Research - How Much Is Too Much?

Most writers know the feeling. They have an idea for an article or story and begin to do the necessary research. Soon, they find that Robert Pirsig's book 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' can also refer to research. They go down a path that looks invitingly narrow and find that there are multiple pathways leading to other equally interesting bits of knowledge. They fear that if they do not follow the links then maybe they would miss a vital piece of information. This could become a problem for a writer because he spends too much time on research and not enough time on writing. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to curb the tendency to excessive research.

Set a Goal

One of the first things you should do before starting your browser is to decide on your research goal. This goal should be concrete enough and focused enough so that you would be able to stay on course. If you're writing a historical novel and you need information about the battle of Thermopylae, for example, you should only look for data such as dates and forces. While it may be interesting to read all about the opposing sides and the political climate that led to the battle, this information does not have any bearing on your topic.

Have You Reached Your Goal?

The tricky part of setting a research goal is to know when you have reached it. You may think that you now have enough information to start writing, but later you find that a vital piece of information is missing. One thing you can do so as not to stop your momentum is to highlight the place where you need to put the information and keep on writing. You can return to it later after doing the research. To prevent the missing information syndrome, you could do a mental rehearsal with your protagonist before starting to write. Imagine your protagonist looking at his enemies and identifying the leaders, their forces, their weapons, and any other piece of concrete information that is pertinent to that instant. If you find that you are unable to answer the questions fully, you would know that you need to do more research.

Getting Down To Work

Once the research has been done, you need to start writing at once. The information is still fresh in your mind and you have already made links to other information in your brain. This is the ideal time to write and you'll find that the words will flow smoothly.

The writer Humphry Ward once wrote to his wife, also a writer, "Anyone can read! Anybody of decent wits can accumulate notes and references; the difficulty is to write... to make something.” This is a sound observation that can be applied to all writers.