Curiosity hasn't yet killed this cat.

Beautiful cat portrait close up by @freepik

I'm a naturally curious individual. I think every novelist needs to be, however, in order to know as much as they can about all the different "props" that give their storylines and plots the substance they require so as to keep readers sufficiently entertained that they'll not only finish the book, they'll enjoy its apparent authenticity. Every single story written contains situational props, such as landscapes, furnishings, structures, landmarks, tools and weapons, modes of transportation, animal life, culture, incidental characters, etc. Without understanding which representation of these types of props would work best, our manuscript would fail to achieve its intended sense of (fictitious) reality.

Every single story also possesses history of some sort, not only backstory but a foundation of a historical nature. When an author writes a story set in colonial America, they'd better know as much as they can about it or they'll sound amateurish at best, no matter how compelling the tale itself. Pilgrims didn't live at all like we do. For instance, my newest novel begins set in the time of the French Revolution. I'm preparing a detailed timeline of that historic period before I write a word of my own story. Assuming someone familiar with it would read my book, I wouldn't want them to regard me as a fraud or a fool or a literary opportunist intent upon little more than making a fast buck. I strive to set my stage as realistically as possible in exchange for my royalties. At the same time, I'm learning something!

The only ones, I suppose, who can get away with not researching the things and places and activities and people they use to tell their tales are fantasy and science fiction writers. But, then again, they need to maintain a very extensive and detailed lexicon in order to establish and manage storyline and plot development integrity. Such authors don't want to appear lazy by calling a single prop by a variety of names and disrespectful of their audience by confusing them. Only J. K. Rowling can be forgiven of those.

I even keep a lexicon. From novel to novel in my Down the Prairie Rabbit Hole Romance Series, I need to keep spelling names the same way, managing timelines so they coexist coherently, handling complex relationships so they don't appear incongruous, and introducing new characters so they contribute to the storyline in a holistic manner.

Going back to curiosity and creativity, it's imperative to develop an outline prior to writing a story and doing research on all the elements in the outline with which we aren't familiar. Even if we're writing a contemporary tale set in the town where we grew up and involving people with whom we share a common history or know intimately, there is always opportunity to step outside our comfort zone and type something in that Google search box.

In The Well of Tears and Laughter, my character becomes involved in a horrific vehicular accident. He must lose his leg. Certainly, few of us know someone who has lost their leg. We can write about it, though, regardless of our reality. All we have to do is open our minds to learning everything we can about the situation. I watched a video on an amputation and read numerous articles about the procedure as well as its psychological and physical ramifications. I also studied the pros and cons of various different forms of prosthetics, so my character could make an informed choice about how he was to get back onto his feet.

My character also finds himself facing a peculiar conundrum. He becomes injured in such a way that he can't navigate his environment on his own for weeks and he refuses to resort to strangers' help. I did extensive research to determine there was nothing on the market to resolve the issue. Literally nothing. So, I invented a vehicle that could do the job. In so doing, I was forced to perform more research to find just the right parts to build it to my character's specifications and in such a way as to be reproducible in the real world. I'm hoping this article and my published novel constitute a copyright. Ha! Ha!

My research resulted in a believable story. Not only did my curiosity lead to that and to greater knowledge of my world as well, but it didn't kill me. Although writing shoddy literature wouldn't either, my shame might...