Research or Procrastination?

Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Finish the Research Before You Write

I’m a big fan of doing research. But I’m such a fan that I’m tempted to get stuck in the research phase. It’s fun. It’s fascinating. And it’s a reason to put off writing-especially writing something major, like a book.

Are you researching or procrastinating?

If you’re working on a doctoral dissertation based on academic research, then you probably have to finish the research before you start writing. For the rest of us, the boundaries between research and writing are often porous.

Writing a Book Is Not a Linear Process

You might think that the process of writing a nonfiction book is pretty simple: you do all of your research, then you write:

But for most nonfiction authors, reality looks something more like this: