What I Mean By Supporting Detail

One common weakness of novice writing is a lack of specific, supporting detail. Our brains are so quick to look for common denominators that we gravitate toward generalities that are blandly true. One of the secrets of good writing, however, is the specific detail that creates a picture in the reader's imagination, ignites a corresponding emotion, and persuades her of the truth of what she reads.

I'm addicted to obituaries written by London's Daily Telegraph. They chronicle fascinating lives with frankness and charm, and I enjoy honoring the memory of the departed. Tonight as I read the obituary of Wing Cdr. Douglas Wilson, I detected a common element of the obituary page's style: the well-supported generalization.

Here's what I mean:

[The generalization:] Some of Wilson's work was extremely hazardous. [Here follows the first example of hazardous duty.] In 1942 the scientists at Farnborough were conducting experiments to invent a system which would allow low-flying bombers to cut the wires of barrage balloons. To obtain data, Wilson had to make a series of flights in a specially modified Hurricane, a task which involved flying the aircraft into the wires of tethered balloons. On one occasion the wire jammed his controls, and he had great difficulty extracting the aircraft from a spin. He recovered at 1,000 ft, and landed with a length of wire trailing behind his aircraft.

[Second example of hazardous duty.] On November 30 1942, he took off from Exeter airfield in his Hurricane for a further test. As a special precaution, his cockpit was reinforced to reduce the risk of decapitation, but the heavy structure gave him a very limited view. He did not see two German fighters, which were on a tip-and-run raid over Devon. Their Cannon shells thudded into the Hurricane, severely damaging the aircraft's controls. Wilson tried to bale out, but could not open the heavy canopy; after several attempts he managed to land, then discovered that most of the rear of the aircraft had been shot away.

[Third and final example of hazardous duty.] Early models of the four-engine Halifax bomber suffered control problems resulting in many accidents with heavy loss of life. A test crew from Farnborough endeavouring to identify the problem were killed when the aircraft crashed out of control. Immediately afterwards, Wilson took an engineer on a test flight for a further attempt to obtain data. As the heavy bomber entered a turn, it rolled violently and entered a vertical dive. With great difficulty, Wilson managed to regain control before landing the aircraft safely. A major modification to the aircraft's two fins eventually solved the problem. Wilson was awarded the AFC.

Now *that's* what I call supporting detail!