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Attention to Detail...
...or being pedantic?
I wrote a script a while back (its kicking about somewhere) that flashed back to 1967 for the bulk of the story. As the action passes from the present day, at a dilapidated, soon to be demolished school back to the late sixties when the same school was alive with children at playtime I chose the song Ha Ha Said the Clown by Manfred Mann to add authenticity to the scene. This was in the charts in March 1967.
I chose this date because the story required it to get dark early (ish) and the football season had to be in full flow. An important part of the story comes when, after it becomes too dark to continue playing football, the three lads (11-year olds) at its centre are heading home and goofing about with the new football belonging to one of them. In a back lane one of the lads accidentally heads the ball over the yard wall of a family of bullies and terrors. A plan is made to retrieve the ball and from this stems the main thrust of the story.
It is a Saturday evening and the lads are discussing that days football. The story is set here in the north-east and they are all Newcastle United supporters. They celebrate Newcastles 31 win over Stoke City and this actually happened on March 24th 1967 (unlike this season when we got beat 2-1 :rolleyes: ) and so I have an exact date for the action. As one of the lads climbs into the yard to get the ball back, the action cuts to the living room of the upstairs flat where one of the terrors is watching television with his mother. I have them watching Dixon of Dock Green, which was broadcast that night. There are more instances like this.
Did I go too far with attention to detail, or is this what would be expected? I do actually enjoy researching things like this and besides, if you look on IMDb at the film No Country for Old Men, for example, some of the goofs that people picked up on are remarkable (the film was made in 2007 but set in 1980). I think I have touched on this subject before in here but just as an example of what we are up against, who would have noticed this?
The gray/blue Dodge 4x4 at the shoot-out is at least an 1982 (tail light design was changed in '82), and more likely an 83 or 84. Also the wheels on that truck weren't introduced until the mid 80s.
How thoroughly do you research your work?
I wrote a script a while back (its kicking about somewhere) that flashed back to 1967 for the bulk of the story. As the action passes from the present day, at a dilapidated, soon to be demolished school back to the late sixties when the same school was alive with children at playtime I chose the song Ha Ha Said the Clown by Manfred Mann to add authenticity to the scene. This was in the charts in March 1967.
I chose this date because the story required it to get dark early (ish) and the football season had to be in full flow. An important part of the story comes when, after it becomes too dark to continue playing football, the three lads (11-year olds) at its centre are heading home and goofing about with the new football belonging to one of them. In a back lane one of the lads accidentally heads the ball over the yard wall of a family of bullies and terrors. A plan is made to retrieve the ball and from this stems the main thrust of the story.
It is a Saturday evening and the lads are discussing that days football. The story is set here in the north-east and they are all Newcastle United supporters. They celebrate Newcastles 31 win over Stoke City and this actually happened on March 24th 1967 (unlike this season when we got beat 2-1 :rolleyes: ) and so I have an exact date for the action. As one of the lads climbs into the yard to get the ball back, the action cuts to the living room of the upstairs flat where one of the terrors is watching television with his mother. I have them watching Dixon of Dock Green, which was broadcast that night. There are more instances like this.
Did I go too far with attention to detail, or is this what would be expected? I do actually enjoy researching things like this and besides, if you look on IMDb at the film No Country for Old Men, for example, some of the goofs that people picked up on are remarkable (the film was made in 2007 but set in 1980). I think I have touched on this subject before in here but just as an example of what we are up against, who would have noticed this?
The gray/blue Dodge 4x4 at the shoot-out is at least an 1982 (tail light design was changed in '82), and more likely an 83 or 84. Also the wheels on that truck weren't introduced until the mid 80s.
How thoroughly do you research your work?
Comments
Im a stickler for trying to get as much reality into a story, even if its a little flash fiction, so I have the facts if I need them (to the best of my knowledge anyway), but I'm choosy about what details to impart. Some writers have a tendency to go overboard with the details to the point of distraction, when sometimes less is more. You can hint at something, mention something in passing, drop a hint in dialogue rather than burdening the narrative. This works on a subconscious level with your reader. They will get it. If youve already told the reader what year it is through various ways, then piling in more detail to drive home the point will just patronise them.
In film, everything is visual. Mistakes are easy to spot, because no one has done their homework. In writing, you have to decide whether to put that detail in. Its exceptionally important to do research. How much you use is up to you, the writer. How much you choose NOT to use is even more important.
I don't think Newcastle would forgive you if you got something so important as scores and dates wrong.
Football is serious stuff. :D
I hate reading a book and finding errors such as flowers blooming at completely the wrong time of year. Non gardeners might not notice (in the same way I wouldn't notice a wrong football score) but once you do notice something like that, it's difficult to believe in the rest of the story.
There is of course a difference between a script and a story. If my script had been made into a film then Dixon of Dock Green being on the TV would be an accurate part of the background
With writing I think we get back to the old 'quick and the dead' situation where we choose items to add to a scene. As has been pointed out it would be silly to try and include everything but instead we should develop an eye for picking out what will add to the story. For example the cluttered living room of our heroine:
Basket of undone ironing (lazy or pressed for time)
Ashtray (smoker)
Monochrome New York street scene print (dead)
Baby walker (mother)
Television (dead)
Cat scratching post (dead)
One empty wine bottle and two empty glasses (had company)
etc.
Jenny the script was just an adaptation of a short story I wrote for A level English - I had just got my copy of Final Draft and I wanted to be Quentin Tarantino :P