I work as a receptionist at a blood center. I have learned more about blood than I even thought was possible to know, and there is still much, much more I don’t. I share my background so you understand my comments. When my family watches TV shows, we notice details. Details from our own experience. My years working at a blood center makes me painfully aware of portrayals of blood banks on TV or movies. In one of my favorite crime dramas I couldn’t help picking apart a scene where thugs rushed into a blood bank and stole rare blood. So many things were wrong with the scene. 1) Rare blood is not stored at your local blood collection center. All blood collected at small centers are shipped to their main office where the labs prepare it, and it is stored for hospital use. 2) Very rare blood types may be frozen and are usually not in large supplies.
Another unrealistic issue: They grab the blood because the type was on the bag. Blood collection is coded and refrigerated so it wouldn’t be easy for a laymen to choose the right blood bags.
If I were writing a scene in a blood center I would be more aware of the correct details. It would be a question of which details to share without boring the reader. As you research details for your novels and short stories decide how much detail to share and get it right. Readers can be taken out of the story if they catch your details lacking accuracy. Or worse, give you a bad review because of it.
What details in books or movies were so inaccurate you groaned in disbelief?
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Cindy Ervin Huff is a multi-published writer and her debut novel Secret’s and Charades won the Editor’s Choice Award in 2014 and placed third in the Maxwell Awards in 2017 and first place Serious Writer Medal 2018. Her contemporary romance New Duet released in May 2018. She has been featured in numerous periodicals over the last thirty years. Cindy is a member of ACFW and founding member of the Aurora, Illinois, chapter of Word Weavers. Although she has been creating stories in her head since childhood it wasn’t until high school those imaginary characters began appearing on paper. After raising her family, she began her novel writing adventures. Cindy loves to encourage new writers on their journey. She and her husband make their home in Aurora, Illinois. They have five children and six grandchildren. Visit Cindy on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cindyehuff, follow her on
twitter @CindyErvinHuff, or check out her blog at www.jubileewriter.wordpress.com.
Amazon Buy link for Secrets & Charades: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1946016144/
Amazon Buy link for New Duet: https://www.amazon.com/New-Duet-Cindy-Ervin-Huff-ebook/dp/B07CRV
https://www.amazon.com/New-Duet-Cindy-Ervin-Huff/dp/1621357635/
Submitting our manuscripts to the scrutiny of publishers and editors never gets easy. No matter novice or veteran there is always the chance of rejection. Editing our own words is a good skill to learn. But we all know we don’t always see the blaring errors. I once sent out a homemade Christmas Card with the words ‘The angles rejoiced at his coming.” After mailing out fifty cards I saw my typo. Ugh.
Friends will laugh and love you anyway. But publishers are not so forgiving. One way I have found to hone my craft and improve my chances of publication is joining a critique group. I am part of two wonderful groups of serious writers. Each group is small. My online group has five members, and my local group has six. We are serious writers with a goal of publication. Over the years most of us have achieved that goal. We continue to meet, helping each other fix weak parts in our words.
I need these fellow-writers. They see those angles that should be angels and the storylines that just aren’t working. They keep me humble while encouraging me to press on. I would have to pay a lot of money for the edits these friends share with me. I’ve learned to find my mistakes more easily thanks to them. My POV is clearer. My voice is my own. And I’ve learned how to receive correction with grace. This has made my experience with editors at conferences more productive. I can walk away from a less than stellar appointment with a professional attitude because critiques are part of my journey.
We all need edits and input on our creations. A critique group is a great place to find them. Our writing improves as we learn from one another. Don’t let fear keep you from adding this tool to your craft box. The more we know the faster we grow. For me seeing the edits on my own paper is easier to understand than reading a craft book.
A critique group won’t get you instant success but overtime your writing gets tighter. And you develop wonderful friendships with other writers. We all know they’re the only ones who truly understand us. And that comradery goes a long way to building our confidence as a writer.
