@ Grumpy
Oh yes! I agree with all you have said. It's the most wonderful feeling to be transported to that other world! And I can attest to the "did I write that?" feeling as well. Sometimes I impress myself!
@Bikegurl
You can be sure when my book becomes available that I will be announcing it from the rooftops . . . and here on RabbitTalk. It's a good story about a rescue home girl who is orphaned at the age of 4 and who at 12 is shipped off to Canada to be a "mother's help". At least 80,000 British children shared a similar fate between 1869 and 1930.
@ PetLover
Believe me, there is nothing sophisticated about my book. Sarah, my viewpoint character, has the equivalent of perhaps a Grade 10 education (Is that sophomore in the United States high schools?) but the Home where she was raised emphasized speaking well, so she is able to tell her story, simply but well.
When writing, I have to be able to "hear" in my mind what the characters are saying to each other. I have to be able to "feel" whatever Sarah feels. This means I have to tune out my own self and "be" Sarah while I am writing.
Revising and editing are different -- more detached and analytical. I have to consider my word choices and ask myself if a character would actually use such-and-such a word.
Another time-consuming aspect is how English has changed in the last 125 years. I read a novel set in Elizabethan times (1500s) where the author let her viewpoint character use the word "sexy" about her love interest. I cringed, knowing that as a 1960s kind of word. It was, on investigation, not used before about 1905 and not commonly used until much later. I hate, loathe and detest anachronisms!!! :evil: :evil: :evil: This is not a problem for you, since you are writing contemporary fiction.
There is no substitute for experience . . . and you will only get that as you continue to write.