On Pineapples and Making Assumptions
Until I was 21, I thought pineapples grew on trees. I'd even scoffed at a college classmate from Hawaii who had told me they grow out of the ground on stalks, thinking she was trying to mess with me.
Then I went to the Caribbean for work, and saw a pineapple farm.
As it turns out, they grown on stalks. Out of the ground. Oops.
I tell this fairly trivial story to illustrate a point: we all have a bunch of assumptions and 'facts' we've accidentally made up or deduced or acquired from dubious sources, and sincerely believe are true without fact-checking ourselves. We know pineapples grow on trees (still don't know how I got that so firmly lodged into my brain), so why bother looking it up?
This becomes much more than the stuff of funny stories when these assumptions start to creep into your writing. At best, it's sloppy and will cause readers some unintended giggles; at worst, you're (albeit inadvertently) perpetrating all kinds of damaging misinformation. While some genres do have certain accepted departures from reality built into their conventions, one should still do the research as though you're a total newcomer to the subject. It will pay major dividends. I promise. [image error]
Then I went to the Caribbean for work, and saw a pineapple farm.
As it turns out, they grown on stalks. Out of the ground. Oops.
I tell this fairly trivial story to illustrate a point: we all have a bunch of assumptions and 'facts' we've accidentally made up or deduced or acquired from dubious sources, and sincerely believe are true without fact-checking ourselves. We know pineapples grow on trees (still don't know how I got that so firmly lodged into my brain), so why bother looking it up?
This becomes much more than the stuff of funny stories when these assumptions start to creep into your writing. At best, it's sloppy and will cause readers some unintended giggles; at worst, you're (albeit inadvertently) perpetrating all kinds of damaging misinformation. While some genres do have certain accepted departures from reality built into their conventions, one should still do the research as though you're a total newcomer to the subject. It will pay major dividends. I promise. [image error]
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