This week’s letter is the letter D for…
DETAILS

It’s all in the details. That’s how the saying goes. Sometimes you have to get close to appreciate the details. Take my son’s artwork for instance. From a distance, it looks like this:
But when you get up close, you can see all the fine details. Please excuse the quality of the pictures. They don’t accurately depict the quality of his work.

I can’t imagine how long this section took him to draw. I certainly wouldn’t have the patience for it.

Love this one. It reminds me of a freeway interchange. Notice the beam protruding above it all.
I had to stand close to this to get the full effect, to see all the tiny details in the sections of this piece. I imagine I could stand there for a long time and see things I didn’t notice at first glance.

Details are important in our lives. The details of a recipe. The details of a class field trip. The details of directions to a friend’s house or a business.

Details are very important in writing. Punctuation. Grammar. Spelling. They all blend together so that when it’s done right, they meld seamlessly to produce a grand picture.

Historical authors have the burden (or pleasure, depending on your personality) of getting the details right. A good author takes her time with research, doing as much hands on as possible. She’ll consult various sources and ask a variety of experts so that everything is as accurate as she can make it.

We don’t always get the details right. We put the wrong ingredient in, or the right one in the wrong quantity. We read the directions wrong. We miss appointments.

Even authors get things wrong. We don’t catch a grammatical error or miss a comma. Sometimes we even get historical details wrong. No matter how hard you try, you might overlook a detail or get a faulty source.

What details are important in your life? What details have you overlooked and what were the consequences?

BTW, I do know that I missed Wonderful Words yesterday. If you don’t know what that is, you can read some of my posts here. I’m taking some time to analyze it, but I will be back next week Monday I have a great word already picked out. Please join me and have fun with our Wonderful Word.

Go to Patty’s blog to see more a2z posts.