There are various ways to make a novel come to life, to project reality into a work of fiction. One of those ways that I have mentioned in other posts is to use dialogue and character musings to bring the reader into a “you-are-there” relationship to the characters and action. However, another important but less articulated way is to introduce enough factual detail that the reader feels genuinely engrossed in the plot, even though the storyline is fiction.
Some well-known authors are recognized for including details, like the workings of a submarine or aircraft, that give authenticity to the setting and cause the reader to feel that he or she is mentally and emotionally involved in something real, something that really could have happened. It can be important to portray a real and authentic setting to anchor a work of fiction.
For example, in my novel “The Impossible Mock Orange Trial’ (Book-of-the-Month Club selection for October), I tried to give an authentic picture of what it is really like to try a high-stakes lawsuit. My statements about the law and legal proceedings had to be accurate and credible to knowledgeable lawyers, while clear and plain enough for lay readers to understand exactly what is going on and why. In that particular case, the crux of the story related to an accident associated with an exploding tire on a vehicle, and about why it happened and who was at fault – if anyone. This required delving into tire manufacturing and tire maintenance in some detail so that the readers could make judgments about who or what was at fault as the evidence unfolded. I am sure some readers found the amount of detail to be a little more than they really wanted to know, but virtually all of them have said that, by the end of the book, they understood why it was necessary to provide that detail. It actually is interesting information, how a tire is made, the complexity of which hardly any lay persons understand, so there is a side benefit of an educational nature to learning something about that subject. But the information also is critical to understanding the story and feeling that it has authenticity.
In my most recent novel, “The Jury Has a Verdict!”, I include some details about the grading of lumber, which were necessary in order to appreciate fully some fraud involved in applying false grade marks to lumber in order to get a better price for the lumber. There is also information about why the grade assigned to lumber matters, in terms of building a safe and durable structure utilizing the lumber. So, in writing or reading a book, one looks for authenticity, and it is important that the reader feel that the author is on top of the plot and that the factual setting is authentic.