In this guidebook on creative research and how to use it to lend authenticity to works of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, author and professor of creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington speaks to the hard work and thrill of research. Helpful chapters guide writers through the steps of preparing a research plan, fact-checking, interviewing subjects, and using “memory, imagination, and personal expertise.” Gerard demystifies the research process with approachable steps to shine a light on the art which often unearths surprises and fuels imagination. “Research can take you to that golden intersection where the personal meets the public, the private crosses the universal, where the best literature lives,” writes Gerard. “It is deeply rooted in the writer’s heart, yet blossoms out into a larger thing that includes the world.”
