How do issues in the non-erotic parts of a story affect you?

[karaline]

Having read this thread I am know freaking out about getting the non-erotic/technical details in my stories wrong.

Thanks for that LaRascasse, thanks a bunch.

 

[JagFarlane]

I remember spending untold hours searching for the right names for equipment in an ophthalmologists office for Yoga in the Buff only to have it pointed out later that the law required a doctor/patient to wait 10 years to have a relationship. Ah well, I think that falls a bit more under artistic license.

 

[Swilly]

We probably all have different tolerances based upon the topic and the error. As an author, I try to get it right. That being said, there are times that I just shrug and move on when I'm writing. When I wrote Wrongfully Accused, I put a note at the beginning asking those in the legal profession to cut me some slack.

I'm writing a Halloween ghost story that involves one of the characters being left a substantial amount of money by her Aunt that just died. I could spend a ton of time researching inheritance and probate law in my state, but that really doesn't add much to the story. I'm forging ahead as if it's a fast, seamless process. I'm sure I'll be taken to task by some attorney out there, but that's my judgement call to tell the story without having to write a crap ton of stuff just to get past that one point.

I'd probably have less tolerance for easy stuff, but something like this...hey...it's fiction. And it's a freaking ghost story. If I can suspend disbelief for that, I can ignore the true legalities of inheritances.

 

[handysr]

Challenge: Write one or more stories where ALL the details are WRONG but the sex is so hot that nobody cares.

I actually laughed out loud at this one... My mind immediately jumped to:

**********
Cue a beach scene (SoCal, Florida, etc) in January 1970. The reason for the party atmosphere is that the Montana Braves just won the SuperBowl, scoring a hat trick in the last fifth of regulation time.

It starts out with them all surfing, and the characters were all in board shorts to stay cool (since women are allowed to be topless, they dressed like the guys). They have a contest to see which girl can get their guy off before the wave hits the shore, both of them on the board at once.

The characters are using cell phones to get map info from the internet and GPS to find a place to buy weed from a *legal* headshop. After spending $10 on two ounces, they jet out to the dunes to go 4x4-ing in their lifted Tesla diesel SUT. After this, they need more beer, so they head into town. Along the way, four people are going at it in the bed of the truck, and the cops follow them, their cruiser's SLR dash cam streaming the video to the billboards along the avenue.
**********

I'm not sure I could do something like this and try and keep it serious! Even if the sex scenes are good enough to distract from the horrible errors, I don't know if it would go in the GroupSex, Exhib/Voyeur, or Humor category. Ugh. Re-reading the snippet above makes me cringe in too many ways. I can't do it. It's just too wrong to be good, but it's a hell of a good challenge for someone to take on.

If anyone does it, I'd love to see it.

 

[Hypoxia]

Today I'm writing a trio of Hallowe'en vignettes. Well, I finished the first a few days ago, and the only significant details to account for there are anatomical. The second (today's project) is set in a specific time and place, and refers to other specifics. It's a mom+son tale so who worries about details? Well, *I* do. So I'm googling dates, locales, recipes etc to make sure I have them *right*, especially when describing places I haven't seen for 40 years. (The secret: be vague.)

 

[stlgoddessfreya]

(The secret: be vague.)

It was a beige place, so beige it was only broken by the brownness of the trees. The buildings were cubes, for the most part, separated mostly by streets but sometimes not. At least half of them had windows, and at least half of those were glass. At least as many buildings that had glass windows also had a door of some kind. It was unmistakable: I was home.

 

[Hypoxia]

It was a beige place, so beige it was only broken by the brownness of the trees. The buildings were cubes, for the most part, separated mostly by streets but sometimes not. At least half of them had windows, and at least half of those were glass. At least as many buildings that had glass windows also had a door of some kind. It was unmistakable: I was home.

No wonder it sounds familiar. I was there only yesterday.

 

[NickiC]

I love to write and hope to submit soon but I see areas now where I need to tighten it and give the scenes more impact. The non erotic inaccuracies do have an affect especially if it is an area you are familiar with. I don't write about things I am not familiar with at least when it comes to important details. The characters may not resemble my life but the details are important for authenticity.

 

[redzinger]

(The secret: be vague.)

Yep, totally this.

I've gone through stories after writing and removed massive amounts of character detail/characters, location specifics, and plot as it simply wasn't needed and just cluttered up the story.

Whenever I'm researching something, I think the first question I should ask myself is, 'Is this level of detail really needed?'

Unfortunately, the two stories I'm dealing with at the moment need the research and detail to make the story realistic - one is a Domme training her submissives, and the other is based in South Africa. The former has led me to some very interesting articles, including this one, which rather scares me:

http://wpuploads-2.kink-network.com...23465488/Owning-and-Training-a-Male-Slave.pdf

And is more-or-less a handbook of how my Domme won't be treating her boys. (To save you reading it, she advocates non-consensual slavery by blackmailing the poor men and ruining their lives if they refuse.)

 

[8letters]

Dick Francis is my favorite author and I try to include in my stories one or two topics that I know very little about. I find doing the research my favorite part of writing the story. For example, I set my last story in Madison, WI, which I have never been to. Most of what I know about Wisconsin comes from the few Packers games I have watched. So far, no one has called me out for getting a detail wrong and instead have complimented for being so knowledgeable about the topic I researched. Though I'll probably get hammered for the details in my next story...

 

[redzinger]

Ooh, I like Dick Francis too.

Well, used to. Haven't read his books since he passed away. He knew about racing though.

 

[MissPrim]

Any doctors here who feel the urge to self-medicate at the descriptions of the female anatomy?

Not a doctor, but as a woman I feel the urge to shoot rubber bands at some writers with their descriptions of the male anatomy. ("I have an average 8 inch cock but the other guy had a 10 inch monster". Yeah right.) Dial it down and it you will get it right.

 

[Fadingaway]

Anything wrong in what I know makes me nervous about all the things I don't know. I am a registered and numbered gun geek who hasn't had a date in thirty-five years (fool woman married me and shoots better than I do).

 

[StrangeLife]

Not a doctor, but as a woman I feel the urge to shoot rubber bands at some writers with their descriptions of the male anatomy. ("I have an average 8 inch cock but the other guy had a 10 inch monster". Yeah right.) Dial it down and it you will get it right.

Are you insulting my 14" juggernaut and my 2 gallon balls? Next thing you will probably start dissing my wife's 96 DDDD's.... jeez...

 

[Handley_Page]

.

And if a writer makes a mistake with Ohm's Law, I'll burn'em to the ground.

You & me both. Ohms Law is serious stuff.

I got thoroughly bored with one Lit story which featured large chunks of the most arcane stuff about Ice Hockey that I have ever read; I didn't understand more than three words. My revenge is being planned; it involves Cricket.

 

[redzinger]

My revenge is being planned; it involves Cricket.

There is nothing as relaxing as listening to the cricket coverage on Radio 4. Especially when it's raining, or time for tea.

 

[Bramblethorn]

You & me both. Ohms Law is serious stuff.

I got thoroughly bored with one Lit story which featured large chinks of the most arcane stuff about Ice Hockey that I have ever read; I didn't understand more than three words. My revenge is being planned; it involves Cricket.

I already wrote an erotic cricket scene, kinda.

 

[Handley_Page]

And is more-or-less a handbook of how my Domme won't be treating her boys. (To save you reading it, she advocates non-consensual slavery by blackmailing the poor men and ruining their lives if they refuse.)

According to some newspaper articles recently, this sort of thing has been going on a few times in the UK. It's not a happy subject.

Dick Francis is my favorite author and I try to include in my stories one or two topics that I know very little about.
Though I'll probably get hammered for the details in my next story...

I haven't read a Dick Francis for ages. Doesn't his son do them now ?

Not a doctor, but as a woman I feel the urge to shoot rubber bands at some writers with their descriptions of the male anatomy. ("I have an average 8 inch cock but the other guy had a 10 inch monster". Yeah right.) Dial it down and it you will get it right.

That sounds like the voice of a woman with experience. But anyone who has experienced military service will know of what he speaks; especially a Doctor.
We had one bloke who was the proud possessor of an almost legendary cock. I cannot recall the exact details, but his GF seemed to be most impressed.

There is nothing as relaxing as listening to the cricket coverage on Radio 4. Especially when it's raining, or time for tea.

How true. I think there's something nice, and English, with the sound of leather on Willow.
"And he strokes that to deep fine leg".
Wonderful. I had to get a chart to see where that was!

 

[8letters]

I haven't read a Dick Francis for ages. Doesn't his son do them now ?

Yes. They started co-authoring in 2007 and Felix went solo after Dick died in 2010.

I tend to read a lot of one genre at a time and it's been a while since I was on a mystery jag. During the last mystery jag I was on, I read "Dead Heat" and enjoyed it. I started "Even Money" and couldn't get into it. Both of those were co-written.

 

[Ldy_Sea]

I know exactly what you mean. I was in the Navy, and cringe everytime I hear someone on TV say oh five hundred hours. It's a small thing, but from day one of boot it was drilled into your head OH is a letter, Zero is a number. We were even taught to write 0 with a / to differentiate it from O. Not to mention you never add hours. You are not doing something 1500 hours from now. You are doing it at 1500.

I have never been able to read The Three Muskateers by Alexandr Dumas since he forget he made D'Artagnan a Musketeer then in the next chapter hes not. then several chapters later he is once again made a Muskeeter.

CVOntinuity for me is a big deal in writing. Sometimes I take days to respond to an RP because my partner contradicts something I did or said. It could be something small like the type of fence or big, like the outfit I'm wearing. Buit it drives my nuts.

 

[SamScribble]

How true. I think there's something nice, and English, with the sound of leather on Willow.
"And he strokes that to deep fine leg".
Wonderful. I had to get a chart to see where that was!

Shame on you, HP.

Cricket may be the only major sport - in the world - that really works on radio. Although I do confess that, in my mind's eye, all fielding positions are for a right-handed batsman. When a left-hander is at the crease, he/she becomes a right-hander - at least in my mind.

 

[StrangeLife]

In my latest story I got my gun calibers mixed up... and I was appropriately chastised in the comments. I know it's technically not part of the story, but there is no doubt that the readers care. Otherwise they wouldn't have noticed, right?

Therefore I generally try to either be deliberately vague in my descriptions or at least do my research before writing. For my little revenge story at the South Pole for instance, I spent some time familiarising myself with the layout and function of the The Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station before writing.

How much it matters depends on whether or not you care for realism, I guess. Personally I find factual mistakes quite distracting, just like excessive usage of standard-tropes like "the omnipotent hacker" or "the crushing alienation of affections lawsuit" or "the gang of 7 feet ex-con black bikers" and stuff like that....

 

[LaRascasse]

I already wrote an erotic cricket scene, kinda.

Nothing more sexy than a perfectly timed square cut which races to the point boundary... eh?

 

[LaRascasse]

A story I'm writing at the moment involves a doctor and a nurse. There is just so much about hospital administration that I'm screwed with.

 

[Handley_Page]

In my latest story I got my gun calibers mixed up... and I was appropriately chastised in the comments. I know it's technically not part of the story, but there is no doubt that the readers care. Otherwise they wouldn't have noticed, right?

Personally I find factual mistakes quite distracting, just like excessive usage of standard-tropes like "the omnipotent hacker" or "the crushing alienation of affections lawsuit" or "the gang of 7 feet ex-con black bikers" and stuff like that....

Such problems as caliber can be solved by reference to Wiki (and damned good it is , too), although what the EU refers to in metric and the USA in inches can be a bit of a problem occasionally.

References to 7 foot black bikers, might be done in inverted commas, as such exaggeration may be common in speech, at least, to some!.