I’m researching sailboats for a novella I’m writing right now. I found a certain boat to base the details off, but some facts are hard to find. For example, what type of generator or water tank that boat might support. If I research enough to make it sound realistic, is that okay? I’m not writing specifically to people living on sailboats, so how far out is the line between staying realistic and just writing the story?
This is a really good question, Vella.
Two things come to mind that might be helpful.
1. When researching, we often forget about human resources. Real people, as it turns out, are oftentimes the best well for deep information like you’re talking about! You have someone in your network who knows stuff about boats. You might have to be a little creative and really bold to make that connection, but there is someone within two relationships of you who loves boats and honestly would probably love to talk your ear off about it.
Google is such a great resource. But sometimes we limit ourselves to what we can find online, and forget about the wonderful world of human connections. If you can find the right person, you’ll get better information, and you’ll get it a lot faster!
2. Take advantage of your character’s naivete. If your POV character doesn’t know that much about boat motors then your narrator probably won’t have course to mention it. We could definitely go overboard (see what I did there?) with this strategy, but you can even lean into it. Your character can say things like, “the flappy thingy” and if it’s in-character and fits, you can avoid having to specify all together.
In a lot of situations, if the scene doesn’t require the specificity, it’s better to say nothing at all than to get it wrong.
Generally speaking, if you’re going to name things, you need to get them right. That’s just a good rule for life, as well as for writing. 🙂
Vella,
You gave such a knowledgeable answer to the literary writing question that I am confident you have more background than I can give. What I think it could depend upon is what you hinted at, is the sailboat a setting for where the person is living and how much of the story will include important details involving the boat? If the themes of the stary are all about the ocean, the trips, where they go and who is going, then you probably have enough details to thrill all of us with no boats in our lives just with the adventures that can be dreamed up while sailing. You are taking us into a world we know nothing about, so certain specifics will not only be uninteresting, but turn us off to the story.
