Otherways- Fiction Fanatics

As a reader, I hate getting "kicked out" of a fun story by stuff that just doesn't make sense. I mean, you read only a sentence or two of a book, and suddenly that world and those characters feel real to you. Escapism? Yes, probably, but it is so much more than that, and it irritates me beyond belief when a writer doesn't bother to check obvious facts. No doubt, at some point I will be guilty of the same sin, so I won't name any names, just point out a few places where a little research beyond Wikipedia might have come in handy.

Besides being a writer, and a few other things, I am serious horseperson. I raise them, I train them, I show them, and I love reading novels that feature them. Please, though, for the love of all things sacred, if you are going to write about horses (or any other real thing) at least go SEE one or two before you do your thing. I have read novels that describe regular every day horses as having "cold, wet noses" (nice try, that would be a dog), cloven hooves (er...either you are riding a cow or you seriously need a farrier) or galloping at top speed for "many leagues" after being pulled from a stall (unless you've got an elf-mount or something, Dobbin would be in serious trouble). Five minutes of conversation with anyone that rides or a quick visit to a stable could have fixed all this. Does it ruin the story? No, not by itself. It does jolt your reader out of the world the writer made for them, and depending on the severity of the faux pas, may make the reader lose faith in anything the writer has to say.

I'm sorry, but I have trouble accepting that you truly understand the intricacies of magic if you can't tell the difference between a horse and a dog.

Granted, that subject is near and dear to my heart, so it upsets me more than others do. My husband, former Marine and lawyer for many years gets the same savage growl going when authors clearly know nothing of law, the military, or how weapons work.

My point is that if you're going to write about a subject, you need to know that subject. That doesn't mean that you have to know it front to back before you start, research is not a dirty word. There are plenty of things you can find out on the internet, but not everything should come from books. If guns form a background of your story, go beyond the books. Visit a firing range, arrange to take some lessons shooting, or find someone that shoots to give you the basics. Facts are great, but a story needs to go beyond the facts. If something occupies a large part of your book, you should be able to describe how it feels, how it smells, how it sounds, because these are the things that help immerse a reader fully.

Cheers,

Michelle