Tuesday, March 22, 2011

In my writing, I always ...

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Blog strikes again, and I nearly forgot it was my turn.  Oops!

The theme this month is: "In my writing, I have never______" or, in reverse if you so choose, "In my writing, I always______"

There’s so much I’ve never attempted in my writing, so let’s not go there.  The list would be too long. ;-)  Not that I’m unwilling to attempt most things, but really, I can’t find enough hours in a day to try.  We all need to prioritize.

But things I always, or at least, usually do?  I research too much.  I get an idea or subject in mind, and I research it into powder.  By the time I’m done with the research, I don’t want to write fiction about it anymore, though for non-fiction that habit works well.

Unfortunately, my current WIP is stalled, partly because I researched a minor point so deeply I lost interest in the whole story.  I need to cut the whole chapter and start over, I think.

Do you get waylaid by research, or do you avoid it altogether?  Have you found a middle ground?

13 comments:

  1. I know what you mean about research. I don't do any research until I'm done with the first draft.

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  2. Hi Elizabeth! I suspect you are far wiser than I am. :-)

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  3. I think research is important because it saves time--you could design a plot around something that falls apart when you do research, and I have no interest in scrapping something for that reason. But I know what you mean about getting waylaid by it--it's easy to get lost in a quagmire. Sometimes, the more you know, the more difficult to be creative, especially if your knowledge is not necessarily deep (I've had this experience over and over again!).

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  4. "Research it into powder..."
    Deb, you are too funny.

    Research is a lot of fun. It's very empowering, getting "control" of the universe you're trying to build your story in. My problem is trying not to show off that I did my research by boring my readers with needless facts.

    Great post Deb!

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  5. Hi Deb,

    Read about your blog at Lydia's The Word is My Oyster.

    Research can be a tricky one - time consuming. Sometimes, I've found it necessary to set a timer, 15 min to 1/2 hour, or 1 hour on more complicated subjects (my MC is a geologist).

    I wonder if when you have lost interest due to too much research, if maybe that is actually a good thing? That maybe the story needs to be changed or redirected somewhow?

    Good reflections!

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  6. I get distracted all the time. Research leads me from one thing to another to another... and on it goes. lol. It's because I love research so much. At the same time research is important.

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  7. Hi Sarah - I worry about my plot falling apart over a critical fact, too. I think the more I know, the better the story will work. But I still research too much. ;-)

    Hey Lydia - LOL! Go ahead and write it all into the first draft. Just delete most of it in the first revision.

    Hi Erin - Thanks for dropping in! A timer's a great idea. But it's soooooooo hard to make myself stop.

    Hi Lynda - You're a woman after my own heart! I love research! :-)

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  8. Research it into powder, LOL! Research is important...if anything, I don't do enough.

    I hope your WIP becomes "unstalled." ;)

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  9. Hey, Laura! Too little, too much ... It's so hard to find the balance.

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  10. I'm not an 'over researcher' but I have over-brainstormed to the point where I didn't want to write the book any more. In that case, I set the project aside until it faded in my brain and I forgot some of it. Then I came back to it and wrote it!

    Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse

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  11. That's reassuring, Angela. I'll get back to that novel eventually!

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  12. Hi Deb! I just wandered over here from the QT blog, and I'm excited to explore your site further. I also tend to get waylaid with research, especially during my latest manuscript. My protagonist is the daughter of a famous dolphin researcher, and since I'm obsessed with dolphin research myself, I had to fight the tendency to just spout off interesting dolphin facts at every turn. Good luck getting back on track! :)

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  13. Hi LisaAnn! Thanks for commenting.

    Dolphins are fascinating creatures. I can see why you'd want to share more than one story can hold.

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Share your thoughts with me! :-)