1. I totally agree. A wrong detail can really throw me while I’m reading…

  2. Autumn Grayson says:

    Details do matter. Once a reader spots a flaw in a book, it can be hard to unsee. And details can enhance a story so greatly. If they’re woven into the very fabric of the prose(without bogging it down) then it could even make readers fascinated by a scene they would have normally deemed boring or insignificant. A lot of the details I use have to do with the chars’ thoughts, feelings, reactions and plans, though. Along with some world building and sort of scientific stuff, so I don’t usually have to worry about things like baseball so much.

    That said, just about every book is going to miss some details, and now and then those details can be very glaring, especially depending on what readers we ask. Sometimes readers and authors can worry too much about whether the book gets a detail wrong, instead of enjoying what is otherwise a decent story.

  3. John D. Martin says:

    The worst example I’ve seen of this was in Tom Clancy’s Patriot Games. The hair color and even name of Mrs. Ryan changed back and forth over several pages. Details matter.

  4. I will say, I thought the warrior angels were pretty awesome. We’re so used to angels being portrayed as these floating beings that don’t interact.
    But, yes it can really pull you out of a story when the details are wrong.

What do you think?