Bad Science Fiction
After reading the most horrific science fiction story intended for young adults, which I won’t name here, I was trying to figure out what made it so bad. I wanted to blame poor writing, but that would have been wrong. The grammar was good, the syntax correct, I can’t always say that about my writing. The problem became obvious as I stepped away from the work. The author had no idea what he was writing about and did not care to learn. I have read stories and articles about deep sea fishing and trust me, I have no interest in fishing of any sort, but the look into the life of men risking their lives on the open ocean to gather food in a commercial operation was enthralling. Why? Because the author cared about the story, and they knew what they were doing.
I am by no means an expert in NASCAR and I am sure that people who work for the racing organization who read my stories could point out dozens of ways I am wrong about details, but I try to make sure that I never lose sight of what NASCAR means to the drivers, the teams and the fans. If I have taken a liberty with a detail it is to advance a story, but it is not to say that I don’t like the way they are doing it so in my fantasy world I will make it work this way. If I were going to do that I might as well just make up everything.
I hate when an author does not take the time to care about the details it shows. If I kill a character, it hurts those around them. If I introduce a technology it has an impact. Things do not happen in a vacuum. I will of course give up my high ground if someone offers a large pile of money and insists I write something a certain way, but have no fear, I would never lie about selling out. I will tell you, then I will take the money and go back to what I want to write.
