Credibility in Writing Fiction |

Credibility in your writing is crucial if you want readers to suspend disbelief and immerse themselves in your story. You have to take the time to do your research and make sure any details you include are correct. If you include anything that isn’t correct, you may irritate, or worse, offend readers.

Details Matter

For example, I’ve watched a television show that’s set in a city in California with which I’m very familiar. I know the city streets, beaches, and landscape of the city. I know the nuances and architecture. Though Psych does sprinkle the show with authentic street names, in one episode one of the characters pronounces the street name incorrectly. People who live in that city know how to pronounce the name of that street. It made me laugh because the pronunciation was so wrong.

Scenes on the city streets or at the beach are not shots of the city where it is supposed to be set. Not even close.
When a character was dumped in a lake, I knew immediately it wasn’t the lake they stated it was because I attended summer camp at that lake many times. It looked nothing like the lake they claimed it was.

The most obvious discrepancy is the police station. While I never actually spent time in the real police station, I’ve often driven past it and know it well enough to recognize that Psych doesn’t use the real one.

It turns out the show isn’t even filmed in the US.

Obvious Discrepancies Are a Turn Off

The discrepancies are obvious to me because I’m so familiar with the city. Most people would never catch these details, but for me, they bother me enough that I’m not interested in watching the show anymore.

See how that works? The discrepancies turned me off as viewer.

They should’ve set the show in a fictitious city if they couldn’t film it in the real city.

Readers Trust You

When it comes to writing fiction, you need to be aware that while not all readers may notice discrepancies in your story, those who do will probably never trust you again. You’re asking readers to suspend disbelief and to trust you. You blow that trust and lose credibility when you include false details.

When I wrote one of my early books, I had a reviewer who later told me that she was sure I wouldn’t include an important detail when I described a church. She said that as she was reading she was going to be able to tell if I’d researched this church building if I included this specific detail. I did include it because I had actually been inside the building and knew this detail was very important and specific. Once she saw that detail, she felt like she could trust me for the rest of the book and even subsequent books. Including that one detail built trust between this reader and me.

Take the Time

If you want to include something real, like a city or piece of equipment or computer software, do your homework. Research what you want to include so that the story rings true with everyone, especially those who know better.

Research takes time and effort, but the time you put into researching will pay off. Big time. You’ll not only keep your credibility, but more importantly, you’ll keep readers.

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