How many of you actually appreciate a writer taking the time and trouble to get the details right in any story? Not many of you I’m betting. Never once do we hear praise for having done our homework. However, if we get something wrong, the more eagle eyed among you never let us forget it! Why is that do you think?
We certainly hear from people when we get them wrong 🙂
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Don’t we just…
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This reminds me of a book I read years ago — a copy checked out from the public library. A couple in the story had a cat. Quite a few pages later, their house burned down. The couple escaped safely, but there was no mention of the cat. Clearly, the author had forgotten about it. But not some eagle-eyed, cat-loving reader, because written in the margin (in ink!) was, “What about the cat, stupid?” I’ve remembered this all these years, even though I’ve forgotten the title and author of the book. In proofing my own books recently, I’ve found myself counting the firearms in an action scene, to make sure they were all accounted for and extras hadn’t crept in. Another time I found a throwaway character called Bill mentioned, even though I had cut him out of the story much earlier. Bill who? There’s nothing like one of those forehead-slapping moments, especially if you find it after you’ve hit Publish or OK’d your proof!
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We’ve all been there Audrey 😉
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