How Do You Know That?

My chuckle came in my writing class when a student kept asking how I would know certain facts I incorporated in a piece of nonfiction; a simple historical article.

I think it's called research.

And I think it is important to always do research whether writing fiction or non-fiction.

I also think it is important to always do research in the genre in which you work. It helps to know who came before you and how they did what they did.

Your writing certainly won't suffer.