Uncovering Truth & Inspiring Action
3 tips for writing, researching and investigating
In 1971, a polite, well-mannered man carrying a briefcase full of dynamite hijacked a plane in the Northwest. He collected $200,000 in ransom, and then vanished into the night by parachuting out of the aircraft mid-flight. He disappeared into the night, never to be found. Decades later, journalists and writers tirelessly continue to chase the truth about D.B. Cooper, piecing together details from old FBI files, obscure witness accounts, and forgotten flight records. Together, they uncovered a story that captivated hundreds of millions for many years to come.
It’s a powerful reminder that great storytelling through solid reporting begins with relentless research and investigation. And when I say relentless, I mean relentless. The facts you uncover—and how they’re presented—can make the difference between a story that fades away and one that captures the imagination of the world.
When the first Top Gun was released, Navy recruiting rates increased by 500% over the span of a single year. They were so high, it single-handedly destroyed all their competition in the other branches and swamped recruiter after recruiter. As of the date of release of Top Gun: Maverick, naval recruiting rates had still not recovered from their all-time high.
Both these stories emphasize the power of words, and the power of art. Respectively, the two are unbelievably potent. Journalists and authors shape how the world thinks. A mere twist of a few words on a newspaper page has the potential to influence the minds of millions.
Art, on the other hand, shapes how the world feels. A single scene, a single line of dialogue, a simple downward pull on a violin bow, or a single brushstroke can (and has) inspired movements, brought great men to tears, and altered the course of human history.
When these two extremes come together—when facts rooted in extensive investigation meets the power of art—the result is unbelievable. Stories become more than just facts on a piece of paper, or fleeting emotions on a paint canvas. They become real. They can change the course of history (for better or for worse); end nations or begin them; kill men or save them from the brink of death.
But how do we research? How do we investigate? We’re all authors—we know how to write. Some of us possess the ability to write powerfully enough to bring people to tears. But how do we become journalists? How do we seamlessly integrate art and research into a masterpiece that preaches a powerful, yet factual sermon to the world?
Three things:
Investigation: Be Relentless
You want to investigate something interesting? You want a story? Sorry to break it to you, but you’re going to have to work for one. It’ll mean hours of hunching over your laptop, pecking away at the keyboard. Even more hours of continual thought about what you’re investigating and writing. Maybe even a long email thread with the Freedom of Information Act office, fighting to get the knowledge you need.
Whatever it is, it’s not going to be easy. Uncovering the truth from any story and piecing it together never is. But it is completely, one-hundred-percent worth it. So my first tip for you is to be absolutely relentless in your research. Don’t just start somewhere, start everywhere. Make a list of everything you need to research for your writing project, and just go down the line, hitting everything you possibly can.
If you get on a rabbit trail, keep going down it. You’d be surprised how many times I’ve found that it loops around back to the starting point. At the same time, use common sense. If the rabbit trail isn’t going anywhere at all, drop it.
But otherwise, you’re a detective when you do writing research. Be certain of every source, follow every trail to the bitter end. Cross-reference documents, double-check everything, and leave no stone unturned. And never, ever, ever, make the mistake of letting your assumptions or feelings get in the way of the facts.
Research: Know What You Want
If a detective doesn’t know whether he wants to aid & abet a crime, or solve it, he’ll never figure it out. Same with you, doing research. Want to find something out? Want to become an expert on such-and-such topic so you possess the authority to write on it? Then I have something I need you to do. Go grab a pen, and a legal pad (or any paper, really. But a legal pad is cool 😎). Then I want you to sit down for 10-15 minutes, and list your goals with what you’re researching. Also, write down any questions you want to answer in your writing.
Do you want to investigate government corruption in a certain area? Great. Ask yourself: Who do want I want to implicate? Or, who do I want to exonerate? Do I want public outcry when I publish this? Do I want to be noticed by the government? Figure out what your goals are, and then set them. Then put yourself in the audience’s shoes, and think of questions they have. Big, small, weird, normal—answer them all.
Are you writing on…..penguins? Great. Ask yourself: Is there something wrong being done to penguins that I want to expose? Do I want to increase awareness of these spectacular birds and their abilities? Do I want to show how evil penguins really are? Again, figure out your goals, and set them. Then go do the same with your questions. (And sue me, the penguin example was the first thing that came to mind :)
Once you have those goals & questions down on paper, write with that list next to you. Then fulfill the goals and answer the questions. Exonerate Lee Harvey Oswald, implicate Russian penguins in 9/11, put forth your theory on the origin of life, or write a paper proclaiming the glories of Reformed theology. Whatever you do, do it to your utmost.
Also, be organized. Less important than knowing what you want to do, but still important.
Writing: Balance The Emotion
This third tip is arguably the most important. You need to have a decent amount of emotion and power in your story, but those two need to be handled like a loaded gun. Allow me to explain what I mean.
If your story has no emotion or power, it becomes a newspaper article. Bland, cold, hard facts. But that’s not what we want. Remember? That’s only half of the recipe.
On the flip side, if your writing has nothing but raw emotion and feelings, without facts and evidence as a foundation, it’s not journalism. Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a soap opera. What’s more, this type of writing will often tempt authors and journalists to exaggerate the more spellbinding parts of the story. The instant this is done, you are compromised. Don’t ever let yourself smooth over a (related) less-captivating fact simply because it’s not “exciting enough.”
But what’s the solution? You need to strike a balance. Think of your writing as a campfire—the facts are the wood, a solid, hard, unbreakable foundation. Without them, you can’t fuel the flames. But the emotion? That’s the fire itself. It gives power, warmth, and light. It can be terrifying, inspiring, galvanizing, or magical. If you balance the wood and the fire just right, you have a writing worth reading. But too much of one without the other? It fizzles out, or burns out of control.
So don’t be a cold automaton reporting—put yourself in your reader’s shoes and think about what they want to hear. If they wanted to hear just the facts, they would have looked at the news. If they wanted emotion, they would have watched a Hallmark movie.
But they didn’t do either of those things. They picked up what you wrote.
So give the reader exactly what they want. Fill your words chock-full of hard facts, backed up with cited sources and double-checked information from your hours of research and investigation. And then craft what you have into a story, simple but powerful. Weave the storyline into something that not only fulfills your goals and answers the reader’s questions, but shows the world you know what it means to intersect the extremes and create a masterpiece of detective work.
Research and investigation are the lifeblood of journalistic writing. They give your book, story, article, or post substance, depth, and credibility. Nevertheless, it’s the art—that conjunction of emotion, power, and creativity—that breathes life into it.
Now, go find your story—and tell it well. We’re waiting :)