Historical fiction writers come to this genre from a multiplicity of paths. Some of us adore a certain part of history and want to bring that era alive. Others are enamored of certain historical figures. And many—like me—adore the research. People often ask me why I chose the topic of papermaking in the Middle Ages as the subject of my first novel. Honestly, I don’t remember. What I do recall is the hours, weeks, and months spent in the French History section of UC Berkeley’s library. I have memories of researching the history of paper, the history of French trading routes, the history of troubadours as they tackled the weighty issues of the day in the songs.

Succinctly: I have memories of research.

Why research drives me

It’s not altogether surprising this is the aspect of histfic that drives me. As a PhD scientist who focuses on communicating medical advances, research is my bread and butter. What does surprise me is how much of my actual day-to-day work has sharpened my writing skills.

In my day job, I look at disease pathology in a specific medical space, at patients and doctors and their unmet needs, and at approved therapies and ones still in the pipeline. My goal is almost always to change behavior, whether that means helping patients adhere to existing guidelines or adjusting physician perception of patient burdens. The exact details of what I aim to do with any project may differ, but the underling goal is always the same: behavior change.

Behavior change modeling

Changing a person’s behavior is no easy thing. I am notoriously stubborn in certain areas—how about you? Luckily, there are many behavior change models. One of the first onse I learned remains my favorite. It’s called COM-B, and breaks down like this:

Capability: Can they do it?
Opportunity: Is the environment supportive?
Motivation: Do they want to?
These three together enable Behavior.

Some examples:

• What if my book features a bomb: a spy has the training to defuse that bomb but a civilian may not (capability);
• Or if I’m writing about an abusive household: my hero wants to flee, but has no transportation (opportunity);
• How about a caper with an honest thief, who may know how and have the chance to steal but is held back by her conscience  (motivation).

COM-B is essentially a framework to explain why someone does or doesn’t act a certain way. That framework also offers options for how to change that behavior, often called levers, including:

Education – Providing knowledge or information
Training – Teaching practical skills needed for action
Modeling – Observing others to learn what to do
Social support – Encouraging help or acceptance from others
Persuasion – Using communication to influence attitudes or emotions
Incentivization – Offering rewards or consequences to encourage action
Emotion regulation – Helping manage feelings that block or drive behavior

Where science meets fiction

The same levers I use with patients and doctors also apply to my characters. Are they capable of acting within their social and physical environment? Do they have the opportunity, given the constraints of their time—gender roles, class systems, cultural norms? And perhaps most critically, what motivates them, internally and externally? I can’t just say a character leaves her family or incites a rebellion. I need to build the groundwork. What does she know? Who supports or silences her? What internal or external reward pushes her across the threshold?

COM-B helps with plotting and revision, too. Just as I would in a medical strategy deck, I look at the evidence: Where are the barriers? What makes this behavior credible or confusing? Am I shaping this narrative in a way that invites empathy—and belief? For example, when a character doesn’t act, I know to examine which piece of the triangle is missing. Suddenly, what seemed like passivity becomes rich with meaning.

In the end, writing fiction hinges on understanding people in context. What we do, what stops us, what compels us forward. Whether I’m developing a campaign to raise awareness of new therapies or writing a novel about a girl weaving coded messages into khadi cloth, research drives the effort, with empathy, insight, and behavior change at the heart.