@golgaloth

Where does your character's knowledge end?

My answer:

My character's knowledge ends way before my knowledge of the subject ends.

I'm quoting myself, because this is one of the heartbreaks of self-knowedge. I have a great naval-airship story I'd love to write, and I even know most of what would happen. The problem is I'm neither military or navy, and while I'd get most of it right, I am sure I'd miss enough of the details that I could not pull it off. So I am not writing it. Now. I hope in the future to find a collaborator to co-author with me.

For now, the story starts in another novel as set of scenes in which the perspective MC appears. The battles and bravery happen off screen. Discussion of the result provides impact (without too much spoilery detail) at the end of the novel. Oh, and I did write a first chapter, but I can't go beyond that at this time.

😢​

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@FirefighterGeek @golgaloth

For so many authors, the character's knowledge ends where the SF author['s knowledge ends.]

I chalk this up as a typical newbie error, and not just in #sf! It can even appear in #mainstream, #thriller, and #romance. Any #fiction.

Where does your character's knowledge end?

My character's knowledge ends way before my knowledge of the subject ends.

#Fantasy #magic systems often fail to impress because lots of detail, except where the reader can intuit a logical loophole, is a bad thing! The reader will often assume the gaps for you. I must remind myself every so often that a story is entertainment, not a treatise or thesis on speculative science, sociology, or engineering, especially after all time I spent on the research. When I wrote from a prize-fighter's POV, I learned how training felt, and the injuries, but I didn't presume to write the coach working their miracles. Only enough to convince.

I try to be imprecise, even about what I know a subject very well. Well, heck, I recognize I could misunderstand somethng! I then lampshade enough to ensure the story makes sense and to keep the plot logically together. I would, for example, make sure to understand the limits of a submersible pressure vessel (I don't) and get that much right. I'd also work on the jargon. My character would then be passenger told not to touch anything, and not an engineer or pilot.

A tactic I use is to consider secondary characters to provide "details." I include lieutenants, clerks, and engineers to do real work, maybe letting them talk down to the MC because the MC couldn't possibly understand and is wasting their time. This excuses lack of detail.

Everyone is a lay person about something, many many somethings, IRL. To the extent that I don't know how to maintain my car, build my house (I actually did), generate my electricity, butcher my meat (thinking about which turns me into a vegetarian for a few hours), and piloting an airplane, I make my characters the same way. Builds a sense of #Verisimilitude

My opinion, anyway.

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