Details, Details, Details

You know the expression, details, details, details. It’s often expressed with a slight eye roll and blase attitude. Well, I’ve been thinking about details lately and those slight nuances between people, countries, etc. Maybe it’s all the travel I’ve done this summer. Or maybe it’s related to my curiosity as a writer.

There was a time where I shrugged my shoulders at details believing they were unimportant. Besides, who cares? I could make those up. I was a writer after all. I could extrapolate and get away with it. I mean, you can’t experience everything and that research takes time! Time away from writing.

Now I think differently. The correct detail in the right place can bring a whole scene to a truth that can drive at the reader. It can make something really work. Or more importantly, not work. For example, mentioning baby wipes in your 1940s novel when they weren’t invented until the 1970s. Yeah, that’s just being lazy and will get your ass kicked.

That’s right. Time travel, baby! Yeah!

A week ago we went to Disney World. Having been to Disneyland, I figured I could extrapolate what Disney World would be like. And then I went. Ha! There is that false sense of ‘I can imagine anything’ popping up.

I couldn’t extrapolate the details of Disney World, Florida, or even several, specific travel details (even though I usually step foot in the US at least once a year). Even the way Disney theme parks have evolved in the past 20 years made my detail sensor step back and say, “Well, now. We’d better take an extra look at this.”

The small details like the way sweat beaded up on the insides of my wrists at 5:30 at night while dining outdoors (I didn’t even know my wrists could do that), the way rules for passenger conduct in buses and airplanes, etc, in the US are emphasized first and foremost that this is a law! What if I had written a story about a gal who flew to Florida in August and she didn’t even sweat after 3PM? What if she had checked her bags WITHOUT charge for her flight on United Airlines? Oh, how that would have made American readers howl at my naivety/stupidity/lack of knowledge. Kind of like that check-in agent come to think of it….

And most of all, I would not have realized just what a flirt Mickey and Minnie are! My goodness. No wonder everyone loves them, they are a complete hoot.

I’m thinking I might set my next novel in Italy and what I’ve learned from this latest trip is that I’d better go immerse myself in the details of Italy. What do you think?