Research Tip for Difficult Topics

Pinterest.

There.

That's it. That's my research tip for difficult topics. Now, let me explain.

I have recently begun work on a novel that is set in a time period that I am completely unfamiliar with. Of course, this requires quite a bit of research. Specifically, I need to know a great deal about railroads and the design of rail cars in the 1890s.

I began in the traditional manner - GOOGLE!! Yes, I love Google. And usually, I can find a great deal of information through a simple search. However, the results I kept getting - no matter how I changed my keywords - were never quite right. It would be the right topic or the wrong time period or the right time period but the wrong topic. 

I was getting desperate. So, one day I sat down and decided to type the same keywords I had been putting into Google into Pinterest. That's when things changed for the better. 

A picture is worth a thousand words. Well, it's true. Scrolling stacks of images popped up on Pinterest as a result of my search and all I had to do was click on one to be redirected to the originating site. The images led me to the research. 

Now I have my own growing board of actual pins that has commandeered my living space. I needed to see all my research at once - not crowded onto various windows of my computer screen - so I went to Home Depot, bought a giant piece of foam board, and created my ginormous "bulletin board."

It's cheep and effective. Good luck researchers!