Tag: getting it right

Getting It Right: Fire

Photo courtesy Ross Beckley
Photo courtesy Ross Beckley

Smoke Signals
Guest Post
by John Kenny

The theatre manager told us we would have to leave if we couldn’t be quiet. A group of fellow firefighters and I were howling with laughter as we watched “Backdraft”. Kurt Russell was dashing through a blazing inferno, coat open, boots rolled down and with no breathing apparatus.

Even the rawest recruit knew that in real life Russell would be dead two steps in. What was missing was the single deadliest thing in a fire – smoke. Hollywood leaves out the smoke, or at best shows a light mist, because if they showed what it was really like all you would see would be a black screen. At best you’d see an orange glow as the camera got close to the fire.

Smoke is the product of incomplete combustion due an inadequate supply of fresh air (oxygen). This is exactly what happens inside a tightly closed home or other structure. Furthermore the smoke has nowhere to go. Sitting around a campfire the smoke simply rises and blows away. Anyone who’s had the smoke blow in their direction knows how uncomfortable that is – the coughing and stinging eyes. You can imagine what it’s like inside a building: even if you could keep your eyes open in that stinging murk, the smoke rapidly builds up until you literally can’t see the hand in front of your face. Continue reading “Getting It Right: Fire”

Getting it Right: Hot Air Ballooning

Writing about hot air balloonsOnce upon a time in another life I worked for a premier hot air balloon company in the Napa Valley. In between selling rides, acting as crew, and working as the morning ‘hostess’, I toyed with the idea of flying a hot air balloon for a living and took lessons from a patient and really brave pilot. Needless to say, when I realized the time and monetary commitment involved I soon abandoned my dreams of guiding passengers on a floating tour above the region that I had grown to love so much. In those days, even though you only needed to complete 10 flights and 35 hours to be licensed as a commercial pilot, most balloon companies in the Valley required a minimum of 500 flight hours before they’d even consider hiring you. Five hundred hours takes a LONG time to add up when most flights don’t last more than an hour or two, and several companies required 1000 hours of flying in the Napa Valley itself.

So, in case you’ve been looking for that unusual element to include in your nascent manuscript, here are some pointers to consider when writing a scene which includes your character riding/piloting a hot air balloon. First, some terminology: Continue reading “Getting it Right: Hot Air Ballooning”

Getting it Right: Horses and Tack

Horses, ah, yes, magnificent creatures: bold, beautiful, noble, fast, and usually misunderstood by the common person. Yup, you got it, Joe Schmo on the street couldn’t tell a Hackney from a Hanoverian. So why should writers need to know? Because there are several million horse owners/lovers in the world; and chances are, they like to read too.

You’ve decided to write a story involving equestrian sports. And just where do you start if you don’t have a clue about horses? To the internet! If you can narrow down your story, you have a better chance of getting the right research material for the job; thus presenting a more believable story.

Okay, I’m a horseperson. I’ve been riding and training 20+ years. But that doesn’t make me an expert on everything horse. Admittedly, I have a library of over 200 horse books. Yes, I own three horses. And when it’s not chucking down rain, or knee deep in mud, I get to ride once in a while. But I don’t claim to know everything about them. Continue reading “Getting it Right: Horses and Tack”

Getting It Right: It’s Academic

I work a few days a week at a nearby college, mainly plucking typos from website copy and asking people to use consistent written language. Choose the futile metaphor of your choice (affixing gelatin to trees, managing herds of cats) and yeah, sometimes it feels like I do a bit of that, too. It’s also made me ridiculously aware of the academic terminology errors in the novels that I read. For instance: Continue reading “Getting It Right: It’s Academic”