Things People Say

So, the tricky thing about writing is that in real life, people say things that are wrong. In fiction people can do this to, but then the reader needs context so they can determine is this character an idiot, or misinformed, or is this an author problem. Perfect example, my roommate from Florida spent a lot of time trying to explain extreme humidity to me, because she was sure I had not experienced that. (That summer she learned.)
So, if I read a book set in the south where a born and raised Southerner explains that their summers are hot and long, that makes sense to me. And if said character says that to someone from say Chicago, I buy that too. But if the Chicago character then says something like wow, that sounds hot I start to wonder. Because I've been to Chicago in the summer. It's hot. And I see the temps on the weather map on the news, that wasn't a freak occurrence. So, either the character from Chicago is worried entirely about summer length or, the author didn't research Chicago since the book wasn't set there. Either way, I stopped reading for a moment.