Even with Fiction, it's Good to Teach Readers Something They Don't Already Know

I'm currently reading Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks. I'm about a third of the way through the book, and there's a scene in which a man, Garrett, and a woman, Theresa, are having a conversation. In that conversation, Garrett starts telling a story about the Phoenicians and how, in 600 B.C., they sailed around the entire continent of Africa guided primarily by the North Star. He says they were the first people to do so, but no one believed them, and that they were finally proven right about 2,000 years later.

Theresa and Garrett are in a sailboat when they have this conversation, and Garrett is pointing out the stars, so it is a smooth transition when he starts giving Theresa the history lesson.

The thing is, after I finished reading those few paragraphs, I really enjoyed the fact that I had learned something. And I realized that even as fiction writers, we must teach our readers something they don't already know.

In my book, In Fashion's Web, for example, I have a character who is training as an Olympic ice skater, and during her events and her practices, I describe many skating moves. I also describe the streets of Paris and Milan in some places because some of the scenes take place there.

I think that readers get satisfaction out of these factual tidbits, so it's important to have some areas in your book in which you feel you can impart some wisdom or knowledge. It can be a town, city or neighborhood -- perhaps the place where you grew up. Perhaps your characters are dancing a certain or your soldiers are conducting war-time maneuvers.

Of course, like the Nicholas Sparks example, inserting reality into fiction has to be smoothly done and it has to fit well within your story line.

You can also learn something, and then write about it. For instance, I didn't know anything about the streets of Paris or Milan. I had to research them.

So give this idea some thought as you're writing. What is that you know, that you're good at, that maybe you can breathe into the life of one of your characters?

Happy writing!

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.