"How Much Do You Need To Read Before Writing?"

In a lecture by Edward W. Fudge a few years ago, he jokingly made a comment that N.T. Wright had "written more books than he's read." I thought it quite funny. I do a lot of writing and have had the question pop-in from time to time, "how much reading need I do before opening up MWord?" This was an encouraging post to read on the Anxious Bench blog, by Thomas Kidd. While one (of course) must not be ignorant of the subject one wishes to address, I have found through personal experience that surrounding myself with solid research on the topic at hand, and having access those works sitting on my shelves at a moments notice to be an invaluable asset.