Five Steps in Research: When Enough is Enough

“Stop the research and start writing!”

My patron of the arts had heard enough whining, even if he had been the source of some of the anguish with his periodic question, “Have you found the key to your heroine yet?”

No. So I continued to read about her and amass more information.

But he’d finally had enough.  “You’ll feel better if you just get started. Maybe you’ll find her in the writing.”

I dithered a little more, then plucked up the nerve to type those sobering words: Chapter One.

Which brings me to a question. When do you know you’ve done enough research–if that’s even possible–and it’s time to write?

(That is a yardstick behind the wall of books I currently have in my house. 17.5 inches high)

How much research do you need to do?

How many people interview? Is there ever an end?

There should be.

I’ve got a few clues.

I had read enough about my heroine that by the time I sat down with a local historian, I knew more facts about her, her family, and the life in the town than the historian did.

The woman with a Ph.D. in history blinked rapidly as I questioned her on details she didn’t know the answer to.

When I asked how often the train came to town, she gained some control. “I know what you’re looking for and why. Another author came to town last year seeking the same sort of details. You want color for your story.”

Of course. I’m trying to make it as real as possible so my readers can feel like they’ve been in that time and place.

Unfortunately, she didn’t know.

I figure if the local historian doesn’t know, then I’m safe to let my imagination play.

Five steps when it’s time to quit and start writing:

1. Quit when you can throw off the experts.

You’ve mastered the topic.

I read over a dozen books about my hero. I’ve examined all the websites and am now reduced to reading novels written in 1903 and 1864 for more insight into him. (The novels are awful).

2. Quit when you’ve exhausted the canon.

You really are grasping for straws when you read poorly written novels completed 118 years ago. Enough!

Because I’m dealing with historic characters and I’m interested in placing them physically and emotionally within time, space, and their families, I’ve looked through all the genealogical records I can find.

As any good genealogist knows, you also need to explore the auxiliary family members.

I did that, too, and found interesting family connections between my hero and heroine. The reader doesn’t need to know any of that, but I do so I can move them plausibly among family members in different cities.

3. Quit when you’ve mastered the genealogies

and can discussing second cousins twice removed fluently.

My patron of the arts has traveled with me to explore some of the sites mentioned in the story. He’s heard the tales, walked the grounds, examined the museums, intelligently commented on the military operations, and asked more than once, “so, when are you going to start writing?”

4. Quit when your family is bored with your subject

and doesn’t want to hear about it anymore.

But there might be one last fact, one last tidbit of information that could make the story unique.

5. Start writing anyway.

The muse will take over, research serendipity will occur, pieces will come together in your subconscious and you’ll never be done writing at this rate, anyway.

When research is done?

Write: Chapter One.

What joy I felt to start typing, freed from worry.

I had so much background, so much thought, so much examination of facts, behind me, the writing flowed.

“Wow,” my husband said after reading the first five chapters–completed in two days. “Your heroine has come alive.

He was right.

“But what about the hero, he needs a little work . . . ”

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