While I mulled over what to write for this last installment of my series on the 7 Deadly Fears of Writing, Naomi Dunford posted a sentence that made me think.
She said, “People are inherently lazy and they don’t want to do their own research.”
This made me wonder; is the seventh deadly fear of writing a legitimate fear, or is it simply another excuse of laziness?
I’ve never viewed research as work. To me, research is a chance to broaden my knowledge. Some topics are harder than others, like writing about financial affairs, but I always end up learning something new. Sometimes I research topics I’m already familiar with to make sure my information is still up to date.
No matter what you are writing – a short story, a novel, or a web content article – research is important. Don’t fake knowledge you don’t have. Pulling a bunch of information out of thin air only makes you look bad. If you don’t know what you’re writing about, research the subject or admit to your audience that you lack knowledge.
A large part of writing involves building credibility. All too often, readers believe the written word without thinking critically on whether the information is true or valid.
You, as a writer, have a responsibility to put forth accurate information. Words are very powerful. What you say, no matter how insignificant it might seem to you, could have a huge impact on the reader. This is the reason authors write disclaimers for their novels.
If you’re writing about losing weight, exercising, or legal affairs, you don’t want to be held responsible for a reader misinterpreting your words – and possibly doing something very foolish based on what you wrote.
There are other reasons to research, especially when writing a novel or short story. Your facts regarding the time period, the location, and various other aspects of your characters’ lives should be accurate. A glaring mistake about culture or the description of a neighborhood ruins the story for readers. Worse, it can harm the suspension of belief so vital to a good novel.
For example, my roommate is an avid gun collector. Watching Saving Private Ryan with him involves his running commentary on how the M1 Garands don’t sound authentic. I have to agree. I’ve shot his M1, and it’s loud and intimidating. The sound reverberates off the desert mountains like thunder.
But when the M1s fire in the movie, they sound like little toy guns.
Jurgen Wolff, in Your Writing Coach, talks about research as being overwhelming. It’s easy to see how the situation could evolve into a fear. People often stop working on a project (or don’t even bother to start) because they feel overwhelmed with everything that has to be done.
Outsmart yourself. Break the project down into manageable chunks. Make a list of what needs doing, and then figure out a plan of attack that proceeds in steps – one after the other.
Start with the biggest aspect of the project that you can determine. Pick that apart and keep breaking it down until you feel comfortable with each step or chunk that you have to work on. Set up a time table for each goal – and stick to your schedule.
Your project flows smoothly towards full completion, and you gain a greater sense of accomplishment with each step completed.
I hope this series on the 7 Deadly Fears of Writing has helped. My own explorations while writing these posts revealed much to me about my own writing and work habits. Taking a look at each fear and thinking them over made me wonder why I had those fears in the first place.
In case you missed any of the posts in the series, here they are again:
- Rejection
- Inadequacy
- Success
- Exposing Yourself
- Only One Book
- Too Old to Write
..and of course, today’s post on Research.
The greatest fear is the fear of the unknown. Once you understand why you fear the way you do, you take the first steps towards understanding yourself to make changes for the better.
Happy writing!
I agree it’s extremely important and it’s something I’ve always done. I enjoy working out of the home setting one of my past jobs relied heavily on research. I worked in Family Medicine at the time. I enjoyed it immensely.
It seems that research has always been a part of my life. I’m inquisitive whenever I had questions I would go to my parents for the answer at times they would tell me what I needed, but many times they would tell me find out the answers and then tell them what I had learned. My parents talked about the importance of researching things you were unsure of they also mentioned this improved your knowledge. The schools I attended during grade school placed a lot of emphasis on research. I knew I had to get my facts straight before passing that information on to others. It makes you appear lazy if you give inaccurate information.
Over the years, I’ve read a few articles and occasionally some books where the information wasn’t thoroughly researched. When I’ve decided how I’m going to write an article I’ll research the information that I’m unsure about, writing down notes when needed.
Hi Harry, I’ve enjoyed reading your take on the writing fears that I discussed in my book, “Your Writing Coach.” There is one more that I see a lot: the fear that our fate is in the hands of editors, publishers, and producers. This leads to a “little me” mentality. The fact is these people need what we provide. The new media are also offering us many more alternatives of how to profit from our work. I hope that writers will grasp this–when we act like equals, we are respected as equals. – best wishes, Jurgen Wolff
Underslept and exhausted and have nothing intelligent to say. Therefore will say “nice article!” like a big, fat spammer and go about my business of finding some coffee.
Nice article.
@Opal: I used to get the old “Go look it up in the dictionary” too. I love the fact that all the world’s information is literally at my fingertips now.
@Jurgen: What a pleasant surprise, thanks! I’m still reading your book and using that information as James and I continue to refine our own manuscript. You know, great minds must think alike because that very same thought struck me the other day. I typeset books for clients, I know what’s involved in the process of publishing. Between my graphics skills and James’ editorial skills, there’s no reason why we have to go door to door searching for a publisher. A nice, fat contract would be nice, but it’s not a necessity. Anyone can publish a book.
The downside to that is, anyone can publish a book. “Because you can” doesn’t mean “you should”.
Anyway, here’s one writer who’s grasped that concept and I’m not feeling so little anymore – especially with authors like you stopping by to read and comment!
PS Naomi: sorry, almost forgot you. It’s too early here to be witty, so I’ll leave you to your coffee with a “thanks for the compliment”.
@ Jurgen – I think people treat their work and the publishing of any writing as an emotional relationship with the publisher and editor. It isn’t. It is business. Therein lies the problem, because few people can detach themselves emotionally from work close to their heart that they’ve poured so much of themselves into.
@ Naomi – We love spammers like you.
@ Spammers – Don’t fill up my Askimet. Go play somewhere else.
As a newspaper reporter I’ve learned just how paramount research is. Countless times you are tapped to cover an area or story that you don’t have any background in – it is an inherent aspect of the field. So, prior to even making the first interview, you hit “the books” so you can know what to ask, where to look. I find research to be a major perk of my job. And, if anything, have to temper my innate curiousity so I don’t get too wrapped up in the exploring.
It is the classic “glass full/half empty” scenerio. How you approach ANY aspect of ANY job/task will determine, in large part, how you perform it. With very few exceptions, my research has led me to other articles (sometimes vastly more interesting) or to more in-depth coverage of the one at hand. My diligence in research (and other supposedly less glamorous aspects of writing) has made me a better writer.
Just like eating your brussels sprouts, research might seem a tad tasteless; in the end though, it is always good for you.
In case your wondering… I like brussels sprouts, too!
@Carmen: That’s the thing, research always brings me something new. I was the type of kid that when I had a report to do I ended up getting sidetracked by *all* the information in the encyclopedia instead of the topic I had originally started to research.
Brussels sprouts rock! *chuckles*
That is what got me started in freelancing: research. I used to research things all day, anyway. Sometimes I would even write them into an article just so I would have a better understanding of them. Now I get paid for it.
Hmmm… where fear and writing meet. Some interesting comments here. When I’m working with people with phobias there’s usually the initial fear… then a layer of overwhelm about the fear… and thirdly another layer of fear about the overwhelm. This all loops so fast the phobia sufferer experiences it as one big horrid feeling.
With writing, and the necessary research, a graphical representation (like a mind map) can be really helpful.