
- development of the microprocessor
- development of the space technology
- details on history events related to the Manhattan project, ww2, eugenics, etc
- alien abduction, first hand reports, etc.

Those concepts will form the basis of the book. It's a fiction written as "based on true story" type of adventure. The idea is to incorporate real physics, real concepts and some well known conspiracy theories that can plausibly be supported by historical events, evidence.

Any suggestions on how to go about such research? Obviously internet... but I'm thinking more about organizations, places to connect with folks that would have first hand knowledge, etc.
Click to expand...
Just think of some applicable search criteria like dark matter, or antimatter and go at it with the search engine. ;) Depending on how in-depth you want to get, how intricate to the story it will be, I can see it being a challenge depending on your educational background, or life experiences. I’m currently reading a spy book, and the author was a career CIA officer, a distinct advantage to be able to write about something and make it sound authentic.
 
iMi said:
So, I have decided to finally write the novel I've been tossing around for several years. It's fiction, but involves ideas and technologies based in real world science. What is the best way to collect sources on the following topics:
- antigravity technology
- antimatter
- dark matter
- behavior of subatomic particles
- quantum physics basics and more advanced theories
- secret societies like illuminati, scull and bones, etc.
- German WW2 technology
- development of the microprocessor
- development of the space technology
- details on history events related to the Manhattan project, ww2, eugenics, etc
- alien abduction, first hand reports, etc.

Those concepts will form the basis of the book. It's a fiction written as "based on true story" type of adventure. The idea is to incorporate real physics, real concepts and some well known conspiracy theories that can plausibly be supported by historical events, evidence.

Any suggestions on how to go about such research? Obviously internet... but I'm thinking more about organizations, places to connect with folks that would have first hand knowledge, etc.
Click to expand...
Me personally? My advice would NOT to be a slave to your research, whatever you find. Always treat it like the springboard it is for your own ideas. Sometimes you can fall so far down the rabbit hole of your research, that you end up getting nothing really done.
 
Firstly, @JayMysteri0 has made an excellent point about how - in a work of fiction - one should not be a slave to research.

Secondly: To that I would add - if it is to succeed as a story in a work of fiction - both plot (narrative arc, which is where the accurate science comes in) and character need to work; a surprising number of male authors focus on plot - often well-researched, but equally often at the expense of character - which can make the story flat.

Yes, I want accuracy, attention to detail, but, I can read facts in a history book (and I am a serious reader of history books) or accurate science periodicals, thus, in fiction, both story and character need attention.

On the topic of character, I have lost count of the number of male authors who write atrociously bad, clichéd, tediously two-dimensional female characters - the kind of cliché that fails the Bechdel test each and every time, or the other cliché - equally irksome, whereby a mythical female creature with breasts the size of Everest paired with a brain akin to Einstein's puts in an appearance in the novel.

Have you thought about alternative history? This is an area where - as long as the plot makes sense, the science used is coherent, scientifically logical yet functional as applied in the narrative - you can still bend history and facts in the wider service of the narrative (or plot).
 
Last edited:
iMi said:
So, I have decided to finally write the novel I've been tossing around for several years. It's fiction, but involves ideas and technologies based in real world science. What is the best way to collect sources on the following topics:
- antigravity technology
- antimatter
- dark matter
- behavior of subatomic particles
- quantum physics basics and more advanced theories
- secret societies like illuminati, scull and bones, etc.
- German WW2 technology
- development of the microprocessor
- development of the space technology
- details on history events related to the Manhattan project, ww2, eugenics, etc
- alien abduction, first hand reports, etc.

Those concepts will form the basis of the book. It's a fiction written as "based on true story" type of adventure. The idea is to incorporate real physics, real concepts and some well known conspiracy theories that can plausibly be supported by historical events, evidence.

Any suggestions on how to go about such research? Obviously internet... but I'm thinking more about organizations, places to connect with folks that would have first hand knowledge, etc.
Click to expand...
Let me know if you need medical stuff. Spending 11 years of postgrad training was great for making up transhumanist crap:)
 
I follow a rule of thought to keep crap in general, as to not bog things down for yourself & reader. Then if something becomes a major plot point of contention, beg for help! 🤪

Sometimes writing yourself out of a corner based on your basic research, to more detailed info if really needed, opens up new avenues for story.
 
Huntn said:
I had no clue. 😳
en.wikipedia.org

Bechdel test - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
The Red Sparrow trilogy I’m currently reading seems to pass it. :)
Click to expand...
There's the Bechdel Test, and there is also 'fridging'.

What Is ‘Fridging’, And How Can You Avoid It?

What set your character on their path through the story? Yes, they should have a goal, but why is that goal so important to them? What kind of event is enough to justify telling a whole story about the reaction? A talented author can turn pretty much any event into a justifiable reason to follow
www.standoutbooks.com www.standoutbooks.com
Click to expand...
 
Scepticalscribe said:
female creature with breasts the size of Everest
Click to expand...
...oh, do tell me more. 😂
Scepticalscribe said:
Have you thought about alternative history?
Click to expand...
That’s part of the plot. It takes place in the late 1990‘s and what ends up happening is that the abductors are not what they seem.. The protagonist of the story learns that nazis have not only split the atom years before we obtained such capabilities, but also discovered antigravity technology. The bell, bla bla bla. They are still here and they are still covertly working to advance their cause. The young man who is abducted has been seized because he has something they need. The twist in the story is that the young man is also suffering from mental health issues. As the story unfolds, the plot deepens and the reader never quite knows if what’s happening to the main character is real or the result of his mental illness. Historical events are portrayed in a different light, so the pieces still fit but paint a very different picture.
 
iMi said:
...oh, do tell me more. 😂

That’s part of the plot. It takes place in the late 1990‘s and what ends up happening is that the abductors are not what they seem.. The protagonist of the story learns that nazis have not only split the atom years before we obtained such capabilities, but also discovered antigravity technology. The bell, bla bla bla. They are still here and they are still covertly working to advance their cause. The young man who is abducted has been seized because he has something they need. The twist in the story is that the young man is also suffering from mental health issues. As the story unfolds, the plot deepens and the reader never quite knows if what’s happening to the main character is real or the result of his mental illness. Historical events are portrayed in a different light, so the pieces still fit but paint a very different picture.
Click to expand...
The only book I read that could pull off a plot like that was A Scanner Darkly from PKD. That book cut to the bone.
 
I would also have to add that I've seen some pretty piss-poor writing from female authors as well as male authors, so there is that..... Poor writing is poor writing, regardless of gender!
 
Back
Top