The Write Tuition

Getting it right, or ‘Spoiling the Ship for a ha’porth of tar’.

This is about writing, so bear with me whilst I set the scene…

I was in Portsmouth one evening, trying for some decent night time pictures of the Spinnaker Tower and Gunwharf Quays. Afterwards we dropped into a pub - The Old Custom House - for a drink. There is a sizable model sailing ship on a shelf in one of the side rooms, quite impressive at a distance, so I stepped over to have a closer look at it.

The large wood screw crudely fastening it to the wall jarred a little, but I guess that was the easy way of complying with some Health & Safety regulation. I looked at the neat decking, the miniature rope coils etc, and then I saw the thing that ruined it all for me. The net-like rigging which the crew would scramble up to get aloft wasn’t made properly. The model was big enough to justify doing it properly, with hand-knotted twine, but the builder had taken the easy option. It looked as if it had just been cut from a sheet of coarse weave hessian.

The whole first impression was spoiled by that one detail.

Sometimes it’s like that with writing. Despite being an advocate of ‘going with the flow’ for creativity there is no room for sloppiness when you later edit for accuracy. I’m talking about accuracy of content, not spelling and punctuation. Even in fiction a verifiable fact should be correct.

That bit of naff rigging is the same as finding Kalashnikov spelt Klashnikoff, or Uzi spelt as Oozy. You may be doing a fine job of storytelling with your ‘guns & guts’ thriller, carrying your readers along in a willing suspension of disbelief, and then that little incorrect detail will snap them back to reality faster than finding a slug in the bottom of your freshly drained pint.

Things like this can be ruled out by spending a little time in your local library, or online, checking the checkable. Sticking with the firearms example… If you need to know about various small arms then reference books like Janes Infantry Weapons are a good starting place. Not only are the details far more exhaustive than you will ever need to include in your book, the diagrams and pictures can be almost as good as getting your hands on the real thing.

If you write thriller type stuff which regularly features weapons take any opportunity to handle things if the Army are doing a display at a village fête or county show near you. Play the ‘writer doing research’ card for all it’s worth, If you’re female the lads will almost fall over themselves to demonstrate things But bear in mind that really good research needs you to handle stuff, not just have it demonstrated.

Some of you may wonder, is it worth it?

Yes. Definitely. Anything which puts you one step ahead of the average reader lets you ’speak’ with more authority, greater conviction. If you’ve lain on the ground behind a machine-gun, tucking it in tight and seeing the world through a machine-gunner’s eyes, you are streets ahead of most readers. You will know the feel, the weight, the smell. Even if - very likely - you never get to fire one.

Some of you may feel physically revolted by the feel of a gun. If so, good! Sooner or later one of your characters will reflect that feeling.

Scramble in and out of a display tank, knocking yourself on various bits, and the bruises and aches will add valuable ‘insider knowledge’ to your writing. Lay on your back underneath the metal monster and let your imagination get to work…

If you’re not an ‘action’ writer then still seek out the little details in everything you see to add richness to your work.

Research - both practical and library based - will add to your confidence and therefore improve the tale. You don’t want - or even need - to drown your reader in details. But they will pick up on your obvious underlying knowledge, trust you more, and be more inclined to carry on reading.

A writer’s imagination is a wonderful tool, but feed it a few nuggets of reality to chew on as well and it will be even better.

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