Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27821
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Research can always reach a point where it becomes excessive, no matter what field you're in (even if your field is research, you do want to occasionally turn your attention to publication!). But the real question here is whether the amount of research _you_ are doing is excessive.

The answer depends on what kind of writer you are, and what kind of book you want to write. A lot of the most influential fantasy and science fiction has been created by obsessive world-builders building on a foundation of years of research and imagination --"Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars" are two good examples. If you're passionate about the world you're creating, putting the time in may not be such a bad idea. Given that you started this process in order to relax, and you seem to be enjoying the research process and gaining from it, I wouldn't stress about rushing on to the writing phase until you actually feel ready.

However, at some point, you need a compelling story, and you need to actually write it --if writing science fiction is what you actually want to do. You might find at the end of the process that you really want to write non-fiction, or to teach, or to use your invented world as a setting for a video game. In my experience, if you really have a story in you, you'll reach a point where you can't help but let it out. If that never happens, your talents may simply be leading you in a different direction.

Original score: 0