S.S. Julian
asked
Lisa See:
What is your research process like, and how do you check your work for historical accuracy? Can you describe an instance when you decided, for dramatic or plot purposes, it was better to overlook historical precedent?
Lisa See
Hi, Sam,
I'm going to answer your last question first, because this happens to be something that is incredibly important to me. I can't think of a single instance that I have -- or would ever -- change the date of an historical event for dramatic or plot purposes. If you started down that path, where would it end? Could you change the date the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor? Could you change the date of 9/11?
I've had editors ask me to change certain small things, saying, "Who's going to know?" The answer to that is simple. I'd know. It seems to me that if you make one factual error or start playing around with some facts, then it calls the entire work into question.
I do a tremendous amount of research. I double and triple check things. That doesn't mean I'm perfect and I have made a couple of mistakes. Even the copyeditors, whose job it is to fact check, sometimes makes mistakes. For example, in CHINA DOLLS, I have a brief mention of the road production of OKLAHOMA. When I was editing, I moved some things in that chapter. A couple of readers pointed out that I was off by four months for the road production. We were able to fix that in subsequent editions.
Lisa
I'm going to answer your last question first, because this happens to be something that is incredibly important to me. I can't think of a single instance that I have -- or would ever -- change the date of an historical event for dramatic or plot purposes. If you started down that path, where would it end? Could you change the date the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor? Could you change the date of 9/11?
I've had editors ask me to change certain small things, saying, "Who's going to know?" The answer to that is simple. I'd know. It seems to me that if you make one factual error or start playing around with some facts, then it calls the entire work into question.
I do a tremendous amount of research. I double and triple check things. That doesn't mean I'm perfect and I have made a couple of mistakes. Even the copyeditors, whose job it is to fact check, sometimes makes mistakes. For example, in CHINA DOLLS, I have a brief mention of the road production of OKLAHOMA. When I was editing, I moved some things in that chapter. A couple of readers pointed out that I was off by four months for the road production. We were able to fix that in subsequent editions.
Lisa
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