Showing posts with label Facts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facts. Show all posts

Saturday, April 8, 2023

Credibility by J. S. Marlo

 


Wounded Hearts
"Love & Sacrifice #2"
is now available  
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Many years ago, I received a message from one of my readers. She was a scuba diver, and she loved stories that took place underwater, but she often found herself disappointed by how the divers were depicted. Still, she gave my novel Salvaged a chance.

Her "well-done" message was to tell me she knew I'd done my homework when I strapped weights to the belt of my female character before her dive.

The story was over seventy thousand words, but it only took five words to give credibility to my character: strapped weights to her belt.


Details are important to stories, and those details need to ring true to the readers who know what you're taking about--and there will always be one reader who knows better.

A beginner writer who's never seen snow asked me to review one of her scenes. It went pretty much like this:

The character left home and drove to the airport in the middle of a snowstorm. Lighting and thunder strike in the dark sky as the snow fell. The character landed an hour after leaving home.

Anyone reader who's ever driven in a snowstorm or flown anywhere is bound to notice the inconsistencies in that scene. Left uncorrected, the scene would have buried the story's, an author's, credibility deep in the snow.

I ended up exchanging lots of messages with that particular writer. Here's a few things any writer should take away from this scene.

Weather or Natural Disaster:

If there's a snowstorm, a tornado, a forest fire, a tsunami, etc... in your story, and you've never experienced such phenomenon, make sure you research it. No one is expected to know everything, that's why google exists.

In the middle of a snowstorm, the sky is kind of white, not dark. There isn't any lighting or thunder, but there can be lots of wind.

Severe weather often affect transportation, any kind of transportation. Plane, ferry, car, train...

If your character is flying somewhere during a snowstorm, his plane will likely be delayed, if not canceled. If if he's flying in the middle of a thunderstorm, the plane won't land or depart until there's no more lighting risk for the ground crew.

Before your character travels anywhere, you want to make sure it can be done under the weather conditions described in your story.


Elapsed Time or Time Zones:

Google Map and Airline Sites are great tools. They will tell you how long it takes to travel from Point A to Point B using different modes of transportation.

If you're traveling by car, and Google Map tells you it'll take ten hours, it's doubtful you'll be there ten hours later--unless you don't need to stop to fill up on gas, don't encounter traffic or construction, and don't need to pee or eat. So, remember to factor in the stops along the way.

If you're flying, and the flight is four hours, you won't arrive at destination four hours after leaving home. You need to drive to the airport, be there at least an hour ahead of time, and after landing, you may have to wait for your luggage or go through custom.

A character flying commercial cannot arrive at destination an hour after leaving home.

The greater the distance your character travels, the more time zones he/she will go through.

A non-stop flight from Calgary to Montreal is around 4 hours. If the plane departs at 2pm, it won't land around 6pm, it will land around 8pm, because there is a 2-hour time difference between Calgary and Montreal.

If a character living in Vancouver wants to chit-chat with his mother living in Finland, then the character may not want to call her after 1pm unless mom is a night owl, or it's an emergency. When it's 1pm in Vancouver, it's already 11pm in Finland.

Time zones affect not only travel but also communication.

The stories may be fictional, but they still need to be credible. The veracity of the details is important. It only takes a few words to hook -- or lose -- a reader.

Happy Reading & Stay Safe! J.S.

 



 

Saturday, June 2, 2018

Can too much research kill a story? by J. S. Marlo


I started writing a new series Unraveling the Past, and as the name suggests, it takes place in the past. The first book of the series Misguided Honor takes place in Nova Scotia in 1941. It’s the first time I write an historical novel...or a ghost.
When I lived in Nova Scotia decades ago, I heard the legend of a ghost haunting a special building. Back then the legend fascinated me, so I thought one day I’ll write a story around it. Well, that day has finally come.
Before I begin writing, I searched for the origin of that legend. Well, not only didn’t I find any reference to it, but the facts I gleaned about the building differ substantially from the legend. To my great disappointment, I was forced to admit to myself that there might not be much truth behind that legend and that reality check made me pause.
The story I had in mind no longer held any grip with history, so where do I go from there? Do I still use the real building in the real town in Nova Scotia or do I create a fictional town? While the later gives me more artistic freedom, it also changes the impact of the story as this little town in Nova Scotia is full of history, just not the history I was hoping to delve into.
I wrote the first chapter last week then life happened and I had to take a few days off. I opted for the real town, but I’m not convinced yet it was the right choice. Once I reread it, I’ll decide if I like the feel of it, but regardless of my decision, I will write that story. The research, though contradicting, didn’t kill my story, but it made me rethink it.
Misguided Honor might not turn out exactly how I had planned, but in the end, I like to believe it will make it that much better. Still, I can see how research can send a muse for a spin, making her dizzy and confused.
I hope my muse will eventually forgive me.
JS


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