A Stickler for Detail ( #IWSG )

Have you ever read a story where the author has made some glaring errors that made you lose all credibility in the story being told?  I don't want to be that author...




The Insecure Writer's Support Group

Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog. 

The co-hosts for the November 6 posting of the IWSG are Sadira Stone, Patricia Josephine, Lisa Buie-Collard, Erika Beebe, and C. Lee McKenzie!

November 6 question - What's the strangest thing you've ever googled in researching a story?

 It's All in the Details

        

         As I had mentioned in my previous post (which is a Battle of the Bands post if you'd be so kind to visit and vote), my last successful attempt at doing NaNoWriMo was in 2010 when I wrote a science fiction novel called Time Light.  Even though the story is science fiction, it takes place in 1965 Chicago.  Written in diary entry form, I was dealing with actual dates and places in history so it was important (to me at least) to be as accurate as I could in every way.

         In order to achieve accuracy, I spent hours on Google looking up places, police procedures and equipment, the daily weather conditions, transportation routes (bus and rail, etc), and even what was playing on television on certain specific days.  Anything that begged for a detail in the story that could potentially (though probably not likely) be questioned by a reader in the know was meticulously researched so that any reader could accept what I was saying as possibly real.  

         A reader like I often tend to be needs to be convinced that the story one is investing in has a reasonable degree of credibility.   A single glaring error or inconsistency might put into question other elements of the written work which can detract from reading pleasure.

          Though it would be unlikely that many (if any at all) would question the daily weather in a story that has real dates and times, my researching of the weather conditions was one my stranger Google searches.  Fortunately, I found numerous resources available on line with weather records dating back to further than my interests necessitated in this case.  The weather for the  year 1965 is well documented in numerous sites.

          I realize that this sort of detail might seem rather trivial and nonessential to many, but for me it was important.  As I was conceiving the story I was also living it in my mind so that every detail had to make me feel like I was there.  If it worked for me then hopefully it would work even for the most discerning reader.

           Frequently I've heard writers mention that researching can be fun and I would agree with that.  I love the researching part more than the writing part.  To me, the researching is an essential part of any writing especially when the writer doesn't actually know all the real details or facts.

           What is the strangest thing you've ever googled for a story or some other written work?  Do you strive for the greatest amount of accuracy when you start delving into details?    Why should anyone care about what the weather was in the time period where a story takes place?

Don't forget to vote on my Battle of the Bands!   (click the link to get there)

Persnickety Penman: Actual Accuracy

            Last Wednesday I wrote about my relationship to Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson and I made a mis-statement which I have gone back and corrected.  Originally I stated that there were no direct decendants of Stonewall Jackson,  This is not true.   I was corrected by my aunt, Nancy Jackson, who is a past president of the Jackson Brigade.

         Actually Stonewall's daughter Julia bore two children before dying at age 26.  These two children had several more children and this line continues to the present time.  When I made my original statement I was relying on faulty memory which I backed up with an incomplete geneological chart which I have in my possession.  The chart does not continue on with Julia's offspring so along with the data from my misinformed memory bank and this chart I came to the conclusion that no descendants continued on Stonewall's line.

         This is only a blog post, but nevertheless I like to know that what I state here is accurate.  I suppose my mistake was a fairly minor offense, however if this had been done in a published article or a book this would have been quite serious.  A historian or an author of a nonfiction work would be subject to derision and loss of credibility to have made such a serious error as this.  Solid research from multiple sources is imperative when citing claims as factual.

         So what about fiction?   If a writer makes major errors in a work, the suspension of disbelief can be severely impaired if the facts aren't straight.  A glaring error might cause a reader to become distracted from the story and shake their head at the author's carelessness.  Especially if you are dealing with real places, people, or events, you should take care to research everything you can about those devices you are using in your work.

           In the novel I am currently working on, A Desert Place, I continually refer to an atlas to make sure my locales, highways, and travel distances are accurate.  I also refer to various online resources to obtain details about cities concerning neighborhoods, demographics, crime statistics, and other detailed facts in order to make sure that the feel  of the settings I use are realistic.  Whenever possible, since my story deals with events of 30 years ago, I have consulted meteorological  information sites to make sure the weather that I describe on specific dates in specific locales is accurate.   I am trying to create a sense that the story I am telling is something that might have really happened.

         When writing fiction, how far do you go to be detailed in accuracy?  Am I being too picky about my details?  What are some of the sources you like to use for obtaining accurate data?  Have you ever made a glaring inaccuracy in your writing that was funny or perhaps caused a problem?