I've just sent the first draft of my current novel to my agent, who is fantastic at reading things forensically and has sent it bouncing back with masses of notes and stuff for me to ponder. The book is set in France and without going into too much detail, there are things I need to know about French child protection procedures which I haven't fleshed out in sufficient detail!
This is important, because if one aspect of a narrative isn't plausibly established then the whole of the rest of the story is called into question. You need to do your research properly so that the fictional world you create is absolutely watertight -- one loose piece and the whole lot comes tumbling down.
It is a fine line to tread and one that I had approached rather hesitantly, mindful of the trap of doing vast amounts of research and piling it all in, simply because you have material which you have uncovered and find fascinating, although with hindsight I can see that I erred on the side of leaving too much out. These are judgements and choices that you make all the time when you're writing, and having made them once you have to review and refine them with every new draft.
I guess it touches on the wider issue of what kind of truth you aspire to in the narrative you are telling. Are you hoping to recreate the literal truth of a situation -- the nuts and bolts of fact: this happened and then this happened because of it; or are you aiming at something a little more metaphorical or universal? If it is the latter, and you are hoping to convey something quintessential and resonant, you need to be sure that the basic truth underpinning this is solidly established.
If this is something that interests you and you would like to explore further the different kinds of reality which fiction can consist of, it might be an idea totake a scene from your own life and subject it to two different kind of interpretations: a factual and straightforward one and something more elliptical that looks at its wider significance. In the end, by marrying the two together, hopefully you will arrive at an account that strikes a clear and true note.
I read somewhere - or maybe you told me! - about the need to research in fine detail and then shut your files and write without ever opening them again. It can be hard to resist forcing that fascinating nugget of arcane lore into a piece ... but that's often the sort of thing that sparks a poem so I'm in a winning situation!
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