If you have a story or a book you are blocked on writing, sometimes starting the research around secondary characters or for examples to support your main points will help get the dusty wheels turning in your head. Even if you have all the information you think you need, the act of researching can be a good way to step outside of the cirucular spiral prison of just thinking about how to write about that character or topic.
Researching isn't writing, and it's important not to spend weeks or months doing research to avoid writing or procrastinate on getting some actual work done. That distinction is yours to suss out.
Here's why:
1. Other writing: You get to see how other people write about a similar topic. Whether that's on the web or in books, researching means reading a whole lot of words that you didn't write. Other people use different adjectives and sentence structure, which means you will get fresh tweaks on familiar information. Inspiring!
2. Learning: There is, indeed, a distinct chance that you will learn something new :) If you're writing fiction, researching models for your characters can be a great way to find speech patterns, learn some slang, or dig into their imaginary backstory to support the characters' personality. If it's non-fiction, well, there is always more to learn-- and often it's from the people who don't agree with whatever side of the argument you're taking!
3. Serendipity: Did you know that the word "serendipity" came from a fairy tale about the Three Princes of Serendip? I didn't either. Until I did some research at the laundromat when I was having a hard time writing about the phoenix for my next book. Now the princes are part of a story I'm writing...
Image source: Nicola since 1972 via flickr
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