Everything is planned. I spent a long time outlining. It’s the only way I know to get all the ducks in a row… . The research is the easiest. The outline is the most fun because you can do anything. The first draft is the hardest, because every word of the outline has to be fleshed out. The rewrite is very satisfying, because I feel that everything I do is making the book a little better.
(Ken Follett, interview with Bookreporter.com, December 6, 2002)