Some accounts make it sound like Star Wars. Planes go up, they do battle, and some come back. In truth the most basic operation was created by an increasingly complex military apparatus that allowed a relatively small number of combatants to get at each others' throat. I tried to capture the fabric of the conflict not just victories claimed and bombs dropped. Waste a year fishing and playing computer games and then writing till 2AM for a year and a half when things got rolling.
Some authors have great discipline.
Others can't get a book out the door in a decade. I've done four in less than ten years which is okay. All I need is a secretary. Betcha Tom Clancey has one. Almost everyone had something to add.