tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post6734419198652236907..comments2024-03-28T16:52:31.923-04:00Comments on The Write Conversation: Business Basics for Today’s Writer—An Unwritten Contract with the ReaderEdie Melsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03902312441667526147noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post-52759547150299155062014-02-21T22:38:10.264-05:002014-02-21T22:38:10.264-05:00I'm reading a story now, and the author threw ...I'm reading a story now, and the author threw out this $100 word. My reaction, "Huh, what does THAT mean?" If I have to go to the dictionary to figure out what an author meant, it's a major deduction.Susan J. Reinhardthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07461276857852409546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post-74392968915934480152014-02-21T15:44:10.221-05:002014-02-21T15:44:10.221-05:00I hate it when the author tries to explain why the...I hate it when the author tries to explain why the reader did something, or repeat it with different words. It's as if the author didn't think I was smart enough to catch it. The bottom line is, if we do a good job of writing the scene, the reader will get it. <br /><br />Thanks, Edie!Vonda Skeltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15709374938210704402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907737240492304428.post-58653226883242525932014-02-21T12:36:53.347-05:002014-02-21T12:36:53.347-05:00Failure to research things the writer clearly does...Failure to research things the writer clearly doesn't understand. Two examples. I read a mystery by an author I absolutely love. But in one scene, the hero is driving over the Coronado Bridge in San Diego. He worries about being run off the road and landing on a battleship below. If the book were set in 1945, this might be okay (except the bridge wasn't there). But since it's contemporary, any author worth his salt would have checked and discovered battleships haven't been around for a while, with the exception of a brief re-commissioning in the 80s. <br /><br />Here's another. I recently read House by Perrtti and Dekker, two authors I admire. Whenever they mentioned a gun in a scene, they completely blew even elementary facts about them. Revolvers with clips? And a single barrel shotgun which the character opened to see it held two cartridges. That one line contained two horrible errors and one minor (we never call them cartridges, always shells). Would any of this change the plot? No. But did it rip me out of the story. Yes.<br /><br />If I'm writing about something I'm not familiar with, say NASCAR, even if it's just a sentence, I'm going to ask someone who knows. Even things like jargon are details we cannot afford to blow, not after all the hard work we put into our novels. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16473774179937702258noreply@blogger.com