Goodreads asked Patrick G. Cox:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Patrick G. Cox Map out the outline, but leave yourself room for some adjustment. Don't be rigid, sometimes a story (or the characters) will insist on a different direction or a different outcome. Do your research! Nothing puts a reader off more quickly than a 'historical' setting where the author has got the details wrong, and that applies to a story set in a place, culture or a country you're not familiar with or haven't visited in person. You can bank on at least some of your readers having detailed knowledge of the place, culture or country.

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