Most research doesn’t begin with a library visit. It begins with a question.
Sometimes it's a subtle curiosity, like: “What did a police station look like in 1935 Montreal?” or “Could a freight train from Toronto realistically pass through Chesterville on a Sunday afternoon in 1986?”
Other times, it’s something you stumble across while doing something completely unrelated. A headline. A photograph. A story from your grandmother that suddenly makes your writer brain vibrate. Inspiration rarely arrives politely. It knocks over the furniture and demands attention.
Here are the most common “idea triggers” I see:
Your own life experience: Jobs you’ve had, places you’ve lived, family stories that linger. These can be gold mines.
Objects with stories attached: A locket, a recipe card, a military badge, a curling trophy. Each one carries a question.
Local history: Small-town newspapers, local museums, old maps, directories—you’d be amazed how often a storyline or character emerges from a single archival discovery.
Real people and real events: Even if you change names and details, real situations often spark fiction.
A lack of knowledge: Surprisingly, not knowing something is often your strongest starting point. Once you have your spark, the next step is to focus it. This is where the Idea Question comes in.
The Idea Question
This is your guiding compass. It defines what you’re actually looking for and prevents you from disappearing into the internet for half a day.
An Idea Question could be:
“How did women in rural Ontario keep financial records in the 1940s?”
“What does a train switching yard look like?”
“A local story says Mary was an opera singer in Paris. Was it true?”
Write your Idea Question at the top of your notes. It will save you. Trust me.
Finding (and Filtering) Research Material
This is the part most writers imagine when they think of “research,” the stacks of books, the late-night Google searches, the lucky discovery in an abandoned box of family photos.
There are two major categories of sources, and both are useful depending on what you're writing.
Primary Sources are first-hand materials: the closest thing to touching the past such as diaries, letters, postcards, newspaper articles published at the time. Photographs and photo albums, maps, city directories, land records. Oral histories and interviews, Objects that belonged to someone (jewelry, tools, clothing).
Primary sources don’t just tell you facts, they give you atmosphere. The slang of the time. The way people wrote to each other. What a street looked like, how clothing fit, even how people posed for photos. These details shape your story in ways secondary sources never can.
Secondary sources are interpretations or summaries of primary sources: History books, academic articles, biographies, documentaries and local historical society publications. Secondary sources are wonderful for context and big-picture understanding. They can also save you hours by summarizing something that took a historian years to piece together.
Digital Tools Worth Exploring
We’re incredibly lucky to live in a world where archives and databases are becoming more accessible every day.
Some favourites:
Ancestry, FamilySearch, Library & Archives Canada: Great for timelines, immigration, occupations, family structures.
Historical newspaper sites: Perfect for ads, crime reports, public notices, weather, and real-life inspiration.
Pinterest: Yes, really. For clothing, furniture, tools, cars, storefronts, and period décor, Pinterest is unmatched.
Local museum and library websites: Many upload photos, diaries, oral histories, and rare documents.
In-Person Research
Sometimes nothing beats standing in a place your character stands, or holding an object your grandmother once used.
Archives, historical societies, museums, and libraries remain some of the most helpful—and most underused- resources for writers. Many archivists are thrilled to help researchers, especially when your project has a local connection.
Knowing When to Stop
This is the hard part. Set a limit. A timer, a question quota, a number of credible sources.
When you feel the itch to go deeper just because it’s interesting, ask yourself: “Does this serve my story, or am I just avoiding writing?”
If it’s the latter, step away from the search bar.
Deciding What to Keep (And What to Leave Behind)
If you’ve ever found a fascinating historical detail and felt compelled to include it, whether it fits or not, you’re not alone. This is the moment writers feel the most guilt. You find a story, a fact, a quirky object and think: “This is too good not to use!”
But not everything belongs on the page.
Use this simple filter: Does this detail…serve the plot? Reveal character? Enrich setting? Build tension or emotion? Help the reader understand something essential?
If the answer is no, save it for later.
Avoid the “Look What I Learned!” Syndrome. Readers can feel when they’re being lectured. Even beautiful research can turn into an info dump if placed in the wrong scene.
Instead, weave details through within a dialogue, or sensory clues. Use it for objects the characters use, or in small lines that ground the scene. For example, a 1930s telephone doesn’t need a paragraph of explanation.
You can show its era by writing:
“Elizabeth shifted the receiver to her ear and waited for the operator to connect the call.”
One sentence. No lecture. Just atmosphere.
Let me add a paragraph on validating your research materials. First, just because someone says something or uses a source doesn’t mean it’s accurate. Some writers, even in academic research or journals, refer to the same source but have never actually read the original material they cite. They just reuse it from one source to another. It’s always helpful to see the original material, as it provides more context than just one or two phrases taken out of a larger piece. This can make a real difference; I’ve seen it happen. For example, one person’s quote can be interpreted differently when looking at the entire interview. Another example involves people recounting an event. I’ve seen a grandmother telling three of her children about an accident she experienced as a child. It turned out that the three stories ended up being slightly different. Which one is accurate? I ultimately used a newspaper article about the accident to create an accurate picture.
Sorting & Organizing (So You Can Actually Use What You Found)
Research chaos is a universal writer's problem. Notes in notebooks. Files on your desktop. Screenshots on your phone. Bookmarks you forgot why you saved.
Here’s how to keep your material accessible:
Label Everything: Source, date, where you found it, and what you might use it for.
Example: “Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, Aug 14, 1937 — ad for Dominion Store. Useful for grocery prices.”
Organize by Function and create folders for: Characters, settings, timeline, plot threads, visual references, primary sources and secondary sources.
Use a Research Tracker
A simple spreadsheet can save your sanity. Columns might include: topic, source, where you found it (important to go back later), why it matters (context), quote or summary, and follow-up needed.
Create a Parking Lot Folder
This is where you put everything that’s interesting but not immediately relevant. That way, it’s not lost, but also not cluttering your active project. But it could be useful later, for another book or another volume in a series. Many writers find that their “parking lot” becomes fertile soil for future books.
Back Up Everything
Cloud storage + an external drive = peace of mind.
Final Thoughts: Research Is a Creative Act, Not a Chore
Research isn’t just about collecting information, it’s about discovering the world your characters inhabit, the lives people lived before you, the small details that make fiction feel real and nonfiction feel trustworthy.
And, this is important, it’s a long game.
You won’t find everything in one afternoon. Sometimes the best material appears weeks or months later, when you’re not even looking. Archives digitize new collections every day. Stories surface when you least expect them.
The key is to stay curious, organized, focused and open to discovery. Let research enrich your work, not overwhelm it. And remember: if you’re following your curiosity with intention, you’re doing it right.