As I commented elsewhere (on a post linking to this one), I once interviewed an S.A.C. about DEA agents, as part of research. He expressed curiosity about why I'd ask about what (to him) seemed like irrelevant or tiny details.
I told him, first, those details may seem everyday to him, but even if they never show up in the story, they'd help me understand the character(s) and plot better. Help me be thorough, in a way that may always be opaque to the reader, but hey, that's research.
And second, because if I'm going to toss away reality and go haring off into never-never land, I want to know that's what I've done. I want that choice to be purposeful -- so if someone calls me on it, I can say, "Yeah, I knew full well a DEA agent would've actually done A and B, not X. But I chose X, instead, because it served the character and the story."
I don't mind deviating from reality, by me or anyone else. I do mind when it's done from blatant ignorance.
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Date: 23 Nov 2007 01:39 am (UTC)I told him, first, those details may seem everyday to him, but even if they never show up in the story, they'd help me understand the character(s) and plot better. Help me be thorough, in a way that may always be opaque to the reader, but hey, that's research.
And second, because if I'm going to toss away reality and go haring off into never-never land, I want to know that's what I've done. I want that choice to be purposeful -- so if someone calls me on it, I can say, "Yeah, I knew full well a DEA agent would've actually done A and B, not X. But I chose X, instead, because it served the character and the story."
I don't mind deviating from reality, by me or anyone else. I do mind when it's done from blatant ignorance.