The Lure of the Research Rabbit Hole and How to Avoid Falling In

While I was researching on the internet the other day, looking for interesting blog topic ideas, I found myself—despite my resolve—distracted by a variety of articles on topics from folklore surrounding white horses in Scotland (which I decided I will write about in the future) to one of the oldest curse words, what it means, and how it was used. (From what I surmised, there are quite a few to choose from: Egyptian, Viking, and Japanese. Did you know the word “swive” is the medieval equivalent of the word “fuck”? Not totally unhelpful, as the heroine of my current WIP lives in fourteenth-century Scotland and swears a lot.) I did like the word “shiteater” from the Egyptians (though pronouncing it in the original language is impossible). And then, of course, how could I pass up on reading an opinion—well, more like a debate—on whether the actor playing Rip on “Yellowstone” was hotter than the actor playing Matthew on the series “A Discovery of Witches”? I admit, it was close, but in the end, I had to go with Rip.

Two hours later, with no topic chosen, and not a word written, I stared at the blank screen and realized I had gone down the research rabbit hole once again. If not for all of us, it is for a large percentage of writers so, so, tempting to procrastinate getting on with our first draft or beginning revisions when we know we need to cut scenes we love and labored over but don’t actually move the story forward. Or we have to add scenes because we missed a major plot hole. What better way to put off these difficult tasks than to get lost in the research of some oh-so-fascinating fact or piece of trivia that is not necessary or needed?

By the way, it’s important to note: you don’t need to become the foremost expert on anything for a first draft, or even when you revise. I, for example, do not need to know the entire history of Scotland. I just need to know before I write what is going on in my protagonist’s world and how, historically or politically, it might affect them. Yes, it’s important to understand the details of the world your characters are inhabiting, but you don’t have to have research notes for every little thing. Fiction does give a writer more than enough room for some dramatic license.

 Readers most want to connect with your characters when reading a novel. It they become interested enough to want to know more about a particular period or place, they can read a history book or watch a documentary about the subject. What smart and focused research can give you as a writer is the ability to bring something new to the story with a little-known fact or occurrence that is not widely known but can be woven into your story.

Here are a few tips to help you stay clear of the time-sucking rabbit hole:

1.      Do some pre-research on the major elements you need to know to pull the plot together. If you are writing about a town you’ve never been to, go there if you can and walk around, explore. If there is a local watering hole you are going to use in your story, going in and getting a feel for the place and the people who hang out there will be helpful in setting the mood. If the location is on the other side of the country or world, get to know Google Maps, from which you can take a walk down the street and get a close-up look at the landscape, the important landmarks necessary to make your reader feel like they are there with your characters. Read other authors whose tales are set in the same time as you’re writing. This is not research, but it will give you great insight on how other writers approached their story, how they wove detail into action and dialogue.

2.      Once the first draft has been started and you absolutely need to look up something, get in and get out. Set a timer. I have found that the three-click rule has always been effective. If you can’t find the information in three clicks, make a note. I write “need to look up” in parentheses. For example: “(what did women wear for underwear in 1309).” The highlight the note and get back to writing. If you pause in the middle of a writing session because you absolutely need to look up something, make sure it is a specific something.

3.      Be wary of overuse of your thesaurus or dictionary. For me, at least, looking up one word leads me to look up a dozen more, and then I need to know when the word was created (it’s important with historical fiction not to use a word that was not in use until the eighteenth century when your story takes place in the fourteenth), and before I know it, another two hours of hanging out in the rabbit hole has passed and what I intended to be a quick pause in my writing session becomes a time-suck of epic proportion.

4.      Turn off the internet. Did you know you can disable your internet while you are writing? Or, if you are like me and the temptation to turn it back on is too tempting, go to a venue where you can’t connect. If it’s warm, I highly recommend a park bench with a pretty view.

5.      Change venues and leave your computer at home so you need to write longhand.

6.      If you stop your writing to quickly look up one fact, but get drawn in by another fact that leads you to an idea for another brilliant story, have a separate notebook dedicated to these brilliant ideas. Write it down for later, and return to the WIP. 

None of this is to say research is not important to good storytelling and developing three-dimensional, believable characters. It is. And yes, research can be enjoyable, fascinating, but it can easily become a wasteful time-suck. The bottom line of all the bottom lines is this: you don’t need every detail before you begin writing your story. What you want is to get the words down. You want to write.