On Writing

The writing process is different for everyone. One thing I will say, is that sometimes, it feels like you're writing two books, or maybe more depending on how many points of view are in your story. There is a lot of background story building since each individual character has a unique life experience and the author needs to know this information about each character and sometimes about each location in their books, especially if the locations are fictional.  I had one writing professor tell me that approximately eighty percent of the research conducted and backstory / character building that is not included in published works, however, it is the author's job to still know all that information because you never know what information is going to be relevant until you write it. It is easier to reference back to previously conducted research than to start researching once the subject comes up. Delaying the research leaves the author scrambling and sometimes frustrated as they may get conflicting information that will no longer work with the story they've written. My biggest piece of advice is to do the research! Bookmark pages for future reference, save documents, images, random one-liners or various scenes you think up for your characters. Save everything!