How to Start: When Preparation Crosses the Line Into Procrastination

It can be hard to start a story. Just how do you transform an idea into words, then transform those words into a plot? _Erin Rand explains how to tell when you might be going overboard with your preparation:

Being a historical fiction writer, novel prep is often as big of a task as the actual writing process. Once I have the elements of a plot and characters, I become obsessed with figuring out how to best portray their lives within the time period I’ve chosen. 

My most recent manuscript takes place in Boston during the Progressive Era, and my research ranged from combing through archives of The Boston Globe to walking around the old parts of the city, trying to get a feel for what my characters would have experienced. Figuring out what they would have worn and what sort of meals they would have eaten has sent me down some intense wormholes.

“My biggest writing vice is letting preparation become procrastination.”

At the same time, I have to remind myself not to get too bogged down by the minutiae. I could spend years combing through clothing catalogs and theater schedules from 1913, but there is a point where all those things stop becoming useful. The trick is to figure out when that point is.

While I’m acquiring a broad base of knowledge about the time period in which I’m writing (which usually involves a stack of handwritten notes that grows to about two inches thick), I always try to ask myself, “How does this information serve my characters? How does this inform their worldview?" 

I’ve found that the more detailed my research becomes, the harder it is to answer that question. I might find it interesting to know the Majestic Theatre’s opera schedule for November 1913, but if my characters aren’t actually going to the opera, pursuing that line of research is time I could be using to get actual writing done. My biggest writing vice is letting preparation become procrastination.

Ultimately, the biggest hurdle between the preparation stage and the actual writing stage is accepting that there is no way I will know everything, 

It’s possible to know everything about a time period, or even about my characters. I won’t know what I don’t know until I actually start writing. If I’m mid-novel and I realize that I really need to know how a Model-T was produced for my story to move forward, I can always take a break from writing to do the research. When I’m ready to get back down to business, my story will still be there.

Erin E Rand recently graduated from Emerson College with her MA in Publishing and Writing. She serves as the Editor in Chief of MinervaMag.com and the host of the Nostalgia Myalgia podcast. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona and you can find her musings on cacti and Harry Potter on Twitter at @erinerand.

Top photo by Flickr user f_lynx.