Do I need to research my novel, and what kind of research should I do?

Do I need to research my novel, and what kind of research should I do?

Russell Celyn Jones (Published writer. Professor of Creative Writing and Director of the MA Programme at Birkbeck College (University of London).) gives expert video advice on: Do I need to research my novel, and what kind of research should I do?; Can I over research my novel?; Should I write about what I know? and more...

Researching a novel is a complicated question because it depends on what you are writing about. Everything is research, in a sense. Going to the supermarket is research, because you're picking up incidental detail all of the time that goes into the writing of a novel. But, if your novel is about, perhaps, a group of friends, living now, and these people are based on people you know, the research will be fairly minimal. But, if you're writing a book about the 16th century you might very much spend a long time in the library.