Researching Your Idea

You Need to Read in Order to Write

Marisa Meltzer — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 14:05:47 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Marisa Meltzer on 2/23/2026 2:05:47 PM

What's the number one quality to have in order to be a good writer? According to Marisa Meltzer, author of IT GIRL, you have to read...a lot!

For more on this bestselling author and journalist visit https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Marisa-Meltzer/186642301.

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Tags: fiction, video

Memoir Magic: Mining Your Journals to Craft Gripping Memoir

Julie Ryan McGue — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 20:07:20 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Julie Ryan McGue on 9/10/2025 8:07:20 PM

Journaling gives us a private space to vent, reflect, speculate, problem-solve, record memories, and heal. But it also holds the raw material of powerful storytelling.

In this recorded webinar with award-winning memoirist Julie Ryan McGue, you’ll discover how to use your journals as a springboard for memoir writing. You'll explore how to:

• Breathe life into memories with vivid sensory details and authentic dialogue
•  Identify recurring themes, emotional arcs, and pivotal turning points
•  Unearth tension, conflict, and transformation hidden in everyday entries
•  Shape scattered thoughts and timelines into a compelling memoir structure

By the end of the session, you’ll have a practical roadmap for transforming journal pages into a cohesive, emotionally resonant narrative—one that speaks to readers and honors your voice.

Here are the two handouts referenced in the session:
www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../McGue_2D00_ALC_2D00_Journals-to-Memoir.pdf
www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../McGue_2D00_ALC_2D00_Journal-to-Memoir-Themes.pdf
www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../MemoirMagicMiningYourJournalstoCraftGrippingMemoir.mp4

About the Presenter:
Julie Ryan McGue is an American writer, a domestic adoptee, and an identical twin. Her first memoir, "Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging" (She Writes Press), released in May 2021, won multiple awards. Her work has appeared in Writers Digest, Story Circle Network Journal, Brevity Nonfiction Blog, Imprint News, Adoption.com, Adopting.com, Lifetime Adoption Adoptive Families Blog, Adoption & Beyond, and Severance Magazine. Her personal essays have appeared in several anthologies, including "Real Women Write: Seeing Through Her Eyes" (Story Circle Network), "Real Women Write: The Power of Friendship" (Story Circle Network) and "Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis" (She Writes Press). Her collection of essays, "Belonging Matters: Conversations on Adoption, Family, and Kinship" (Muse Literary) released in November 2023. She writes a bi-weekly blog and monthly column (The Beacher Newspapers), in which she explores the topics of finding out who you are, where you belong and making sense of it. Her third book, "Twice the Family: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Sisterhood" (She Writes Press) released February 4, 2025. Julie splits her time between northwest Indiana and Sarasota, Florida.

Tags: Christian Books and Bibles, Self-Help, Nonfiction, Subscriber, Religion and Spirituality, Recorded Webinar, Biographies and Memoirs, Religious and Inspirational

Memoir Magic: Mining Your Journals to Craft Gripping Memoir

Author Learning Center — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 20:01:54 GMT

Revision 1 posted to Researching Your Idea by Author Learning Center on 9/10/2025 8:01:54 PM

Journaling gives us a private space to vent, reflect, speculate, problem-solve, record memories, and heal. But it also holds the raw material of powerful storytelling.

In this recorded webinar with award-winning memoirist Julie Ryan McGue, you’ll discover how to use your journals as a springboard for memoir writing. You'll explore how to:

By the end of the session, you’ll have a practical roadmap for transforming journal pages into a cohesive, emotionally resonant narrative—one that speaks to readers and honors your voice.

Tags: Christian Books and Bibles, Self-Help, Nonfiction, Subscriber, Religion and Spirituality, Recorded Webinar, Biographies and Memoirs, Religious and Inspirational

Lessons from Robin's Boss: Stephen King

Robin Furth — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 16:50:42 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Robin Furth on 4/28/2025 4:50:42 PM

Robin Furth, Stephen King's research assistant, shares what she's learned from working with the master storyteller. For more on Stephen King's library of work that Furth has collaborated on, visit: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Robin-Furth/20586501.

www.youtube.com/watch

Tags: Mystery – Thriller – Suspense, fiction, video

The True Crime Story That Inspired This Novel

Tova Mirvis — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 13:53:13 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Tova Mirvis on 4/14/2025 1:53:13 PM

Tova Mirvis shares the true crime case that inspired her novel We Would Never, a riveting literary page-turner that maps the extremes to which a family will go in order to protect their own.

Tova Mirvis is the author of the memoir The Book of Separation as well as three previous novels: Visible City, The Outside World, and The Ladies Auxiliary, which was a national bestseller. Her essays have appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and Real Simple, and her fiction has been broadcast on NPR. For more on this author visit https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Tova-Mirvis/218683383.

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Tags: Mystery – Thriller – Suspense, fiction, Literary Fiction, video

Will AI Write the Next Great Novel?

Sergio De La Pava — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 20:49:07 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Sergio De La Pava on 3/24/2025 8:49:07 PM

Sergio De La Pava, author of Every Arc Bends Its Radian, Lost Empress, Personae, and A Naked Singularity, offers his thoughts on artificial intelligence in today's culture and the arts.

For more on this award-winning author visit: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Sergio-De-La-Pava/166773424.

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Tags: fiction, Nonfiction, video

A Deep Dive into the Value of Research for both Nonfiction and Fiction

Jeanne Lyet Gassman — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 17:49:58 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Jeanne Lyet Gassman on 2/5/2025 5:49:58 PM

The Methods, Applications, and Larger Benefits

In this webinar with award-winning writer Jeanne Lyet Gassman, we will look at doing research for your writing and how it can benefit you in multiple ways. We will discuss how to conduct your research, how to apply your research to your story or narrative, when you need to research, and how you can expand its benefits for your writing career. This presentation is useful for all types of prose writing, from nonfiction narratives to memoirs to novels.

Here are the handouts referenced in the session:
www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../ALC-Handout-Library-Databases-for-Research_2D002D00_2025.pdf
www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../ALC-Reliable-Internet-Sources-for-Research_2D002D00_2025.pdf
www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../ALC-Podcast-Guest-One-Sheet_2D002D00_2025.pdf
www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../ADeepDiveintotheValueofResearchforbothNonfictionandFiction.mp4

About the Presenter:
Jeanne Lyet Gassman lives in the mountains of New Mexico where she writes & teaches. Her debut novel, "Blood of a Stone" (Tuscany Press), received a Bronze 2015 Independent Publisher Book Award. Her short work has been nominated for Best Small Fictions and the Pushcart Prize. Other awards include fellowships from Ragdale and the Arizona Commission on the Arts. Her short fiction, creative nonfiction, & poetry have been published in numerous literary magazines and anthologies, including "45 Poems of Protest: The Pandemic", "Bosque7", "Dear America: Reflections on Race", "Debris & Detritus: The Lesser Greek Gods Running Amok", "The Manifest-Station", "Queen Mob's Tea House", & "Hippocampus Magazine", among many others. Jeanne recently received a New Mexico Writers Grant for her novel-in-progress, a story about a family of downwinders who were affected by the radioactive fallout from the atomic bomb tests in Nevada. You can learn more about Jeanne at her website: www.jeannelyetgassman.com or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/JeanneLyetGassman.

Tags: fiction, Nonfiction, Subscriber, Recorded Webinar

A Deep Dive into the Value of Research for both Nonfiction and Fiction

Author Learning Center — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 17:47:31 GMT

Revision 1 posted to Researching Your Idea by Author Learning Center on 2/5/2025 5:47:31 PM

The Methods, Applications, and Larger Benefits

Tags: fiction, Nonfiction, Subscriber, Recorded Webinar

Researching and Outlining: The Two Keys to Writing Success

Mike Johnson — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 21:53:50 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Mike Johnson on 2/27/2024 9:53:50 PM

After writing 10 books, Mike Johnson can say that he has not once experienced writer's block. He sees two keys to avoiding that dreaded wall. One means avoiding any temptation to begin writing before doing research and then outlining the book.

In this webinar, Mike discusses his six categories of research and how he codes the information gathered. Then he describes what he calls the ping-pong method of outlining. He spreads out his outline —one with lots of white space between key points— on his full-size ping-pong table. Across the top of the outline he spreads his coded research findings. Says Mike, "Whether I've written for an hour or several hours, whenever I stop for the day, I know how I am going to start the following day." Investing time and effort in this approach winds up saving oodles of time and frustration.

Here is the handout referenced in the session:
www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../Johnson_5F00_Research_5F00_Outlining_5F00_ALC-Handout.pdf
www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../ResearchingandOutliningTwoKeystoWritingSuccess.mp4

About the Presenter:
Mike Johnson’s alma maters include Ohio University, Marshall Law at Cleveland State University, and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He also served two years in the Army, including 13 months in Korea. During his 35-year business career Mike worked at three Fortune 500 companies – General Electric, TRW and Timken. During those years, he also chaired councils for two national trade organizations – the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Iron & Steel Institute. He finished his business career as corporate vice president of marketing and communications for Timken. During the 1970s, he spent six years at Penton Media where he was a senior editor for Industry Week magazine.

He has researched and written six historical novels – "Warrior Priest", "Fate of the Warriors", "God’s Perfect Scar", "Shadows of War", "Long Journey to Destiny", "A Season Forgotten" – set during World War II, the lowering of the Iron Curtain, the Korean War and the 1960s. He also has written two non–fiction books – "Mascot, Minister, Man of Steel – The Final Reunion" and "Saga of a Singular Woman".

Tags: fiction, Nonfiction, Subscriber, Recorded Webinar

Researching and Outlining: The Two Keys to Writing Success

Author Learning Center — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 21:44:31 GMT

Revision 1 posted to Researching Your Idea by Author Learning Center on 2/27/2024 9:44:31 PM

Tags: fiction, Nonfiction, Subscriber, Recorded Webinar

A Mystery Steeped in the History of Medicine

Ritu Mukerji — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 18:29:35 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Ritu Mukerji on 1/29/2024 6:29:35 PM

Author Ritu Mukerji shares some of the inspiration and background for her novel, Murder By Degrees, an Edgar Award Finalist for Best First Novel. Murder by Degrees is a historical mystery set in 19th-century Philadelphia, following a pioneering woman doctor as she investigates the disappearance of a young patient who is presumed dead. Born in Kolkata, India and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, Mukerji has been a practicing internist for fifteen years. You can learn more about her here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Ritu-Mukerji/196724651.

www.youtube.com/watch

Tags: Mystery – Thriller – Suspense, fiction, video, Historical Fiction

The 7-year Germination of Jesmyn Ward’s "Let Us Descend"

Jesmyn Ward — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 19:44:53 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Jesmyn Ward on 12/4/2023 7:44:53 PM

Let Us Descend, a reimagining of American slavery, is the first foray into historical fiction for two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward. Here she discusses her research, the challenges of writing historical fiction, and why she eventually just had to start writing.

For more on this award-winning novelist and memoirist, visit https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Jesmyn-Ward/547648874.

www.youtube.com/watch

Tags: fiction, Literary Fiction, video, Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction

Author Katy Hays Utilizes Her Insider Knowledge of Museums to Write "The Cloisters" - The Mark Up

Katy Hays — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 20:24:16 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Katy Hays on 4/28/2023 8:24:16 PM

Author Katy Hays discusses how her fascination and knowledge of museums, fortune telling, and art history influenced her favorite passages in her book, The Cloisters. For more on this Today Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club book, writer, and adjunct art history professor, visit https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Katy-Hays/192423278.

www.youtube.com/watch

Tags: Mystery – Thriller – Suspense, fiction, video, Historical Fiction

Author Katy Hays Utilizes Her Insider Knowledge of Museums to Write "The Cloisters" - The Mark Up

Author Learning Center — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 20:23:17 GMT

Revision 1 posted to Researching Your Idea by Author Learning Center on 4/28/2023 8:23:17 PM

www.youtube.com/watch

Tags: Mystery – Thriller – Suspense, fiction, video, Historical Fiction

The Benefits of Researching and Outlining Story Ideas

Guy Morris — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 19:00:34 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Guy Morris on 11/18/2022 7:00:34 PM

Writing a book can be overwhelming, especially when it's your first attempt. Your imagination may be running wild, or you have loads of interesting facts or ideas you've been cataloguing in your mind. There are two great ways to get yourself organized and prepared before doing any writing - researching and outlining. Thriller author Guy Morris spends a lot of time up front researching and outlining a book before doing any writing. He creates what he calls his "material box" which includes everything that can support his story idea or premise. He also develops his main characters up front and does a light outline to identify his major plot points and conflicts. He finds that these efforts help him move much faster during the writing process.

www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../TheBenefitsofResearchingandOutliningStoryIdeas.mp4

Tags: Mystery – Thriller – Suspense, fiction, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Teen and Young Adult, Romance and Erotica, video, Religious and Inspirational, Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction

Using Research to Make Plots, Characters, Setting, and Dialogue More Believable

Guy Morris — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 12:55:55 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Guy Morris on 11/18/2022 12:55:55 PM

One of the most important aspects of a good fiction story is that it is believable. Readers need to be able to understand and relate to your characters, world, and situations, otherwise they will quickly lose interest. Author and reseacher Guy Morris finds a lot of value in doing extensive research if you're not familiar with the world, setting, or cultures you are writing about. Your story's world has to support the characters and the plot, and the more plausible it all is, the more engaging it will be to a reader. Even stories from the imagination should be based on real world social issues, belief systems, and technologies. Morris says research will help fill in the gaps for what you haven't experienced or for what you don't know.

www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../UsingResearchtoMakePlotsCharactersSettingandDialogueMoreBelievable.mp4

Tags: fiction, Subscriber, video

Reyna Grande On Her New Novel "A Ballad of Love and Glory"

Reyna Grande — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 15:09:22 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Reyna Grande on 6/6/2022 3:09:22 PM

Author Reyna Grande takes a deep dive into the historical events and places that inspired her new novel! A Ballad of Love and Glory follows a Mexican army nurse and an Irish soldier who must fight, at first for their survival and then for their love, amidst the atrocity of the Mexican-American War. When Ximena and John meet, a dangerous attraction blooms between them. As the war intensifies, so does their passion. Swept up by forces with the power to change history, they fight not only for the fate of a nation but for their future together.

For more on this award-winning author visit https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Reyna-Grande/27097999.

www.youtube.com/watch

Tags: fiction, video, Historical Fiction

The Truth Behind the Inspiring WWII Novel, 'The Paris Library'

Janet Skeslien Charles — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 13:51:47 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Janet Skeslien Charles on 2/2/2021 1:51:47 PM

Janet Skeslien Charles was inspired to write her novel after working at the American Library in Paris and learning about the bravery of the librarians who worked there during the war. Based on the true World War II story of the librarians at the American Library in Paris, The Paris Library is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family, and the power of literature to bring us together. For more on this award-winning author, visit https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Janet-Skeslien-Charles/164282829.
www.youtube.com/watch

Tags: fiction, video, Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction

How Visiting Locations in Person Can Inspire Your Writing

Neil V. Young — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 18:27:34 GMT

Current Revision posted to Researching Your Idea by Neil V. Young on 9/18/2020 6:27:34 PM

Online research for your book can only take you so far, and the information you find may not be reliable or accurate. One of the best forms of research, per author Neil V. Young, is visiting a setting, place, or scene in person. Many writers make the mistake of providing only visual descriptions in their story, which leaves the reader wanting more. When you physically visit a place, all 5 senses are hard at work. Fully immerse your reader in your setting or scene by describing the other senses such as smell and sound. What does your character hear? How does the air or environment smell?
www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../HowVisitingLocationsinPersonCanInspireYourWriting.mp4

Tags: fiction, Nonfiction, video

How Visiting Locations in Person Can Inspire Your Writing

Neil V. Young — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 13:58:28 GMT

Revision 2 posted to Researching Your Idea by Neil V. Young on 9/18/2020 1:58:28 PM

Author Neil V. Young discusses the benefits of on-site research, and how it can enhance your storytelling.
www.authorlearningcenter.com/.../HowVisitingLocationsinPersonCanInspireYourWriting.mp4

Tags: fiction, Nonfiction, video