BEHIND THE SCENES

How DINOSAURS ARE NOT EXTINCT got made.

Step 1: Decide what you want to write about

I have always been fascinated by the link between modern day birds (avian dinosaurs) and their prehistoric cousins (non avian dinosaurs). I thought the topic would be interesting to write about, but before I started writing I had to do some reading.

Step 2: Research

I am not a paleontologist. Therefore, if I’m going to write about dinosaurs I need to learn about dinosaurs. After deciding on my topic I began the long process of researching my subject. That included reading dozens of articles and academic papers (you can find a list and links here) and taking pages and pages (and pages) of notes. A lot of this stuff was written by super brainy scientists, so when I didn’t understand something that means I had to go and look it up and keep reading until I did.

Step 3: The outline

Now that I had all my research notes, it was time to start shaping them into something resembling a book. To do that I make an outline. An outline is like a road map for the book. It guides me from one part of the story I’m trying to tell to the next. If I get stuck writing I always go back to my outline.

Continue to Behind the Scenes: Part 2