RE: Researching a story...
I'm enjoying this debate, can you tell?
:)
I have to differ to your opinion here. I wrote a book that used Jack The Ripper as a 'base' for the story. Some was fiction because no one knows who he was so his early life is unknown. I had great fun with that part.
The rest of the book had to be absolutely faithful to historical fact because there are a great number of 'Ripperologists' who know all the facts and if I got one wrong (even deliberately) I would have suffered with bad reviews slating the book for errors.
I even had to research the phases of the moon at the times of the murders - my book revolved around werewolf legend and therefore, the full moon had a big part to play.
I had to research the weather, living conditions etc and there was even a massive warehouse blaze in the area I was writing about and it would have been viewed unfavourably if I had missed that out.
Sometimes, history can be ignored or tweaked, but not always, not if you want your book unmolested by bad reviews. :)
Ahh yes, I see where you're coming from, and I concede to your argument. That's some meticulous research! The last time I did that was for an academic assignment. My latest story did involve research, but not as much as you did :) Maybe one of these days I would embark on a historical-heavy journey and I shall go down the rabbit hole as well.
I also agree with your side of the argument - being fiction, the tale doesn't have to rely on actual hard facts.