Tom
Istar
I decided to put this in a thread after seeing a post on tumblr that roused my interest. Basically, the OP of this post was complaining about authors using made-up plants in their writing where a real plant would work just as well. Someone replied saying that the reason why authors do this is to protect their audience. If you include real plants in your writing, there's a possibility readers will try to find/use the plants too. If they aren't familiar with foraging, or are young, they may misidentify plants and end up with something harmful or even deadly.
I thought this was an interesting and important point. I myself am familiar with myriads of wild plants and am knowledgeable about safe foraging, but my readers might not be. What do you guys think? Do you use real or made up plants, and do you think this is a valid concern?
I thought this was an interesting and important point. I myself am familiar with myriads of wild plants and am knowledgeable about safe foraging, but my readers might not be. What do you guys think? Do you use real or made up plants, and do you think this is a valid concern?
Last edited: