Just the Facts, Ma’am: Why You Might Need a Fact-Checker.
Posted by: Lisa in Writing/Editing Tips: The Big PictureNote: This article, courtesy of Bernadette Sukley, refers mostly to nonfiction writing. But, as she mentions at the end, it applies equally to novelists, who might be even more in need of a fact-checker if they aren’t experts in the milieus in which their stories are set.
Every “t†was crossed and every “i†dotted. But you were caught winging it when you described Vermont in spring with the fireflies lighting up the night. Oops: fireflies, carnivorous beetles, don’t appear in Vermont evening skies until June. A quick check of the facts probably would have saved your writing career. Now you’ve been told to look into fiction as a better outlet for your talents. Here are five reasons why you need a fact checker to save your, uh, face.
Save Time. What may take you hours of searching on the Internet, a fact-checker could find in minutes. Some fact-checkers specialize in medical, political, or pop culture topics. These guys and gals are the truth finders for professional and consumer magazines and publications. They are trained to turn things around in two days or sooner depending on the material and the deadline [note: expect it to take longer for a full book].
Save Money. Fact-checking fees are usually hourly. If it’s only a few thousand word article you may be looking at only a $50 to $100 out-of pocket expense. Fact-checkers will also grant discounts if you decide to utilize their services again. Any fact-checker worth his or her salt will not milk you for hundreds and hundreds of dollars [again, it depends on the length of the work they’re checking]. Note: fact checkers are not editors, although certain fact checkers will provide suggestions on how to improve your piece.
Gain Jobs. Consistently turning in unchecked pieces thinking that the publishers will “do the fact check†is a mistake. Even if a publisher has an army of fact-checkers [note: book publishers don’t] and your articles are difficult to check (e.g., no sources, no footnotes, or some fabricated material), be sure the publisher will hear the complaints. Then they’ll search for a writer who has good checking skills or the good sense to have a fact-checker review the piece before it was submitted.
Save Face. (And avoid the Jayson Blair ripple effect.) In May 2003, A New York Times reporter was forced to resign from his job due to the fallacious nature of his reporting. He plagiarized too. Blair wasn’t lazy—he was an exceptional reporter and came highly recommended. The problem was that he kept getting things deliberately wrong. There was a “don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story†attitude. This is a recipe for a lawsuit. Good stories have good facts.
Develop a reputation. A good one. Writers who have fact-checkers by their sides in the creation of articles or books are on their way to long and happy writing careers. Even in romantic fiction a bit of fact-checking can help the piece’s credibility. The rich, rascally count can’t be unhooking a brassiere from a poor peasant girl if the novel takes place during the late 1800s. Corsets were in style until the 1930s, when bras were first commercially manufactured. Allow the fact-checker to do their job, while you do yours—write.
About the Author:
Bernadette Sukley is a freelance writer with an eye toward the quirky. Her work has appeared in Sports Illustrated for Women, ABROAD, and Prevention.com. Trying to find that oddball fact? Or just love the unique? She does too. Contact: novelist2be@excite.com and http://thequirkywriter.blogspot.com
Click Here to Subscribe
Entries (RSS)
March 29th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Sometimes I wonder why I pursued degrees in history instead of creative writing. I think such degrees truly helped me become a decent data miner, and has given me the kind of worldview that some writers don’t have, simply because they haven’t been exposed to culture in the same way: past, present, ethnic, geographical…
And then there’s the question: What is a fact?
March 29th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Sometimes I wish I’d pursued a degree in something other than the arts, so that I’d have more knowledge to draw upon in my writing. I envy you those history degrees.
Your question leads to another question: Even if the facts are clear, how important are they in fiction? Historical novels play with fact; otherwise they’d be history books. But just as we must know the rules of grammar before we can successfully break them, we should know the world we’re writing about as thoroughly as we can before we go and change it. And, before the fact-checking, that requires research. This is true of just about any novel that isn’t in the fantasy genre, whose writers have the luxury of being able to make everything up.
March 30th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
You make it sound like fact finders live on every street corner. Where can you find them? Are there lists? They sound like a real life line.
March 30th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Great question, Christine. If you’re posting on this blog, you’ve got internet access, and that’s one avenue. If you live in a city with a Craigslist page, look there or post an ad. Do a Google search for “freelance fact-checking.” You’ll find a number of websites that match up freelancers with clients, some specific to writing/editing, some not. Try http://www.ifreelance.com, for example.
People who professionally copyedit books often fact-check as part of their job, so you can also look for copyeditors and inquire as to whether they’ll take a fact-checking job.
April 1st, 2007 at 2:36 pm
hey Christine–well we don’t frequent the street corners, but i’ve got a few people in mind if you need another set of eyes for your work.(novelist2be@excite.com)