I Fell Down the Research Rabbit Hole—Here’s What I Learned

If you’ve ever opened your laptop to research one simple thing for your book, or looked up something on YouTube, and what you found was informative, but then led to other questions, so you did more research, and somehow what was just supposed to be a short amount of time ended up being hours later, you’ve experienced the research rabbit hole. I know because I’ve been there!

Three years ago, when I decided to write my first children’s book, I did not know where to start. I knew there were a few ways to get my book published. Still, I certainly didn’t know anything about those different ways, as well as everything an author should know, from literally A to Z. What started as a quick fact-check for my book project turned into hours, days, weeks, clicking links, reading articles, watching videos, and taking notes (three full notebooks) on information I didn’t even know I needed. Somewhere between “I’ll just look up one thing” and “How did I get here?” I realized I had spent more time researching than actually writing. The funny thing is, many authors do this. Especially if they are first-time authors.

Granted, research is important. In fact, it’s one of the best tools a writer has. However, there are two different types of research. The first is the how. How do I go about writing a children’s book? There are so many things a new author needs to know and should know. Also, there are so many articles on the web, blogs, and videos that it takes time to sift through the white rabbit fluff to get to the meat of what you need to know. You also have to figure out who knows what they are talking about and who is reputable and trustworthy. All of this takes weeks. If you are like me, you do not want to miss anything, and you want to be well-informed. This is all very important, but there comes a point when research stops helping your book and starts delaying it. Was it because I was scared of making the wrong decision about something? Yes. Was it because I was scared of the whole process? Yes. Was it because I was scared that I would fail? Absolutely! With that said, in my research, I also learned that I could do it, and that I need to stop pulling the rabbit fur over my head, and just hop, aka jump in! No one else was going to do it for me.

The second type of research is the what and when. This type of research is more about what you want the character to look like, what type of clothes they should wear, or what the setting should look like, etc. This type of research, to me, is not as informative, and probably does not need hours or weeks to research.

Here’s what I learned after taking a deep dive down the research rabbit hole.

Research Can Feel Like Productivity

One of the biggest traps is that research feels productive. You’re reading, you’re taking notes, you’re learning, and you’re gathering information. All of those things are valuable. The problem is that they can create the illusion that you’re making progress when you’re actually avoiding the harder task—writing. Writing requires decisions. Research allows endless possibilities. Research feels safe because there’s always one more article to read or one more video to watch. This was a big one for me.

Writing requires putting words on a page and accepting that they may not be perfect. Also, writing children’s books needs to be engaging. I also wanted my book to be funny. The little question in the back of my head was, “But will it be?” Sometimes I wasn’t researching because I needed information. I was researching because I was nervous about starting. That was a difficult truth to admit.

The Internet Knows No Limits

The internet and YouTube are designed to keep us curious. You search for one thing and immediately discover ten related topics. Then twenty. Then fifty. Before long, you’re reading information that has absolutely nothing to do with your original goal (somewhat). It’s like walking into a bookstore to buy one novel and leaving with an armful of books, a coffee mug, three bookmarks, and a candle you didn’t know you needed! Research online, or by watching videos, works the same way. Curiosity is wonderful, but as the old saying goes, it “…killed the cat”, and in the research world, it’s the rabbit. And we don’t want that. Lack of focus is expensive when you’re trying to begin writing a book. A good balance of research is the best.

Most Children’s Books Don’t Require a Doctorate

As children’s book authors, we sometimes convince ourselves that we need to become experts before we can write. On the flip side of this, however, I can attest that it pays to be informed because of the multiple decisions an author needs to make, from how they are going to publish their book to how they get a copyright, an ISBN, an LCCN, how many pages the book should be, and everything else in between. To make smart decisions, and not dumb ones that are going to cost more money, I felt like most of my research was needed. But, this research was more about the how, than about the when and where; researching characters, settings, etc.

Most readers aren’t expecting us to be world-renowned specialists. Children’s book authors are not writing scientific or medical journals. Readers of children’s books just want a great story, memorable characters, and an enjoyable reading experience. Yes, facts should be accurate. Yes, details matter. But if you’re writing a story about a rabbit learning kindness, you probably don’t need to spend three days studying every species of rabbit ever discovered. The bottom line is, whether it’s the how vs. the what and when, at some point, enough is enough.

Research Should Support the Story

When it actually came time to begin writing my children’s book, because my characters were forest animals, I didn’t need to do a whole lot of research. I knew pretty much the types of animals were forest animals; however, one lesson that changed everything for me was realizing that research serves the story. It’s not the other way around. For instance, in my first draft of my manuscript, I tried to squeeze every description of every character into my manuscript. The result? A story overloaded with a lot of description. But as I quickly learned, in children’s books, you do not need to be very descriptive. The illustrations tell most of the story. Readers connect with characters through illustrations. Readers remember emotions. Readers enjoy adventures. They rarely close a book and say, “Wow, that was the perfect amount of descriptions of the characters.” So, in this case, research should strengthen your story, not overwhelm it.

Set Boundaries Before You Begin

One of the best habits I’ve developed is setting research limits. This can be done with both types of research I have been talking about. By setting limits, you will keep yourself on track, and you will hopefully not go down that infamous rabbit hole. Below are just a few suggestions that might help you with this:

• Spend 30 minutes researching before writing.
• Identify three specific questions that need answers.
• Stop when those questions are answered.
• Begin drafting immediately.

Without boundaries, research expands to fill every available minute. With boundaries, it becomes a useful tool instead of a distraction.

Sometimes You Learn Unexpected Gems

Now, I don’t want to make research sound like down that rabbit hole, there’s a much bigger, scarier rabbit! Some of my best ideas have come from random discoveries or have led me to other things I did not know I needed to know. For instance, because of all of the research I did on the how, it led me to not only write a children’s book, but also write a book on how to write a children’s book! This led me to create checklists, forms, and other informational guides. If I had not done all of this research, the how-to book may not have come to fruition, or the idea of creating digital products for authors. On the flip side, sometimes researching for your children’s book may lead you to a surprising fact that might inspire a character, or an interesting article might spark a plot twist, or something else you research might become the foundation of an entire story.

The key is recognizing the difference between useful discovery and endless wandering. One helps you to be informed, which helps your writing. Too much helps you avoid it.

Progress Beats Perfection

Perhaps the most important lesson I learned is this: A finished manuscript that needs a few corrections is far more valuable than a perfectly researched manuscript that doesn’t exist. Again, researching the how is different and necessary, but you can also do too much. Many aspiring authors delay their dreams because they think they need more information before they begin. This was my story, years ago, in college, after a professor of mine told me I should get a story (novel) published. I delayed my dream literally for years. Although back then, I was not aspiring to be a children’s book author like I am now, the point remains true. I always thought I needed to do more research, more preparation, more planning, more certainty. The reality is, you simply need enough information to take the next step. You can always stop and do more research if it is needed, and then continue.

My Final Takeaway

The research rabbit hole isn’t all bad. As a first-time author, you need to be informed. You need to know all of your options and how to go about them. You need to find someone (or a few) whom you can trust or find reliable to lead you in the right direction. Research is where curiosity lives. It’s where ideas grow. It’s where writers discover fascinating details that bring stories to life. But, no matter what or why you are researching, eventually, you have to climb out. Close the browser tabs. Turn off YouTube. Open your manuscript and write. Because no matter how much research you do, and how deep you go down into the rabbit hole, your story won’t write itself. Trust me – I researched that!