Research for a Novel: How to Make Your Story Feel Real
One of the questions I get asked most often as a writer is: How do you do research? How do you make a story feel believable, especially when you’re writing about things you haven’t personally experienced?
While working on The Best Sister Confesses Guilt, I faced plenty of research questions. How exactly does a police investigation work when someone falls down the stairs and there’s doubt about whether it was an accident? What happens when a father with dementia is temporarily cared for at home? How would a young journalist go about researching family history?
In the past, that meant endless Googling. Stacks of newspaper articles, trawling through forums, watching documentaries, sometimes even calling or emailing professionals. It often took months before I had enough material to create a believable backdrop. Valuable—and sometimes fun—but also incredibly time-consuming.
Researching a Novel with Help from ChatGPT
This time was different. Right when I was writing this book, ChatGPT appeared. For the first time, I could ask all my questions in one place—and get clear, structured answers immediately. No more piecing together scattered fragments, but an actual conversation with a “knowledgeable guide” helping me fit the puzzle together.
Excerpt from the book:
“My thoughts keep wandering. I wonder what it would be like if everything revolved around you. How must it feel to put your own wishes above everyone else’s? To consider it normal that others exist to serve you? Would I ever be able to step into that mindset?”
The result? I finished the book almost a year earlier than expected. Where I would normally have gotten stuck in long phases of research, I could move straight into the creative part: writing, deepening characters, making connections. It showed me that research for a novel isn’t only about gathering facts—it’s also about efficiency and inspiration.
Research Provides the Facts, but the Writer Shapes the Story
Of course, the line between reality and fiction remains important. Research gives you the facts, but in the end, it’s my job as the writer to shape them into a story. I decide what to use, what to leave out, and what to bend to serve the plot. Factual accuracy is the foundation, but emotional truth is the goal.
What struck me most was how smoothly reality and fiction blended in The Best Sister Confesses Guilt. For example, I could research how a nursing home handles a father with dementia being taken home temporarily, or how a police investigation unfolded during the COVID lockdown. Those real elements make the story relatable. But the family itself—the sisters, their secrets, their past—came entirely from my imagination.
To me, this shows how the craft of writing is changing. Research is still essential, but the way we do it is evolving. What once took months can now be done in days. And that frees up space for what I love most: telling stories that draw readers into a world that feels as though it could truly exist.
From Journalist to Novelist
As a former journalist, I’ve always enjoyed the hunt for information. Digging through sources, weighing facts critically, and connecting the dots into a coherent picture gave me great satisfaction. Doing research for a novel often felt just as exciting as the writing itself. But where I used to spend weeks sifting through newspapers and chasing details, ChatGPT suddenly put a turbo on the process. In a single conversation, I could get context, variations, and nuance. The work didn’t become any less engaging—but it did become much faster and far more manageable.
The mystery novel about sisters, May The Best Sister Confess, will be released in the summer of 2026. Follow Nanda Roep for updates.
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