The Writer’s Great Commission should be “Tell a damn good story.” 

Details are extremely important when crafting a damn good story. The right details will bring a story to life. The wrong details will kill it. The challenge for an author is figuring out which is which.

One guideline I use is “Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.”

I write fiction. I write about people who never existed doing things that never happened. Why would I limit myself to the truth when, by definition, I’m making it all up? 

A detail being real doesn’t make it realistic or even important. 

For instance, the correct name of the forms a police officer files when an incident occurs might be important to someone in law enforcement, but to everyone else, it’s not.

During a real trial, a lawyer yelling “Objection!” should be followed by a prolonged discussion about the objection’s merit, not a swift “Sustained!” or “Overruled!”  The prolonged discussions are real. The swift responses are just realistic enough to maintain the illusion the writer is creating.

Analyzing DNA takes about a week, a fact that would slow a fast-paced narrative to a crawl. In fiction, DNA is often decoded within a day or two. While this is not real, realistic enough to overlook and enjoy the story moving on.

What titles are used in the military?  What is the hierarchy of the FBI?  How do hackers break into computer systems? How is a car hotwired?

How much does any of that matter in the end? Most people could not tell the difference anyway. A writer should research these items if they are important factors to the plot or if feel it truly makes a difference in the quality of the story.  Otherwise, it is a waste of time to dig up facts that have no significant value.

Bend the world to fit the story, just be careful not to break it.  The reader has suspended their disbelief, all they want in return is a damn good story.