TOO MUCH INFORMATION?

Is there such thing as having too much material for your writing? It depends on what you are writing. Say, for example, you are writing a historical novel. Much research will go into the period of time you may want the novel to be set in. Accuracy is of the upmost in writing such a book.

I have a case full of notebooks amassed over many years. They are chock full of notes, poems, outlines, doodles, words, musings and other thoughts.  THough I may not have used it recently, I could go back to them in the future. One reason I carry a notebook with is to record a thought or idea that may pop into my head or have observed. I certainly won't remember it if I don't. Just think of all the ideas lost because I didn't note it.

I have found it useful to read the biography of a poet that I'm discovering. I did this when immersed with the poetry of Sylvia Plath. Doing this helped me to understand what her mindset was. The metaphors and imagery she used in her poems illuminate Plath's work and her state of mind. 

I don't believe that too much information is a bad thing. I see it as being good when one can refine it into a wonderful piece of writing. My writing is much different from what I wrote five years ago. My life experiences have shaped much of what I write. I can't tell you how many times I have written something down, put it away, then picked it up in a future time.Quite revealing and eye opening on how we process information.