A masterclass with Catherine Menon
by Safrah Fazal
The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write: a man will turn over half a library to make one book – Samuel Johnson
You will never feel as though you have everything you need to know about a niche topic when conducting research into your fiction. Websites and textbooks are bound to draw you down a depthless rabbit hole – until you say, “enough is enough”. Once you have arrived at this juncture or resolved to do more focused research, your mantra should be to “turn your back to the monument” – as in, you should refrain from researching like a tourist.
These were some of the tips for creative writers shared during the fifth Write Beyond Borders masterclass conducted by Catherine Menon, author of Fragile Monsters and the short story collection: Subjunctive Moods.
But, hold on… what does “refrain from researching like a tourist” actually mean? As Catherine interestingly put it: the reality is that your local character will not be focused on ‘the monument’ or the attractions that individuals who are new to that country or city would focus on. Instead, the character’s focus may most often bypass “the monument” and instead flow inwards to their own thoughts. For instance, Catherine expounded that if you are writing a story on war, your characters aren’t always going to be thinking about the strategy of war. To gain a better idea of what the character might be thinking during such situations, Catherine suggests reading through first-person accounts available on online forums or books that explore similar themes.
Catherine likened research for fiction to an iceberg. She explained that readers only see the portion that is above water; they will never witness the part which makes up the firm foundation submerged beneath. You may spend days, weeks, or months on research, which may not even end up in the prose – at least not directly. But, she reassured us by saying that an author cannot write comfortably about a topic we don’t know well.
Delving into sourcing information for your fiction, Catherine noted that academic textbooks, archives, and first-person narratives on internet forums are the ways to go. Drawing on her experiences, Catherine added that she didn’t feel she had adequately researched a topic until she had read at least five different first-person accounts on it. This is because, she elaborated, people are not all the same and there might be contradictions in their personal experiences.
Also, Catherine warned the mentees against info dumping – although it might be tempting to do it due to all the time we’ve spent researching. The reader is not likely to be interested in these details and would be impatient to get to the point of the plot. So, while you should ensure that the information is factually correct, pay attention to the narrative arc, pacing, and plot, she advised.
During the latter editing stages, Catherine encourages editing specifically for research. This allows the author to remove info dumps and add ambiguity back to the story, allowing the reader to work out some of the details for themselves.
Catherine also brought to light another dark side of research. She noted that regardless of the amount of research you do, there will always be something in the story that you have got wrong – at least according to one reader. You must accept this from the start, she mentioned. “It is okay to get things wrong in your research, it does not stymie the work in terms of its achievement. It does not diminish your own literary ability. This is an inevitability of research. You are certainly not alone in that.”
While acknowledging the normal challenges of conducting research for fiction, Catherine’s insightful guidance reminded the mentees to embrace the iterative process of research while deftly navigating the delicate balance between authenticity and narrative engagement. The metaphorical directive to “turn your back to the monument” is sure to accompany mentees through all research endeavours.
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