Research...the Necessary Evil

For once I'll actually start by talking about my title. Research, even for a story that is intended to be completely fiction, is a necessary evil. Why you may ask? Because if I want to send some of my characters to ancient Rome at its birth (and I do) I can't make that part up. Not only would that misinform anyone reading it, but it would also make me seem really unintelligent (and I'm pretty sure I'm not). So, even though I haven't spent hardcore time in the library or anything I have spent a good chunk of time on Google, which I promise has been more fun than it sounds. (Or maybe it sounds fun to research Ancient Roman civilization, I'll let you decide). Anyways, before I started the research I made a list of questions that I wanted to find answers to. I was pretty successful but somehow, I still am afraid to start writing this part of Guardians. After some thought I think it's because I'm afraid that I've missed something really important that I'll desperately need. Then I realized that I just put another roadblock in my way and I should just start writing because I can always go back and do more research once I have a better idea of what I need to know. So, Hilana what have you learned today? I've learned that even though research is important you do reach a point where it's time to stop looking and start writing.