Pet Peeve...

[etakyma]

When writing a story based in a certain time and place authors should do some basic research on the time and place. BASIC research - very basic.

I can't count how many stories I've read when characters travel to other cities and the author has them flying - no matter where it is.

If you are going from New York City to Newark, NJ (ten miles - no really - TEN MILES) - no need to involve an airport. Likewise Washington DC and Baltimore. Or Wilmington, DE and Philadelphia. Dallas and Fort Worth SHARE an airport - so yeah, no flying involved. Boston and Providence, RI or Boston and Manchester, NH - yes, there are puddle jumpers you CAN take between the two, but you really really really don't have to. If you have a character that must get from one city to a city within a fifty mile radius of it? A car, a bus, or a train is more likely than taking a plane.

Just sayin'.

ETA: omg - Boston is NOT an eight hour drive from Westchester, NY. It is maybe four hours. Five in really heavy stop'n'go traffic. Please use googlemaps to guesstimate your car travel times between one place and another.

Comments

[zorb]

I read a fic a month or so ago that featured an early afternoon flight from Los Angeles that arrived in New York in plenty of time for the traveler to have dinner with the family in Connecticut. Not sure why the author didn't tag it sci-fi.

[etakyma.livejournal.com]

Oh, those pesky time zone changes! Yes, the flight itself might be slightly less than six hours... but you have to factor in the three hour time difference - and the time to get from NYC to Connecticut!

How dare you harsh on their fantasy with even vague actual reality...