Recently I was at a meeting of diverse authors (members of this group write everything from poetry to hard science-fiction to romance, middle-grade to adult). It became clear to me that we all approached the process of writing differently. One is a complete discovery writer, while another uses a spread sheet to keep track of details, and others are scattered in between.
I’m one of the “in-betweeners.”
I like to know where I’m going when I’m on a road trip. I want to know which series of exits I’m supposed to take to get where I want to go. But when I’m writing I’m less focused. I like having a general idea of where I’m going when I start, and the map gets more specific as I progress. I can’t do much research before I start because I don’t know what I need to know until I get to each fork in the road.
Sometimes I realize I’ve taken a wrong turn.
I’m almost half-way (I think) into The Christmas Village and I recently decided that I wanted to change the location of the past that my heroine goes back to from 1845 New England to northern England or Scotland.
Is that a good idea?
I don’t know for sure. One of my beta-readers said the change makes her happy.
Now I’m wondering about the time period. I enjoy reading a lot of Regency era romance, but the Victorian era has a lot to recommend it as the “destination” for a time-traveling heroine. What do you think? Do you like the Early Victorian era or the Regency period better? Which pond should I throw my “fish-out-of-water” into?
Please let me know what you think in the comments.
Frankie's Soapbox 
Early Victorian sounds better. More flexibility and more inventions. Regency gives readers certain expectations and class standards.
Thanks for your input! I’m rather fond of the Victorian era, too. It’s like our own time, with a lot of technological disruption of the status quo and that leads to changes in what people expect of themselves and each other.