Love this, and so true: the details make it pop, and you don't necessarily need a lot of them for it to land. I took a walk on Google Maps streetview one day to narrate a walk a character took... ;)
haha True. I read a book recently that had the topography of Los Angeles all wrong, like the way they described it, they had to be having dinner in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Drove me crazy. 😂
Good topic and thanks for sharing your experience. Authenticity in fiction can consist of many layers. I find I need only so much “real stuff” to set a foundation, or at least footings to build on. One time I went down the hole big time though, researching about sleazy salespeople selling fallout shelters to people around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. That was fun!
I ended up doing a flash piece from it. Site that published it a few years ago recently went under and disappeared, but I included the story in my recent chapbook. Maybe I’ll revisit and expand on it one day….
Great stuff and so true. The real gold is in finding that sweet spot of just enough of that factual accurate information without it becoming a drag on the story.
Hey, those descriptions of Bosch's treks over the interlocking highways of Los Angeles are priceless! I've had conversations with friends in Southern Cal that consisted of nothing but arguments over which route to take through the greater LA area. And if you get it wrong in a book, a lot of Southern Californians will tell you about it!
If you have 10 stories under your belt all with the same cast of characters, you might have to start researching your own work to keep the continuity accurate.
Well said. I have spent hours researching a variety of topics from rose cultivars, the history of Ireland, and tectonic plates, to how chocolate is grown and made. It's all just brain fuel, allowing me to write more knowingly on a scene. The catch is going overboard (I had to dump the excess stuff I had put in about rose cultivars in the first book of the Freelan series -- roses were a key in the plot but not THAT much - hee!).
Love this, and so true: the details make it pop, and you don't necessarily need a lot of them for it to land. I took a walk on Google Maps streetview one day to narrate a walk a character took... ;)
Imagine how hard it was in the old days... you would have had to go to all the places :) Mind you, the readers probably were clueless too!
haha True. I read a book recently that had the topography of Los Angeles all wrong, like the way they described it, they had to be having dinner in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Drove me crazy. 😂
Good topic and thanks for sharing your experience. Authenticity in fiction can consist of many layers. I find I need only so much “real stuff” to set a foundation, or at least footings to build on. One time I went down the hole big time though, researching about sleazy salespeople selling fallout shelters to people around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. That was fun!
Fallout shelters, the real concrete rabbit holes! I can imagine how deep you could go on that one....
I ended up doing a flash piece from it. Site that published it a few years ago recently went under and disappeared, but I included the story in my recent chapbook. Maybe I’ll revisit and expand on it one day….
Martine,
Great stuff and so true. The real gold is in finding that sweet spot of just enough of that factual accurate information without it becoming a drag on the story.
Hey, those descriptions of Bosch's treks over the interlocking highways of Los Angeles are priceless! I've had conversations with friends in Southern Cal that consisted of nothing but arguments over which route to take through the greater LA area. And if you get it wrong in a book, a lot of Southern Californians will tell you about it!
I often have the feeling that I wouldn't need GPS, just follow Bosch!
If you have 10 stories under your belt all with the same cast of characters, you might have to start researching your own work to keep the continuity accurate.
Oh yes, totally... being consistent with the names and locations and such. I often have to re-read them. I should keep a Rolodex, lol!
Well said. I have spent hours researching a variety of topics from rose cultivars, the history of Ireland, and tectonic plates, to how chocolate is grown and made. It's all just brain fuel, allowing me to write more knowingly on a scene. The catch is going overboard (I had to dump the excess stuff I had put in about rose cultivars in the first book of the Freelan series -- roses were a key in the plot but not THAT much - hee!).
Good essay!