Research is one of my favorite parts of the writing process, but I’ll be the first to admit I tend to overdo it. Back in the pre-Google days, my mom was a reference librarian, so this is practically written into my DNA. I grew up in a house stacked with reference books, with an on-call librarian who could tell me exactly where to look for any obscure fact that happened to float across my mind. While this did enrich my childhood immeasurably, it also primed me to be the kind of writer who spends 300+ hours researching things like the average number of ear hairs people have by country, or the most common brand of table lamp in the year 1953.

So, in order to curb my habit and ensure that at some point during a day set aside for writing, something actually gets written, I’ve developed a system for determining if a particular Wikipedia black hole is actually worth my time. Here are four questions I ask myself about every fact that ends up in my books.

Am I writing about people or their lived experiences?

This should go without saying, but you should never try to write about the personal experiences of a group of people you are not in without actually speaking to them first. I don’t care how creative and empathetic you think you are. If your hearing is perfect, you don’t know what it’s like to be deaf. If you grew up in peacetime, you don’t know what it’s like to grow up on the front lines of a war. I could list a million more examples, but the point is the same: this is a situation research was made for.

If you attempt to move forward without research, you risk writing characters who are unrelatable to the very audiences you sought out to connect with. And that’s a best-case scenario. Screw this up really badly, and you’ll come off as an insensitive a-hole. You could even inadvertently cause real harm to the way the people you’re writing about are perceived by the wider world.

In the deeply connected world we live in today, it’s easier than ever to make connections with people from all walks of life. Use this to your advantage and seek out input from people whose experiences match the ones you’re trying to write about. You should be doing this throughout the writing process, from reading first-hand accounts during the prep phase to recruiting specific kinds of beta readers during revisions.

Do I need this fact to be true for the story to be believable?

According to Michigan State University, homemade turnips have a shelf life of about 12 months when preserved. Or at least, they say you should preserve “no more than your family can consume in 12 months.”

If I’m reading something and the author shows me a character eating a can of turnips that have been on the shelf for six months, I won’t question it. I will not drop the book and google the shelf life of canned turnips, or call up Michigan State University to report a crime against the culinary arts. Things in cans can be eaten after six months – this I know to be true.

If, on the other hand, the character is poisoned by these turnips, I may wonder in passing if the author did their research. And if the shelf life of homemade canned turnips is used to exonerate a character accused of murdering them in a dramatic courtroom scene at the climax of the book, I may put the book down and ask my mom how long home-canned turnips usually last on the shelf. She will say, “Oh, a year or so,” and I will know the author is full of crap.

In this example, the shelf life of homemade canned turnips is a critical piece of information for the story. It’s a weird thing to need to know, but if I’m writing that specific story, I need to know it! However, if the reader’s interaction with the turnips begins and ends with that one meal and nothing ever comes of it, then I don’t need to go down the rabbit hole for this one. I’m free to cite any semi-reasonable amount of time in order to convey whatever it is I’m trying to convey. The reader will get it – this character doesn’t cook, or they’ve been living in this apocalypse bunker for six months, or whatever. They will not be thinking about the turnips.

This is an extreme example of a conundrum that comes up all the time, especially in science fiction. Do you need a degree in bioengineering to write a character with a genetic mutation that makes them glow in the dark, or interview a NASA engineer to write about a cool space battle with lasers? No, not necessarily. But if failing to explain why that genetic mutation exists or how Captain Spacepants survived crashing into that asteroid will shatter the reader’s suspension of disbelief, then yeah, you should probably Google it.

Does the genre demand research?

Sometimes, marketing your book as belonging to a specific genre means you need to do some research, even if neither of the above concerns are relevant. Writing historical fiction, for example, or hard sci-fi, will mean your readers go into the book automatically expecting a certain degree of accuracy. Readers who buy hard sci-fi really like reading books that have had lot of research put into the science side of the science fiction. Likewise, historical fiction readers are craving certain details in your book that are drawn from real historical events. And if these people have read any amount of well-researched fiction from your target genre, they know what they are talking about, and they will call you out if you don’t.

For genres like these, there is an automatic expectation of factual accuracy from the author that doesn’t exist in genres like fantasy, soft sci-fi, or even more grounded genres like thrillers or romances. Throwaway facts will matter a lot more in these accuracy-mandatory genres, which means research is going to take a lot more time and energy.

And don’t worry, your beta readers will let you know if you did it wrong. They will let you know loudly, and they will let you know often.

Do I feel like it?

Just not feeling like researching something isn’t a good reason not to research it. But wanting to research something just for the heck of it, as long as you’re not on some kind of super-tight deadline, is a good reason to research.

Some people, myself included, just really like researching stuff! It’s fun, you get to learn new things, and then you get to share them with the world through your writing. Just because a detail doesn’t make the plot more or less believable or impact the way the readers perceive the story doesn’t mean I can’t go ham with Wikipedia if I damn well feel like it. If you, too have an insatiable need to Google every stray fact that comes up in the course of your writing, never fear. You’re valid, and you’re not alone. It’s your writing, and “for the hell of it” is sometimes a good reason all by itself.

Happy writing!