A note to the fic-writers of the world.

[conuly]

How shall I put this.... Oh yes!

Don't try to write anybody who is canonically better educated than you are. Or, if it's absolutely unavoidable, and you must write about this person, take a moment and educate yourself about the subject at hand first, lest you embarrass yourself by having your main character inexplicably be wrong when they wouldn't in real life.

This isn't prompted by the same thing I'm thinking of, but give me some time to find my links again.

Comments

[ladyshrew.livejournal.com]

TV writers do this also, when they have their characters spout BAD LATIN.

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

So I should never try to write Daniel Jackson at all, ever?

[conuly]

It's one thing to write Daniel Jackson.

It's another thing altogether to have him expound on why Klingon and Basque are part of the same language family.

It's one thing to write Hermione Granger.

It's another thing altogether to write a Hermione Granger who has apparently never heard (nor yet told all her friends incessantly) that the diamond industry relies on slave labor and is responsible for countless deaths.

It's one thing to write rainbowgoddess.

It'd be another thing altogether to write you as somebody who had no idea what diabetes was, much less how to live with it :)

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

I get it now. I can write Daniel Jackson, but I shouldn't try to write Daniel Jackson, archeologist, expounding on archeology unless I actually know enough about archeology.

[conuly]

Right. Or anything else that he should logically know about, and that you're writing about.

I suppose it goes in reverse, too - if whoever it is probably *doesn't* know about something, don't write them as though they do.

[pne.livejournal.com]

(nor yet told all her friends incessantly)

How true.

[conuly]

Ah, I love that waspish little girl. But man, she must be annoying in (fake) real life.

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

This is why I wondered for quite a while whether I should start reading the Miles Vorkosigan books, I mean Miles is supposed to be an all-round genius, but how does that work if the author is not a genius?

Well, after having read several of the books (though, sadly, not the entire series yet) I am pleased to say that at least in my opinion, the author is a genius. :D

But this is more like the exception than the rule. With a friend we had this idea about starting a blog about BAD FICTIONAL NEUROSCIENCE. Neuroscience is hip these days, which means every character will somehow end up with two electrodes on their forehead which will magically produce MR slices (yes, Heroes, I'm looking at you). lol. ^^O

[ladyshrew.livejournal.com]

TV writers do this also, when they have their characters spout BAD LATIN.

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

So I should never try to write Daniel Jackson at all, ever?

[conuly]

It's one thing to write Daniel Jackson.

It's another thing altogether to have him expound on why Klingon and Basque are part of the same language family.

It's one thing to write Hermione Granger.

It's another thing altogether to write a Hermione Granger who has apparently never heard (nor yet told all her friends incessantly) that the diamond industry relies on slave labor and is responsible for countless deaths.

It's one thing to write rainbowgoddess.

It'd be another thing altogether to write you as somebody who had no idea what diabetes was, much less how to live with it :)

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

I get it now. I can write Daniel Jackson, but I shouldn't try to write Daniel Jackson, archeologist, expounding on archeology unless I actually know enough about archeology.

[conuly]

Right. Or anything else that he should logically know about, and that you're writing about.

I suppose it goes in reverse, too - if whoever it is probably *doesn't* know about something, don't write them as though they do.

[pne.livejournal.com]

(nor yet told all her friends incessantly)

How true.

[conuly]

Ah, I love that waspish little girl. But man, she must be annoying in (fake) real life.

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

This is why I wondered for quite a while whether I should start reading the Miles Vorkosigan books, I mean Miles is supposed to be an all-round genius, but how does that work if the author is not a genius?

Well, after having read several of the books (though, sadly, not the entire series yet) I am pleased to say that at least in my opinion, the author is a genius. :D

But this is more like the exception than the rule. With a friend we had this idea about starting a blog about BAD FICTIONAL NEUROSCIENCE. Neuroscience is hip these days, which means every character will somehow end up with two electrodes on their forehead which will magically produce MR slices (yes, Heroes, I'm looking at you). lol. ^^O