SME Exaggeration

An SME is a Subject Matter Expert.  Think of a doctor, lawyer, Soldier, or mechanic.  These are professionals in their fields.  Yes, many can do a few things the experts can do – lots can stitch up a cut or change out a starter on a car – but the experts can do so much more.  And that’s where, in writing, the problem can come into play.

Because, to be honest, being a professional can be boring sometimes.  It’s one thing to know the overarching and exciting parts of an issue, but professionals know the minute details that bore the hell out of most people.  But because they know those details, they are so much better than amateurs.  As a retired Soldier, I cannot tell you how many amateur tacticians I’ve laughed at who think they know anything about war.  So many think it’s about picking up a rifle and opening fire while giving no thought to how to achieve suppressive fire for maneuver, how to achieve a combined arms integration, or even that most wars are not won or lost through fighting, but rather through logistics(I have to be careful myself here…I can talk all day about warfare in detail that would be mind numbing to most…but that’s why I’m a professional and you’re not).  Similar practices apply to lawyers who scoff at TV courtroom dramas or airline pilots who see random amateurs landing planes heroically on TV.

So why do I bring all of this up?  Because as a writer, SMEs sometimes have to alter their expertise so it can be portrayed in an interesting way for the reader.  Think about it – who would read a story about a doctor working his or her way through pathology slides looking for a single error involving cholestasis or a firefighter who spends hours and hours working on how to attach a hose to a fire hydrant?

It can be maddening to SMEs to have to dumb down their knowledge so that the vast majority of the public, those who have zero expertise in the field, can enjoy a story without lots of requisite knowledge.  Sometimes that even involves changing capabilities to fit a story(and sometimes those capability changes affect the public mindset…most firearms experts know that a “silencer” deflects the concussive pressure from a gun down and away from the shooter but does not “silence” the bang like the movies suggest).  This is fine so long as people understand they’re reading fiction, but it gets either amusing or annoying(depends on your outlook) when those same readers now purport to be experts because they’ve read a book.

In areas I’m not an expert, I’ve had to seek out expert advice from some in order to make my story more realistic.  From medical knowledge to how prisons work, I’ve asked a bevy of professionals, and I’ve usually taken what they’ve told me and tried to incorporate it into my story.  That doesn’t mean I’ve always taken everything unchanged – again, enjoyment of the story has to come first, so some details shift depending on whether or not I think the public would buy it, whether realistic or not.

So please keep two things in mind when you read a book – it’s a story(and usually a fictional/exaggerated one at that), and the exasperation of the expert you know who you tried to dazzle with your knowledge is real.  Maybe they’re patient with your new “expertise,” but not always.  Try to remember that while you enjoyed it, it had almost no practicality in the real world.  But hey, who reads books for reality anyway?