Hi all - thanks for the many replies. I've read them all and taken the point on board. It's interesting to see how varied your approaches are to research.

My first novel is on my nard disk someonewhere; I wrote it before my studies at university got intense. It was a completely different genre to the one I am writing now. I'm not in a rush to go back to it as I have far more confidence and enthusiasm is the novel idea I have now than I ever did for my first one. Additionaly, I made the first novel up as I went along whereas the ideas for this one have been maturing in my mind for the last two years (that's probably why I'm much more confident about it).

My approach to research feels right for this genre I was just interested to see what other writers thought of it.

EmmaD: as hard as it may be I do trust that I will have to veer of my original research to for the sake of the quality of the novel. I'm interested in what I'm researching anyway so I won't view any of it as wasted time.

Dee: I agree there's a blalance involed somewhere. I think to a certain extent some of the novel is being written and shaped within the research itself. Is that a balance? (That's obviously a rhetorical question)

Anyway, thanks again for the much-appreciated input.