How to Ensure Your Writing Sessions Aren’t Derailed by “Research”

Regardless of whether you’re writing a novel, a how-to book, or a helpful blog post, you’ll almost certainly need to do some research before you start writing.

In his fantastic book on writing, Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting, Robert McKee refers to research as “feeding your talent” and suggests “research not only wins the war on cliché, it’s the key to victory over fear and it’s cousin, depression.”

I agree with McKee on the value of research, however, I hope that the phrase that jumped out at you in the opening sentence of this article was before you start writing.

Way too often, writers try to mix drafting with research, which almost always leads to disastrous results.

The Research Rabbit Hole

Tell me if this sounds familiar…

You’re writing a particularly difficult scene. It’s set in a castle or a restaurant or the terrace of a Parisian restaurant. You decide to do a Google Image search — just a quick little spot of research, so you can get a feel for what that setting would be like.

Oh, hey, look at that… It seems some emails have arrived while you were writing. Better check those.

And while you’re checking emails, you should probably also check out those Facebook notifications, right?

Wait, what’s that in the newsfeed? Someone has shared a click-baity headline and you know it probably leads to a useless article, but you can’t help but click it anyway.

Wow. That article actually lived up to its intriguing headline! Maybe you should check out some more articles on this site…

Minutes go by…

Sometimes hours…

All the while, no writing actually gets done.

As 21^st century writers, we’re blessed with modern technology that gives us the ability search through virtually the entire wealth of human knowledge without ever leaving our homes.

Unfortunately, this blessing is also a curse.

In our connected age, what begins as research can quickly descend into a maelstrom of time suck-age. As bestselling author Dan Brown puts it, “Google is not a synonym for research.”

That’s why, as a writing coach, I often recommend my clients separate their research sessions from the writing sessions. If you’re in the middle of a scheduled writing session, you should be writing, and not popping around the internet doing “research.”

Separate Sessions for Research and Writing

If you know you’re going to be writing a scene in a castle, research what it looks and feels like to be in a castle during a separate session. (Better yet, GO to a castle and walk around.) That way, when you sit down to write, you’ll already have the information you need to rock that scene. No internet required.

You’ve probably heard of about of the right side of your brain being the creative, flowing side and the left side being the location of more organized and logical thinking. While I’m not convinced of the scientific varsity of this concept, I do think it can be helpful to think of your research sessions as your “right brain” time, and your drafting sessions as your “left brain” time.

Use those right brain sessions to brainstorm, mind map, daydream, experiment, and, yes, research. Then, when it’s time write, get into that left brain mode, where the process becomes about piecing together logically all of those ideas your creative research sessions came up with.

Tools for Focused Writing

If you just can’t resist the temptations of the internet, even with segregated writing and research sessions, there are some tools you may want to use to stay focused on your writing.

Freedom – Blocks access to websites, apps, or the entire internet for a set period of time.

Inbox Pause – Puts new emails on hold, so they don’t appear in your inbox until you are ready for them.

News Feed Eradicator –Replaces your entire Facebook news feed with an inspiring quote.

Ommwriter – A distraction-free writing app with backgrounds designed to hold your attention, audio tracks to focus your mind, and keyboard sounds to support typing.

Using the technique and tools discussed in this article, you’ll be able to ensure your writing sessions aren’t derailed by your research.

Want more tips on focused writing sessions? Read my Creativindie.com article, 10 Ways to Stay Focused While Drafting Your Manuscript.