Stuck for an original story? Have an idea for a mystery but don’t know enough about the setting to be comfortable writing it? Need some fresh vocabulary for your poetry? You could always ask Google or “borrow” from another writer, but there’s a better way – traditional research, much like you hated doing for those college papers, but now way more fun. Between the internet and hands-on libraries and archives you have access to an untapped universe of material. In-depth literary research is usually applied to historical or scientific pieces, and for the most part it serves to connect past and present. It finds facts, it confirms and enhances memories (or contradicts them), and it offers comparisons over time. It’s a great way to look at and understand the changes in our society and to help put other cultures in perspective.

Starting with the example of a historical non-fiction book, we’ll see how to branch out and open up various lines of research beneficial to fiction, poetry and especially, memoir. Newspapers, magazines, maps, archival photographs, obsolete dictionaries and encyclopedias – all of these sources can provide inspiration and bring authenticity to your writing. Sometimes, the best material is hiding in a rabbit hole.

This workshop is brought to you by generous support from Wyoming Humanities.