How important is research in writing a fictional work based on true events?

How important is research in to correct dates, politics etc., under these circumstances, in your opinion? Do details have to be accurate, or can you convey a 'as long as the general context is right, this is just a ripping good yarn' approach to your work which the reader hopefully picks up on?



What do YOU think, your own personal opinion?



Cheers!How important is research in writing a fictional work based on true events?
I think it is vital.....if you are basing a story on true events then you need to be very accurate....otherwise the reader will quickly realise the premise if false. There is nothing worse than reading a book, even a fiction set in an area of the country you know, than to find the little details are wrong......have you never got a book from the Library and found some people have written corrections in the margin.

Look at the Da Vinci code, there are a lot of details in there, which are obviously well researched and add a lot to the book
It's critical!How important is research in writing a fictional work based on true events?
I feel that if the work is based on true events then it is paramount that the research is exhaustive. The more details that are correct, the more you convince your readers. But I think also that "truth" is in the eye of the beholder! Good luck.
If you really really wants to make it based on real facts, research is of paramount importance. The idea is to create a side story matching the real events, you can't do that without knowing all the details that will interact with your story.

Your story is going to develop parallel to the real events and they will have to interact constantly. The inconsistencies are going to look bad.How important is research in writing a fictional work based on true events?
I think it's important to at least do the research. You can fiddle around with the timeline for the sake of the narrative, but it's important that you know what it is you fiddle. That way you won't make some egregious error that'll make an educated reader groan.
I think that if you're writing an historical novel or story based on real people, places and events, valid dates, costumes, parallel happenings, etc. give your fiction a ring of authenticity. Research is so easy these days with the Internet, it's just pure laziness not to do it.
Well, I think it all depends on how realistic you want you readers to feel the work is. Some people like to know that it's fiction but still feel as though it's a REAL story if you know what I mean. I think if you're going to be talking about very specific things like the bombing of Pearl Harbour then you should definitely do your homework but if it just general things like the hippy years then you can afford to be less accurate.



Stephen King wrote a fabulous book called On Writing and he specifically addresses this issue. He seemed to think that the best way to tell a story is to keep it within the confines of what you know so you don't have to check facts all the time because then your writing gets bogged down. He also said that you can be very general with background stuff as long as you are very hands-on with the story at hand.



As for me, well, I like to do background research on my short stories because I just want them to sound as believable as I can. Yeah, and I enjoy doing it so that makes a big difference. Good luck!
If you want to attract a loyal following of educated fans, you have to have your facts right. If a trivial fact or date is wrong it will stick in the craw of a knowledgeable reader. If you want them to read more of your works, impress them.
Very important.

If you are writing about a specific event, you should research it. There is nothing

more annoying than reading a book and finding a glaring mistake in it.

I recently read a book that had a glaring error in the first few pages, it just made me wonder how much else the author hadn't been bothered to research.

This particular author said that the child in the story was 10 years old, and then proceeded to give them a Saturday job, in present time!



Saying that though, it really is up to you, but your book will be held in higher regard if you research it fully.



I'll say no more.
Write what you know. Research is pretty easy in today's google world. Accurate dates, and the like, add reality to a story you want to fill in with fiction. Inaccuracy distracts from your story, especially if the facts of a situation are well known.

If you want your story to change the outcome of factual history, then you need to begin with accurate facts and twist from there.



Good luck with your writing, and there is much to be said for changing the what happened for the what if...especially in today's world!
I think accuracy is very important because you are dealing with real events and real people's lives (presumably), and treating them flippantly may cause offence. Also people can be very pedantic about inaccuracies in books based on real events. And how can you write about something if you don't actually research about it?
research in any case is important, unless you write something completely random and not something that happens on the planet Earth.



Details aren't always necessary. BUT if you include details, they should be accurate, and when used correctly, might absorb the reader even more.



For example, take Harry Potter. The general story is completely fictitious, but the small background details are correct, like King's Cross Station and Tottenham Court Road.
If it is "based on true events" then it doesn't have to be truthful. You can take the general ideas of the events and then write your story based around them.



Unless you are stating somewhere that what you have written is actually what happened then you can have what you like in your story.
If you want to be taken seriously as a writer, you do the research.



If you don't care, don't do it. But I guarantee that unless you're writing science fiction or fantasy, if you just wing it, no one's going to buy your work.



Do the research. End of story.
Essential. If you don't want to do the research then say it is fiction and leave it as that.
It depends.



If you're writing, say, a Civil War novel or other novel set within the context of the "true events" you're basing your story on, then accuracy is crucial. Getting the date of the Battle of Gettysburg wrong, or placing it's action in the wrong order, will guarantee that even if your book is published, readers will completely discount it.



Details about politics, dates, world or local events add authenticity to your work, but the lack of them will make you look lazy, uninformed, and unreliable. Often, those details have an effect on the "true events" as well, so getting them wrong will affect the story.



If, on the other hand, you're taking those true events, and seriously fictionalizing them--changing the setting, time period, names, etc.--then they're less important.



At the same time, strong details often add depth and improve the quality of a story, and again, if the dates, politics, etc., affects the actions of the people involved, then you'll need them, because they make up part of the story.



You can also write the story, disguising everything, and make no claim that it was based on a true story.