One of the big annoyances in reading is looking through a book about a familiar subject only to find the author didn’t really know the subject. The book, often part of a series, was written by a freelance writer from research. They were writing unknowns.
Examples
The library shelved a picture book on goats. Of course, I checked it out. The text was suitable for a picture book. The pictures were sharp and clear. Except the goats.- dairy goats! -in the pictures had horns.
Anyone familiar with dairy goats knows breeders disbud their kids. Horned dairy goats aren’t shown or, if they are, have lots of lost points because of the horns. This goes back decades as dairy goat owners wanted a positive picture of their beautiful goats, not a billy goat gruff caricature.
My friend owned an old John Deere tractor for years. Reading through a book on such tractors no mention was made of a quirk of such tractors. The writer had never owned a tractor and it showed.
Writing Unknowns in Life’s Rules
I have no Facebook account for several reasons. I’m not online at home and don’t have a cell phone. Rural Missouri has reception issues and the hills surrounding my house compound them.
In Life’s Rules, the main character Stephanie must get an email account, a Facebook account, a credit card. She goes to places I’ve never been. She speaks languages I have little familiarity with. I am writing unknowns.
This is when a writer must depend on others to look over the draft. Is the description right? Are the conversations right? Should the names be changed?
In the meantime, I am writing unknowns trying to sound like I know what I’m writing about. After all, I need a draft for others to look over.
