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Photo by Jamie MacPherson
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It's encouraging to reflect that most often my good ideas come when I'm reading or listening to non-fiction material on a subject I find deeply interesting.

I grew up with the movie descendants of Star Wars and Jaws and Indiana Jones and other big-ticket blockbusters, so there are probably far more story ideas in my head that start with the words "What If" than ideas that don't.

Part of the trouble I think with research beyond a certain point is that you start to only pay attention to details that support your story the way you've already decided to yourself that it should play out.

Or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, is the problem of endlessly changing the very bones of the structure of your story because of unending research that cuts the ground out from beneath you.