A few years ago, I visited The Burns Library at Boston College under a blanket of February snow to flesh out a proposal for the #janejacobsyabook. I had two research days and I had to move fast.
It wasn't until I was knee-deep in wordsmithing this past year that many of these documents, letters, and clippings actually came in handy. As if my former self was working for future self. The funny thing is, that even with my archivist skills in my back-pocket some of the images were a mystery to me — where did this come from? Why did I save this in the first place? What was I thinking?
With the book now in the hands of my editor (for the time being!) I have some time to be reflective about my research process. Over the next few months I’ll share some thoughts from the thank-god-I-did-that variety as well as mistakes to avoid at all costs. What worked? What didn't? What saved me? If you write (or want to) what is it that you want to know? Where do you get stuck with research? What is a mystery?
For me, the mystery was the WHEN. WHEN do you jump off the cliff? When is enough research enough? When do you start writing?
