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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/33032
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

For my BA degree, I am required to complete a thesis project in the field of fiction writing, and I plan to write a novel. With the idea I'm pursuing right now, I plan for it to have elements of fantasy, but be set in a historical time period in a real place. In a few weeks I may have the opportunity to travel to this real place, which I didn't expect to have until just a few days ago, and I want to turn this into a mini research trip if I am able.

If you were doing a research trip for a novel, what kinds of things would you look for while on it? What details should I pay attention to (peoples' demeanor, locations in the story, climate?) and what resources should I seek out (museums, living persons with knowledge of this past time, etc), considering that I will be in this place but it will have changed some since the time of my story's setting (and obviously I can't visit the specific time)? If you've written a thesis specifically: what is useful to document during research?

Original score: 3