Getting Lost in Rabbit Holes
Day 8 of 31: 200 Words-a-Day Challenge
The rules for this challenge are simple. If you need my prompt below, use it. If not, still write. JUST WRITE....as many words as you need to.
To share, post what you write into the comments below or on your on stack. I hope you will and it would be lovely if you tagged me. If you comment on others’ shared writing: (1) be kind, (2) don’t critique unless the author explicitly requests it, (3) tell them what in their writing resonated with you, or made you think differently, or was an ‘aha’ for you.
Getting Lost in Rabbit Holes
I love language and I love history. So when I’m writing my stories, largely historical fiction, both need my attention. And precision. Although I’m a recovering perfectionist, I do like to get historical facts and word usage right. So, it’s incredibly easy for me to go down research rabbit holes.
Factor in my voracious curiosity and I could spend hours on a single paragraph in my story.
The problem isn’t that I go off on useless tangents. Often, these rabbit holes reveal facts or inspire ideas that I can apply elsewhere in my writing, in this story or in others.
The problem with rabbit holes for me is that they often delay my completion of what’s right in front of me—the current WIP. Rather than dipping in and cutting out of the research when I find my answer, I enter it with purpose but then wander languorously… for the same reason I stated above that these rabbit holes aren’t useless: they reveal facts or inspire ideas!
Do you see a vicious cycle being set up here? A vortex, really, when you consider how many stories I have unfinished, ideas not fully fleshed out. Very little completed.
It’s time to turn on its head this “excuse” for doing more and more research. I need to set boundaries before diving in. Any suggestions?
The type of boundary I see as most accessible in this case is one of time, limiting my research to short, reasonable stints. Once I find what I’m looking for or once they end, whichever comes first, I return to writing. If I don’t find what I’m looking for in the time allotted, I’ll put a placeholder in my document and return to it another time… but writing must take priority.
Maybe I should run to Walmart and get one of those old-fashioned egg timers. Do they still make those? I wonder who invented them. Let me look that up….
Early egg timers were hourglasses that came into use in Medieval Europe in the 14th century. No one knows who invented the eg…
BUZZZZZ.
Your Prompt / Day 8 of 31
What ‘distractions,’ good or bad, affect your writing? What could you do to create boundaries around them so your writing is supported instead? If your writing requires research, how do you deal with the rabbit holes?
Thanks for joining me in this challenge! Please invite your friends.
It's the historical fiction hazard. Two things are helping me: If I've got enough info to move forward and should postpone a research diversion, I have little post-it flags of different colors that I attach to the manuscript pointing to things that need to be addressed (pink is for research - oh, so many pink tabs.) I forge onward and review all those tabs in separate passes. I'm at the point in my WIP that most of those little pink tabs are just icing for the icing and can/should be glossed over or ignored alltogether.
The other new thing I am doing - I have a flippable pomodoro-type alarm clock. I give myself x-amount of time for a task. Depending on my purpose - if for focus, I earn a break when the bell rings. If for something that could turn into a diversion, bell rings and time is up. It keeps me honest - somewhat.
Oh, I feel this so, so much. I often fall back on the placeholder method; do I really need to understand how zeppelins were docked and refueled RIGHT NOW? (truefax rabbit hole!) Or can I just say [disembarking happens here!] and continue with the story? The latter is less fun but keeps me focused. *sigh*
However, a new workaround I'm finding helpful is to just ask ChatGPT for answers. While I don't trust it enough to give me historical names and dates accurately, for very straightforward things like "what is the history of the plain old egg timer?" it has proven remarkably helpful. Since I get a canned answer with no alluring links to other sites or topics, I can just plug and play. If I have my doubts about accuracy, I can flag it to double check later. It takes me a minute or two at most to type a question and get an answer, and then I'm back to writing!