The Point of Research

I’m not anal-retentive about accuracy in a story, book, or movie, but I can sound like it. There’s a point where excessive accuracy gets in the way of telling a story, but there’s also a point where inaccuracy makes the story less authentic and interesting.

Susan Lyons (whose work I confess I’ve never read) wrote a post on Fresh Fiction that catches the drift:

The point of doing research isn’t to dump it all into the middle of a story, but to give the authentic details and “feel” that make the characters and story come alive and ring true. . . .

Just so! The post is from back in May, but I just saw it yesterday. Go read the whole thing.