How to Research (And When and How to Use it)

Say your protagonist is turned into a vampire. You can make up vampire facts like "Vampires sparkle in the sunlight," or you can study actual vampire lore. You need to research all about what happens to vampires in sunlight, what different folklores they appear in, what they feed on in said folklores, how they're killed, how they are created, etc. Just run a google search. Seriously, everything you need to know is on there.  



Then, you can make up little details. If your vampire is a modern teenager, you can write about how she wears costume contacts to cover up her red eyes, or how she wears a baggy hoodie too keep herself protected from the sun. You can make up things that don't contradict the mythology, or your readers will be screaming, "Vampires don't freaking sparkle!!!" Use the mythology to your advantage, don't go against it. 

Here's another example: your protagonist is a swordfighter or archer. You need to know all the moves and gadgetry, but you don't want to confuse your readers. Most readers don't know about parries and fletching, the archer's paradox, the gladius, or backswords. So use words everyone knows to explain things they don't know about. You can call your character's parry a block, and call the fletching the feathers on the back of the arrow. You can also explain these things so you can use the technical terms later. 

A third example: your protagonist is from Japan, or Germany, or whatever. You'll need to research their culture and integrate it into their character. Maybe they have an accent, or have a name like Kioko or Alary.

So, to summarize:

• Use your research to your advantage, building off of it and creating a personal approach to the facts.
• Use technical terms to show that you know what you're talking about, but make sure your readers know what you're talking about as well.
• Research cultures and folklore to build characters. 

Happy researching!