What goes into writing (AKA The bits you DON’T see!)

The stories you read are exactly that, stories.

But they are a great deal more. Or some of them are.

Today I’m developing an idea. I’m not writing. Far from it.

I’m developing the background of the story.

This is stuff I will never use, never refer to in the story.

All you will see is the story, it’s about a reality show on an island.

You won’t see the development process.

Like how many weeks they were on the island.

How many competitors were taking part.

Ratio of men to women.

How the show worked each week.

How the support crew worked with the contestants.

How long it took to get to the island.

How quickly people got sick from “the illness” (it currently has no specifics).

Some of this may be referenced briefly, maybe a line or two here or there.

But 90% of this information and detail will remain unused, known only to me.

You as the reader would never be aware I had even put this level of work into the piece without this blog entry.

Next time you read a story, take a few moments and think about what time and effort went into the making of it. There might be reams of material the author did that you’ll never see or know about.

But at least now you have a rough idea how much some of us do just to bring that story to you.