Fact checking for stories

[option]

Quick moan/whatever about fact checking for stories.

 

Every so often when reading a story, on here & other sites, I come across some glaring factual errors that really interupt the flow.

It seems to occur most often when people are writing a character that is completely different to anything they know.

 

 

Wondering if it would be useful for authors if there was some sort of list of foreign/different terms & facts, with their translations/equivalents, or even a 'common errors' section.

A reader might email an author about an error, & the error gets fixed, but that dosnt help other authors.

 

eg;

Auto (US) = Car (UK)

Trunk (US) = Boot (UK)

Pants (US) = Trousers (UK)

 

 

 

The below is just an example ive come across today, its not meant as any criticism of the author

 

This is said by a british character in a story:

"I was five. Riding with me mum and dad on the motorway. They were arguing over something, I don't remember what, when another auto ran through a signal and hit us from the side. Mommy and daddy's heads hit each other and they died. I was in the middle and hit my head on the dashboard. There was no permanent damage except that I can't see. They don't even know why."

 

 

in britain/uk, they arnt called 'autos' but 'cars'

 

motorways dont have signals (traffic lights)

motorway junctions are one-way slip roads, traffic joining the motorway merges/filters into the existing traffic, there arnt any side junctions, so side-impacts are very rare.

 

seatbelts are compulsory in vehicles, & have been for decades, so any movement by vehicle passengers is minor.

the vast majority of cars available in the uk dont have bench seats in front, they have a drivers seat & a passenger seat. rear seats are bench-like, but with seat shapes, & usually passengers sit in the left or right side, directly behind driver or passenger seat. seatbelts are also compulsory for rear seats, even the middle one.

[Dark]

There are lists like this on the web, if a person just takes the time to look for them.

 

I love all the different variations of "English." Those beer commercials for how you supposedly say different things in "Australian" just crack me up.

 

Even in the US people tend to forget that there are different dialects. For example, on one coast you typically say "coke" and on the other "soda" and both are referring to soft drinks in general rather than a specific brand.

 

It's been a long time since I was in the UK. I remember thinking it was especially funny when the new girl in the class was introduced as Laurie. ("Lorry" being a truck). I'm sure we could get a good dialogue going on here about the different ways to say stuff.

[Myk]

 

Auto (US) = Car (UK)

Trunk (US) = Boot (UK)

Pants (US) = Trousers (UK)

I don't remember the last time I called a car an auto, that is certainly not usual stateside.

This is said by a british character in a story:

"I was five. Riding with me mum and dad on the motorway. They were arguing over something, I don't remember what, when another auto ran through a signal and hit us from the side. Mommy and daddy's heads hit each other and they died. I was in the middle and hit my head on the dashboard. There was no permanent damage except that I can't see. They don't even know why."

 

There is a lot more wrong with this paragraph than usage of foreign terms. The physics behind this accided is completely impossible and there is no regard for anything medical here either. This is just a story but Dark is right, this information is out there for anyone to look it up. It is called research, which some authors do very well, others not so much. That being said maybe he just wants to enjoy coming up with a story, and you can choose to enjoy it for what it is, or not read it, or better yet, pass your suggestions onto the author and maybe they will make an effort to make their story more accurate

 

Even in the US people tend to forget that there are different dialects. For example, on one coast you typically say "coke" and on the other "soda" and both are referring to soft drinks in general rather than a specific brand.

Or in other areas like Canada, where it is pop

 

Greg

[Nephylim]

I must say that when I read that paragraph I only picked up the auto bit although, of course, I knew all the rest and it was obvious when you pointed it out. I think that fact is that when you read a story what do you look at... facts and figures, grammar spelling and accuracy, or story, imagination, characterisation, flow etc. I know that we are all different but I tend to the latter and my eyes skim over the technical inaccuracies and just sees what lies underneath.

[BlueSoxSWJ]

I think this may speak more to the editing process than the writing process. I guess the thing an author could do differently is to make sure, if you write about a topic you're not very knowledgeable in, at least one of your editors is familiar with that topic. As a general sports nut, Boston Bruins (hockey) season ticket holder, and two sport varsity athlete in high school (football and baseball), nothing breaks up the flow of a story for me more than a nonsensical sports detail. Examples I can think of off the top of my head from books I've read lately include pickoff attempts in Little League games (runners can't lead in LL), an inning consisting of only two outs (there should be three), and a football player that teleported 35 yards during a play (if you intercept a pass at midfield, you can't return it 15 yards for a touchdown). Any of these mistakes would have been obvious to an editor who played the sport competitively. In the case above, an American writer setting a story in the UK may want to seek out a British beta reader, if they can find someone willing to do the job.

 

P.S. Firefox spell check seems to think "teleport" is not a word ...

[JamesSavik]

This is one of the reasons that I don't use countries other than the US as settings for my writing. I just don't know enough about them.

 

I actually do a lot of research in writing. I just wouldn't be comfortable writing about the UK or Australia without a LOT of work.

[Tommy_B]

I see so much bad writing on television it drives me nuts and I know what they make to write it. It is obscene.

[Graeme]

This is one of the reasons that I don't use countries other than the US as settings for my writing. I just don't know enough about them.

 

I actually do a lot of research in writing. I just wouldn't be comfortable writing about the UK or Australia without a LOT of work.

Personally, I cheat I use an American editor, so if I set a story in the USA I let him have carte blanche with changing details, including speech patterns. Some of the changes don't feel natural to me, but I accept my editor's views as being correct since they know the USA a lot better than I do. Having said that, that doesn't allow for regional differences within the USA, but it's still a lot better than what I would have done

 

But James's point is well taken. I can almost always spot a non-Australian author who sets a story in Australia, or uses Australian characters. They just don't feel right, though I can't always say why.

[jfalkon]

This even gets to me. I am generaly happy to suspend reality and have no real sense of what is normal but sometimes there is just no ignoring it. One of my favrite examples was where a character is becoming paralized due to a severe potasium deficiency. He eats a bannana and is up and walking 15 seconds later.

 

I like to see scientific facts to be correct if they are used. When it comes to locations, I take the easy way out and make them up. Then as long as I keep the slang consistent no one can compain.