Balancing research with writing

If you’ve been pressed for time and have very little of it left over for writing—assuming you don’t write for a living—you may have run up against the idea of doing research for your book, short story, or essay. Some stories come naturally from what we already know, and we can create a rough draft that we can then work with until the final draft emerges. Other stories require us to visit the library, conduct interviews, or just start a Google search.

Writers tend to have pretty strong opinions on research, one way or the other. While some writers love any chance to hit the stacks (or fall down a rabbit hole on the Internet), other writers are more trepidatious. Each camp clearly sees the pitfalls of the other, especially in extreme cases: Writers who love research can fall in love with others’ books more than with their own WIP, spending months (or years) learning every detail they think they need to know and losing the desire to write the book that ostensibly launched their research in the first place. Writers who hate research can spend those months (or, again, years) writing a book that isn’t very good because their egos—or their fear of falling down the rabbit hole—wouldn’t let them learn anything along the way.

The important thing is to be aware of these pitfalls, notice which one(s) we tend toward at a particular time, and strategize our research so it benefits our writing.

First, to be aware of pitfalls, ask yourself what you need to know in order to complete your book. Make a list of everything, putting an asterisk next to things you don’t know. From there, put a second asterisk next to everything you absolutely must find out before you even begin to write. For example, if you’re writing historical fiction, you can research details of the garb of Roman soldiers as you begin your rough draft. But if your novel begins in January and you have no idea whether it snows in Rome, you need to learn about the climate of the Italian peninsula before you start writing. In other words, get the big picture before you start writing and fill in the details as you go.

Second, ask yourself if you’re currently in the pro- or anti-research camp. If it’s the former, do you tend to leave your WIP in favor of Google and then find yourself two hours later taking a quiz to find out which Disney character looks most like your mom? Or, if you’re in the anti-research camp, did your last novel make your nuclear physicist brother die of laughter because you thought cold fusion is when you put the potato salad too far back in the fridge? If you’ve made mistakes in the past from too much or too little research, treat them as road signs pointing you toward your destination: a completed, well-written work.

Third, strategize your research. Go back to your list of what you need to know before you begin your rough draft. From there, go to the library or the Internet with specific questions—and if your search spawns more questions, decide whether to pursue them now or in a future research session. You may find that you knew so little that you had no idea how much you didn’t know; if so, you may decide to extend your research before you begin writing. But don’t fall into the trap of overwhelming yourself with information and feeling like you can never begin. Instead, when you stumble upon a new line of questioning, ask yourself again, “Should I do this now, or can I read about this as I write my first draft—or even after it, as I'm planning the second draft?”

Whatever decisions you make regarding research, make sure it benefits your WIP—and yourself as a writer. Nobody likes feeling like they’ve produced a bad book, and nobody likes finding out the Internet quiz thinks their mom looks like Scar from The Lion King. But if you’ve armed yourself with a plan and followed it, you’ll begin your rough draft confidently, knowing you’ve learned what you need and can learn even more as you go.