Accuracy in Media

"That's a laugh."  That's a quote from a New Yorker cartoon.  Two of Robin Hood's merry men are sitting under a tree and one says to the other "Maid Marion.  That's a laugh."

That's funny, isn't it.  Until you think about the insult to Marion.  They wouldn't say "Robin Hood is a virgin, good on him."  It's unimaginable.  Robin would have to be a great swordsman.  Speaking of which, I'll bet you didn't know Basil Rathbone actually was an excellent swordsman and did his own stunts in the movies.  Sorry I couldn't embed the only clip from Robin Hood there was but Zorro's always good.

I was trying to think of good advice to give us.  There's an explosion of success being recorded at Konrath's blog and I'm stumbling trying to not so much make sense of it as trying to fit myself into it.

If you can follow the direction of the money/sales, go for it.  As Konrath put it. it's like the Gold Rush.  Or the land rush.  There's so much excitement for certain genres, almost anything can do really well as long as you come close.  There is no scorn for commercial fiction, only praise.  People love it and they're entertained. 

I've never been very good at that and time hasn't changed that sad fact.  I would love to be able to pay off my credit card debt in one month because I wrote a cool paranormal romance.  (I don't even know what constitutes one.)  If you can't and need to tell the stories in you, then try to be accurate in all aspects.  Michaelangelo's statue of David is more interesting than a block of marble.  Why?  Because it's accurate.  It was carved with exquisite attention to detail.  Sculptors (it is always said) remove everything that doesn't look like the statue they have in mind.  That's good advice.  Remove everything that doesn't look like your story.

"A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."  -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery