The Three "R's" for Writers - Reuse, Revise and Retarget

Someone recently asked me how writers justify spending so much time researching materials for a single article or webpage.  The truth is, we have our own 3 "R's" credo - reuse, revise, and retarget.

Reusing research means taking the research gathered for one article or webpage and using it to create a different article or webpage on a similar or related topic.  This is perhaps the most direct use of the gathered research materials.

Revising means taking the existing article or webpage and either adding new information to it or rewriting it from a slightly different angle, perhaps to include it in a larger work, such as an ebook or anthology of related articles by the same author or a group of authors for mass market.

Retargeting is similar to revising, but with a tighter focus, in particular the retargeting of the article for another audience.  The research materials and article on environmental issues affecting a particular forest might be retargeted for magazines in the forestry industry.  It might also be retargeted for magazines specializing in insect studies if the environmental issue is how invasive species are adversely affecting the region and what might be done about them.

When someone you know spends days or weeks doing research, remember one thing.  The time spent is not wasted, it is invested.  It is what is done with the research gathered that matters.