Several weeks ago, a member of Farthest Horizons asked me a question about doing historical research. Since not everyone was there, i will explain what i said briefly here.
Good historical research first begins with reading a lot of books. My encyclopedic knowledge of World War 2 did not begin yesterday. I started reading about the topic when i was 9 or 10. Some of you may not be able to do that now, but read as much as you can about the topic that you are trying to write about. My encyclopedic knowledge is partially due to my habit of reading every book in my library approximately 5 times. If you read about the topic, you will be much more efficient in your writing.
The second thing that you need to remember about historical research is on site study. Depending on your topic, that may not be possible. For me, writing a book on the Civil War is very easy to do on-site research, because i live under 2 hours from almost every battle that was fought in the civil war. If visiting a site for research is not possible, then read. I guess what i am trying to say is the key to historical research is to do A LOT of reading on your topic. Other than that, research involves a whole lot of work.
In spite of the challenges, don't give up if you are writing historical fiction and you need research. If you are writing about any period of history between 1812-present, i can help. Just comment on this post with your question, and i can try to answer. I may not know everything about your topic, but i can refer you to some good books that can help you.
