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[Purpura Lipstick]

I don't think anyone was calling you a bad writer.  Mare admitted she doesn't research but her stories are well written and the guys have a good bond which is what she focuses on.  I think people can write well if they research a lot, some people like to research, but I also think that people who have very little of their real life or don't have any of their actual life write well.  I love Kevmylove's stories and her stories are all AU, I really don't know how much she researches.  I don't dissect her stories to find out, just like I don't dissect RMTW by Rose that I am reading to find out what is real.  They are all still fiction so I don't take anything for fact whether I know it was researched or not, it is still fiction.   I don't read fiction to learn anything new, I read to be entertained.  If a story brings an interesting fact to light then I will research to see if it is true or not. 

[RokofAges75]

I don't think anyone was calling you a bad writer.  Mare admitted she doesn't research but her stories are well written and the guys have a good bond which is what she focuses on.  I think people can write well if they research a lot, some people like to research, but I also think that people who have very little of their real life or don't have any of their actual life write well.  I love Kevmylove's stories and her stories are all AU, I really don't know how much she researches.  I don't dissect her stories to find out, just like I don't dissect RMTW by Rose that I am reading to find out what is real.  They are all still fiction so I don't take anything for fact whether I know it was researched or not, it is still fiction.   I don't read fiction to learn anything new, I read to be entertained.  If a story brings an interesting fact to light then I will research to see if it is true or not.  

Those are all great points!  Yeah, I don't think anyone was insinuating that people who don't research or "overdo" their research are bad writers.  We were just having a discussion about it.  Seeing as how we all have different backgrounds and personal experiences and all write different types of stories, different levels of research are going to be required to make our stories seem believable.

The last part of your post brings up some other interesting questions:

When you read, do you ever fact-check other people's info, or do you just go with it?

If a glaring inaccuracy stands out to you, do you say anything to the author or let it go?

And as a writer, have you ever been called out by a reader for writing something that was inaccurate?  If you have, how did you handle it?

[FrickingKaos]

I don't know that much about BSB history other than the stuff that is well known, so if there are inconsistencie s in a story I usually won't notice them. I wouldn't tell the author either unless it came up in a private discussion. I am observant but not that observant LOL.

[mare]

Yeah, I just think it depends on the kind of reader you are. I'm line you, Lore. When I read I'm just doing it for the joy of reading. I'm not a stickler for facts but I can see how it might bother some. I also think it depends on your level of fandom too. Inaccuracies font really bother me too much because for the most part, I don't realize they are inaccuracies lol big things like spelling Brian's last ne wrong or using Nicholas instead of Nickolas does tend to bug me, but it usually takes something like that.

Lol since I can't even tell you what songs are on what albums, I have no room to complain about that stuff.

Whether its all fact, some fact or entirely fiction, as long as it's well written people will read & enjoy.

[mare]

Fat fingers McGee strikes again with all the typos above, but since AC is being so glitchy  afraid if I go in & try to change things I will lose the post! lol

[FrickingKaos]

Well said mare. I read for the pure joy of reading. If there are mistakes it doesn't bother me unless they are grammar or punctuation errors, but factual mistakes I tend to overlook especially if it is a good story I'm reading.

[RokofAges75]

Despite my analness with my own stories, I'm not a fact-checker in other people's stories either.  I'm like you, Lore, where if I read something that intrigues me and makes me wonder if it's true or not, I'll look it up, but that's just to learn, not to check on the writer.  I usually just go with the flow unless there are so many glaring errors that I can't maintain my suspension of belief.  But in that case, I probably would have stopped reading already.  Good writers are usually creative enough to make something seem believable even if there's no truth or reality to it at all.

As far as calling somebody out, I would never do that unless the author specifically asked.  In that case, I'd be willing to help, but I don't like to be the one who's always pointing out mistakes in reviews.  Contrary to what some may think, I don't want to be seen as a know-it-all LOL.

I have been called out by readers before.  Sometimes it's helpful, and sometimes it's kind of annoying.  When I was writing Broken, there was this girl who was a med student in another country who would constantly challenge me on stuff, and it drove me nuts because I knew I was doing the absolute best I could to get things right.  Apparently I should have been running everything by her before I wrote it!  I know she was just trying to help, and she was usually right, so what I learned from that is to fact-check before I write, while I write, and after I write and not be afraid to ask people with experience for help, instead of trying to look up everything on my own.  At the end of the day, it's just fiction, so it doesn't matter if it's all 100% accurate or not, but if I can tell the story I want to tell and be 99% accurate at the same time, I'd like to be!  That's just me being anal though.

[mare]

^ what I would have learned from that is it might be fun to slap med students lol

[mare]

To answer Julie's questions, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't point out mistakes research wise unless it was a big one like I mentioned before like *pssst there is no Roy in the Backstreet Boys* or if it's something in my profession I know I could help out with, but again that's only if the story is still in progress & the author has asked for help.

I have never really been called out for things, that I remember anyway. But if I was, not sure it would bother me and depending on how big the mistake, I'd probably let it go or fix it.

[Pengi]

I very rarely describe scenes specifically enough to make people notice inaccuracies in places. I tend to focus more on describing body language and character location, but leave the actual settings up to the person reading to imagine. For example in the chapter of Borrowed Time when the fellas went to a pub in Ireland, I didn't describe the pub itself, I just went with the smells that a pub would smell like and the lighting. Like the pub itself could be any number of pubs, I was so nondescript with it, yet I got comments on how freaking realistic the pub sounded. But really all I described was the guys IN the pub, their body language, tones, etc.

The only time I've ever been called on something was when I was working on Time Watcher and I had the guys perform at Brian's old High School and I made it sound really hokey and back country. I mean that's how Brian's always made it sound! So I based it off the high school here because it's kinda hokey and back country here. I got a comment from a girl in Lexington tho that was like pissed off because I'd assumed Kentucky was all rednecks. I was like ohmy because I did'nt know... LOL Having been to Lexington, KY now I'm like whoooaaa does Brian describe home differently than it really is.. LOL Cos um sorry Brian  but Lexington does NOT equal a "small town" by ANY MEANS. Lmao

I didn't fix it in Time Watcher, but every time someone points anything out to me for Borrowed Time, I'm going back in to fix it.

[Pengi]

LOL Just to clarify, I don't know if the person was actually "pissed off" or not, I kinda read the comment that way. I don't remember who posted it. Sooo if it was one of you guys, SORRY. LOL.... I can't seem to edit that post to clarify the remark, LOL. Oh well.

[Purpura Lipstick]

I think I have pointed out an error or two in a couple of stories but they were friend's stories and I don't intend them to go back to fix them, more an FYI type comment.  I haven't done it in ages though because why should I point out errors in people's stories if I likely make them myself.  

I would only point out very obvious errors now like Mare's example, "there's no Roy in The Backstreet Boys" other than that I want to read to escape and be taken somewhere else, to experience something else not to double check if everything is right.  When I do look stuff up, like Julie, it's out of my own curiousity, not to correct them.  

I have never had anyone point out an obvious mistake but I DID have someone point out that one of my storylines had a Misery component to it well actually called my story just like it... I was like NOOO I borrowed some aspects but it is not JUST like it. LOL.  

[Pengi]

Wait. There's no Roy in the Backstreet Boys? But I thought Roy was the cute blonde one?! 

[FrickingKaos]

I love Roy. lol

[Pengi]

I just saw a quote on Quotes for Writers that seemed applicible to this... LOL

"A good writer will research to find the answer, but a great writer knows how to bullshit their way out of having the question asked."

LMAO I found that hilarious. I don't know how much stock we should put in it as writers but I thought it was funny anyways.

I think all my school essays were pretty solidly rooted in that quote's philosophy.