ACCURACY

            Heard this one the other day on Facebook. “How accurate do you have to be when writing fiction?”

            Good question and I took it as meaning how accurate do the details within your story have to be. The answer is simple. The real-world details should be as accurate as you can make them to keep your credibility as a storyteller.

            What does this actually mean?

THE STORY ITSELF

            Of course, the story itself isn’t accurate because you’re making it up!

            Where it needs to be at least plausible is in the plot and details. Is it something that could even be possible? In many cases, if you can think it, it is possible. However, sometimes your idea is so far fetched that nobody can make sense of it. Your idea may be so bizarre that nobody can relate to it…at all.

            This is where story accuracy applies, even if not real. It has to be plausible.

THOSE ANNOYING DETAILS

            The details of the story are the real crux of this matter. While your story may be believable, the use of real-world details can ruin it if not done properly.

            Even a fantastical plot or details in a fantasy novel need some basis in reality for people to relate.

            However, let’s take a real-world example which I’ve used before.

            Silencers on a revolver: Not going to work.

            Silencers are silent: They’re not as quiet as movies make them out to be.

            Another real-world example.

            Take any city and cite something specific. Is there really an intersection at Jones and Decatur? Is that an impossibility known by any resident of said city?

            How about a common phrase? Would a specific character actually say something like that?

            How about something scientific? Would such-and-such mix and create an explosion? Would that explosion be as powerful or weak as you say?

            Details, those pesky details.

WHY IT MATTERS

            If you don’t do your research, or use knowledge you already have properly, you can create a situation where the reader is jolted out of the story. You don’t want that.

            Say, you’re humming right along on your story and you state some fact that is blatantly false either from you not researching, using a stereotype, or false rumors.

            The reader who knows the reality may be jolted out of the story.

            Is there a large forest in Las Vegas, Nevada? Not unless you go up in the mountains or visit a park, which is hardly considered a forest.

            Is there a bayou in Phoenix, Arizona?

            Anyone that lives there will know and you could lose your credibility unless you have a specific reason for those features.

HOW TO AVOID LITTLE INACCURACIES

            A little inaccuracy could be a huge problem for you as a writer. In that case, be vague. That’s right, don’t go into excruciating details about something you don’t know. Don’t assume something is the same everywhere. If you want to use a specific from someplace, make sure you research it first. If you can’t come up with the right answer, don’t make an answer up.

SUMMARY

            Thousands of authors write incredible stories with believable details that they get correct. Don’t ruin your credibility with something that could never happen in a place, or with an item that those in the know can say it’s not possible.

            Happy writing!