Does anyone else lose their research between the development phase and actually writing the script?
This keeps happening to me and I cannot figure out if it is a me problem or just how development works.
By the time I sit down to write the actual script I have weeks of research behind me. Character backstories, thematic references, location details, producer notes from earlier conversations. All of it exists somewhere. None of it is where I need it when I am actually writing a scene.
I end up either stopping mid-scene to go hunting through old documents or just writing from memory and hoping I get the details right. Neither feels good. The hunting breaks the flow completely and the memory approach leads to inconsistencies I have to fix later.
The specific problem is that development and writing always feel like two completely separate worlds. All that thinking and research happens in one phase and then somehow has to transfer into the script itself. But by the time I am deep in act two half of it has been forgotten or buried somewhere I cannot quickly access.
I have tried different things. Keeping a separate bible document. Pinning reference tabs. Writing detailed scene notes before drafting. Recently I started using a Skrib writing studio which keeps everything in one place and it has helped more than anything else I tried, but curious what others are doing.
Genuinely curious how other writers handle this. Do you keep your research close while you write or do you just internalize everything during development and trust yourself in the room?