Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Gun 101


Matthew Bayan has some interesting observations about mystery writers. via Mulholland Books

Unless one has hands-on experience with firearms, it’s easy to make mistakes. At a mystery writers’ workshop, I asked the audience how many had used firearms in their mysteries or thrillers. Almost every hand went up. I then asked how many had ever shot a firearm. Less than half the hands went up. If we’re going to write in these genres, let’s know a little about the weapons our characters use.

And some good advice:

And try going to a pistol range for some hands-on experience.
What's your opinion? Don't you hate it when a movie or book makes obvious mistakes in the portrayal of guns? I don't mind too much when the hero has a seemingly inexhaustable magazine, but things like the continual racking of the slide bother me. What about you? What about the hero shaking off a bullet or two and continuing the fight? Do you find that unrealistic?

Please leave a comment.

4 comments:

  1. Don't you hate it when elected Congress Critters and gun grabbers makes obvious mistakes in the portrayal of guns?

    There, I fixed it and yes I do. I hate it when it happens in movies, too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bill Baldwin:

    Don't you hate it when some fact inconveniently makes your gunzloonz narrative look as silly as it is? There, see how easy that is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. democommie:

      Don't you hate it when some dipshit doesn't know how to use the reply function. See how easy it is?

      Delete
  3. William Sanders, a writer of science fiction and other genre novels, has this site to educate his fellow authors:

    http://www.sff.net/people/sanders/rrdws.html

    Yes, Hollywood guns drive me nuts. Doing basic research before writing the movie or the novel is the mark of a good writer. Unfortunately, too many in the audience also know nothing about firearms, so writers get away with it.

    ReplyDelete