Poor Fiction

POOR FICTION: I am reminded every day of a trend in the writing world, one I call Poor Fiction. This is where someone, good intentions or bad, tries to write something s/he knows absolutely nothing about. This is often seen in modern day pulps, where the author has never read a pulp but thinks they know pulp because they once read a comic book version of Doc Savage or Conan, etc. This can also be said for other areas in fiction. I recently read a novel that had a military/war theme, where the authors brought their knowledge of movies and comic books to their prose story, and it was obvious they had never been in the military, let alone in a combat situation. But because it is fiction that makes it okay. Well, no way around it, what we get is Poor Fiction from the writers. I distinguish this above by saying ‘good intentions or bad’ for a reason. There are some cases where the writers actually know better, but write for sensationalism instead of accuracy. That’s bad intentions. Good intentions is where the writer knows nothing about the subject but follows a so-called “Bible” written by someone who does not know anything about the subject. In this case the writer is only at fault for following bad information. Yes, I agree, fiction is just that, fiction. But personally, when an author does not know his subject, I think s/he is doing a disservice to their readers. They should write what they know, and the story will at least have some sound of authenticity to it. By following a movie or comic book that had it wrong first, you are merely continuing the path along Poor Fiction, and eventually your books will be classified as such.