Before I writers write a story, they would need at least a basic understanding of what the hell they were talking about. That means that they would research things from time to time. My fictions usually delve into military stuff, so its a given that I should know some shit about it. 

So, how far down the rabbit hole did you go in the name of research? 

Mine? I think the deepest one I got was going to the deepweeb and got access to a black markets website to know the real time price of weapons sold there. Another, I think was researching of how to make explosives. There are a lot more, but I think its best no to write about it.

Enough to make sure that the ideas that I have are applicable or not. To do fact checks and make sure I don't mention really stupid ideas. That's where it ends for me. I have no historical facts, no scientific necessities...

I write fantasy and Sci-fi, cause it allows me to come up with my own concepts without having to deal with nitpicking.
Perhaps some people will complain about it, perhaps not..

Unless I absolutely need information I wing it using my imagination, that or I already know it because i've done something or looked at it before. If I absolutely need to research I use wiki, or wiki leaks. If I cant find there I just wing it.

I think the rabbit hole goes VERY deep if you want to make something believe-able. More-so if you are writing non-fiction based in a real location.

I keep finding that I don't know basic things like: how a hospital receptionist would interact with new people walking in the door (*I've rarely visited a hospital and have NEVER paid any attention to such details*) my next big research topic is a court room (*Never entered a court room*)

Just simple stuff I've researched---though it could go deeper down into the raw feelings of a five-year-old and expressing THAT in writing is not easy(at least, not for me).

My research goes very deep but I rarely use most of it. However, most of my research goes into philosophy, history, pol sci etc, as well as literature. For my next story, I'm already digging up stuff about ancient libraries and literature, as well as contemporary literary and artistic movements. So yeah, the rabbit hole can be dry and boring too sometimes, okay? Doesn't have to be all dark net and stuff

Artificial intelligence, machine thinking, and wetware computing. It's a very steep, very vast rabbit hole, so the important thing is to know when to lay off. To me it's a balance between having a concept of the game world solidly in your mind and being able to communicate something that sounds sufficiently plausible to readers.

In the earlier example of the courtroom, I'm guessing you could produce a reasonable enough facsimile just from what you know and have heard on TV. The thing is, for the vast majority of your readers, that will be good enough. Unless you're writing a courtroom drama, of course. :)

As for online gaming and contemporary computing, I've been living in that rabbit hole for much of the last two decades. I've decided to assume a significant level of knowledge among LitRPG readers, so if anything, I'm sending them down a rabbit hole.

The funny thing about society these days is our tendency to believe what we want to believe... and you can probably find a website to back up your opinion. It's not about facts, as much as it's about anecdotes. So despite the above claims, I would argue that you DON'T have to go very deep down the hole to make something believable. Unless that "something" is directly related to the particular genre for your audience. For example: The time travel community will spot a failure to apply a paradox, but the majority won't notice if your medical science is a little far-fetched. Those with a preference for high school romance will cry foul if an archetype is mangled, but will forgive if the portrayal of a teacher is completely ridiculous. Perhaps I'm cynical.

That said, added realism can help with immersion, and at least poking one's head into rabbit holes is an excellent opportunity for self improvement. I'm not knocking it. It's like what David said about good enough for "the vast majority of your readers" - the question is whether you want to do more, and stealthily educate. (Where the new issue is, truth can be stranger than fiction.)

Anyway, I feel like the original post was asking for personal anecdotes. (A black market, LongReach? Daaamn.) I don't think I've ever plunged that deep, though I always try to source from multiple websites... more breadth than depth, if you will. A few curious detail items:
-Ended up using Big Ben as a location in a story. Figured out tourism became limited there, the number of steps up, and... oh, earplugs. Big Ben = Big Bell. That would be a good detail for my characters.
-Did a shrinking story. Already knew about the square-cube ratio, ended up seeing how other fictional accounts (esp. movies) had tried to "deal" with it previously. Probably could have gone deeper. (FYI, density's an issue.)
-Redheads were a thing for a story. I got a bit deeper on that one, with the recessive gene, the more probable world origins for the character, and the fact that a redheaded sibling need not have red hair.

Also, cheerleading used to be a completely male activity. That's not one of mine, someone else was looking into that, but it was easily confirmed. It's one of those weird details that's stuck with me. Happy researching!

On a lighter note, I tried researching more about MRE's and their variations across the globe. So, after reading about it and knowing what the differences are, (its the little things you know, like MRE's for Muslim armies must be accredited as hallal by a credible hallal accreditor), I went on to see how the things are packaged. So, I went on to youtube and watched hours of videos of someone eating MREs on screen. Not really that fun and I got really hungry.

Best part? I only used my research for a single paragraph in my story. Worth it!

So far, I'm inexperienced. Who knows, I have a compulsive personality. Maybe my next story will have me scouring ancient Chinese texts or something XD

The most time consuming 'extra' that I've done so far is working out a basic mana formula for when my characters level. I don't have to keep guessing stats throughout the story, plus I can write battles that don't stray too far out of the MC's power range.

Beyond that, some basic research into Japanese history for one of the characters, plus a map. I cheated and went with an easy to draw continent, with the premise being "It's a created world, the god was lazy".

I truly fear the day that I reach your levels of "down the hole".

As it is, I spent enough time randomly watching YT video's on how stuff works. (Like smelting iron... I spent an entire day just to satisfy a question I had from a WN...)

I did so much research on the speed of horses, horses pulling carriages, oxen pulling carriages, etc... The rabbit-hole was very, very deep. It got into weight of loads, how hard the coachman was driving the animals, whether the horses were expected to be used for a long time after or if they were intended as expendable, how the design of the coach/carriage plays into things... How long the caravan was stopping for rest each night/day, how much water and pasture was available along the route vs how much food needed to be brought along for the horses...

It was terrible. So, so very many variables. Basically it came down to, 'Always assume the trip will take the longest of your estimates.'

Designing a trade system based on individual peddlers turned out to be ludicrous for large scale design. Caravans were the only way intercity trade could be viable in the story I was writing. Ruined the whole setting and idea.

Research is important.

'Fairplay' pid='822128' dateline='1488938571' Wrote: I did so much research on the speed of horses, horses pulling carriages, oxen pulling carriages, etc... The rabbit-hole was very, very deep. It got into weight of loads, how hard the coachman was driving the animals, whether the horses were expected to be used for a long time after or if they were intended as expendable, how the design of the coach/carriage plays into things... How long the caravan was stopping for rest each night/day, how much water and pasture was available along the route vs how much food needed to be brought along for the horses...

It was terrible. So, so very many variables. Basically it came down to, 'Always assume the trip will take the longest of your estimates.'

Designing a trade system based on individual peddlers turned out to be ludicrous for large scale design. Caravans were the only way intercity trade could be viable in the story I was writing. Ruined the whole setting and idea.

Research is important.

Let me guess, it goes around 8-10 miles a day? rule of thumb really is to caravans is that they go a little slower than walking pace. I researched into walking pace, in hard ground, forest, desert and all that and found that they also relate to yours in the most basic sense.

Between 5 and 15 depending on conditions, water sources, how hard they're driving the animals, and weather. But yeah, basically walking pace.

The U.S. military MRE (Meal, Ready to Eat) rations have been described as "three lies for the price of one."

I think not many people really care to be showered with too-specific, irrelevant details and information when reading a story. The only reason to do so would be to show a character's knowledge in a subject matter, and even then, I would keep it restricted to interesting information that doesn't bore the reader.

Taking Shutter Island for an example, no real mental hospital would contrive an entire roleplay using the entire resources and facilities of the institute to try to help a patient. There is also no psychological basis behind the roleplay method that was used. Also, how is it that all the female characters in a movie have make-up on no matter what situation they are in (just waking up, etc)? Why is it that Chuck, a US Marshall, can't even open his gun holster properly?

I guess it's all about a proper balance between immersion and a suspension of belief. The main thing to keep in mind is that readers read stories to be entertained, not to be informed.

'pu77' pid='822163' dateline='1489022143' Wrote: I think not many people really care to be showered with too-specific, irrelevant details and information when reading a story. The only reason to do so would be to show a character's knowledge in a subject matter, and even then, I would keep it restricted to interesting information that doesn't bore the reader.

Taking Shutter Island for an example, no real mental hospital would contrive an entire roleplay using the entire resources and facilities of the institute to try to help a patient. There is also no psychological basis behind the roleplay method that was used. Also, how is it that all the female characters in a movie have make-up on no matter what situation they are in (just waking up, etc)? Why is it that Chuck, a US Marshall, can't even open his gun holster properly?

I guess it's all about a proper balance between immersion and a suspension of belief. The main thing to keep in mind is that readers read stories to be entertained, not to be informed.

Of course, the ration of research and application for me has always been a 4:1 maybe even less. 

-begin rant- But the thing is, writers here doesn't even make and inkling of research on what they're writing. Oh your fiction has the word blacksmith in it? does it have blacksmithing in it? Nope. Nothing, not a word of the process just the finished product as if the MC just pulled those magic swords up her ass. Writers write about martial arts but not even a word of physical development, they just sit in a room and coughing up gallons of blood and chugging whatever shit people say would get them stronger. I know writer's here are mostly amateurs but at least do some reading before you write, its not that hard. At least add some realism in your writings and not just wave it off and say 'magic'.

Mine, I write mostly about modern warfare concerning small and battlefield tactics so you can bet that I researched that field well. -end rant.  #MakeRoyalroadGreatAgain.

Particle/astrophysics. I write hard sci-fi. I created an interstellar FTL device which I strongly believe could work should the assumptions I made about dark matter and wormholes (and there were a few, those are some uncertain topics) were true.

Among my searches also include string theory, skyhooks, quantum physics and radiation-eating mould. A general rule for me when writing is to spend at least a third of my time on the first draft in research.

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I think in both cases, you'll need to know where to draw the line.

A lot of people have shown that they went WAY to deep into the rabbit hole for an effective story. Most of going too deep stems from an insecurity about a topic and which way to go. Instead of researching, go for common sense. It really doesn't matter whether you came to a 15 km march by research, or you sucked it out of your thumb. As long as it makes sense and its not blatant bullshit, it should not be a problem. Researching things as such are -in my humble opinion- a waste of time and resources. Why do so much research about something so small? Set priorities in what has to be researched and what not. If you research every small statement you make, you'll be researching when you are 80 and never wrote more than 10 chapters.

What I said also applied to worldbuilding, lore-building etc. How much do you actually NEED TO EXPOSE? Don't go deep into things that no1 cares about and is not interesting to plot. Who cares how many teeth a fork of race x has. Unless its a clue for something to happen in the future.. prioritze..

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