Not only because it can pull you down the rabbit hole, but because research can fundamentally change the way you see your work. I’m guilty of both, to be honest. I’ve plumbed the depths of unrelated research, gone on tangents, and delved into minutiae that would never make it into my book. On the other hand, I’ve found material I never expected to discover that required serious rewriting of pages in my manuscript that I thought were ready for publication. Either way, research, as important as it is for a good factual foundation, can suck you in and hold you for hours on end. That may be good or bad, but if time is a constraint, as it is for many writers, beware the trap research represents. It may seem like a necessary activity to support good writing. It certainly is, but research can easily turn into a bottomless pit that takes as long to get out of as it does to climb down into. Writer beware!