Listen, everyone jokes about going down a rabbit hole of research for a very small detail in a thing you're writing that only exists for a few lines--
Doing research on the topics you are writing about, so that you can portray them accurately, does in fact make your story infinitely more enjoyable, because to you, while writing, it might seem like only a minor detail, but its exactly those kind of "minor" things that, if not looked into by the author, can immediately pull a reader out of a story.
Do you *need* to mention the specific wood that your character's desk is made out of in a historical fiction? Probably not, unless it is something setting up information about the character's social standing and wealth or sense of taste for decor-- but if it is fulfilling those functions, or is part of the plot, you*should*, in fact, research what types of wood and techniques were available in the region and time period you are writing about :)
Because what if, without looking it up, you casually describe a piece of furniture as being in "the style of x" , and X happens to be a technique of painting r staining or carving of wood established by a famous artist who won't be born until a good 300 years after your story is set, and uses materials and processes that won't be invented for 200 years after your story is set?
Because now.... Now your "minor detail" in a throwaway line has become a major plot hole that readers are going to hone in on. They may ask Watsonian questions, such as:
is this alternate history where the timeline is different to what we know of our own earth?
Is someone here a time traveller?
What are the economic implications of this technology and process existing 200 years early, and why is it not evidenced when the characters discuss other wooden constructions that are notably lacking this process that would increase their strength and durability etc?
How absurdly rich is the character to own such a rare and expensive piece of woodwork that they use as a desk for paperwork, and it treat so casually that they're not particularly bothered if a cup of coffee spills on it, or when their Maine Coon cat leaves claw marks on it while playing with their ink pot...
How did a person living in the 1400s generic Europe get a hold of *coffee* and a Maine Coon cat..
....when coffee didn't get to Europe until the 1500s...
....and Maine Coons were first bred in the state of *Maine* in the United States of America in the 1700s and 1800s???
See how such small, "inconsequential" details can quickly spiral into a bigger and bigger gaping hole in your story?
Some readers might not pick up on these details, but the ones who do are likely to be instantly pulled out of the work, especially if the anachronisms continue to pile up and pile up.
If you are writing historical fiction, it is so, so important to do the proper research on the technology and cultures that you are writing about; otherwise, what is the point of it being *historical* fiction, when the characters are simply acting like completely modern 2020s Americans (slang included) walking around a low tech environment, when you could have achieved the same thing without the rampant anachronisms by literally having the characters taking part in / living in a town that if off the grid in a live-in, fun Renaissance Faire or similar, so the incorrect dating of technology, modern language, and other continuity errors are all innately part of the setting itself, instead of errors on the authors part from lack of research?
Especially in the cases where the historical fiction is not even being billed as a fantasy, its just pure mundane historical fiction set in the 1400s...
...But these generic Unspecified 1400s Europeans are also eating pasta tossed with sliced tomatoes and eggplant, and then enjoy a dessert that involves cream cheese as the base...
Anyways. This post was brought to you by me looking up diagrams of the bones of the hand and being able to breathe a sigh of relief that my planned injury and eventual slow recovery does indeed have a high possibility of recovery with lots of physical therapy and a lingering weakness/chronic pain in the hand with the level of medical science available to my characters, instead of being something that would be miraculous to be able to heal in a way that leads to even partial use of the hand the way it needs to be, because of the placement of the bones (carpals vs metacarpals) means it looks and feels really really bad, but isn't completely and irrevocably shattering the many bones in the wrist.
So, the planned injury can go ahead, and the character will be able to eventually regain most of their mobility, but not all of it, and will suffer chronic pain, while still being able to do what they need to do on their journey through the story *without* instantly handwaving everything and getting magically healed, which would literally make the injury literally pointless and remove the stakes from the story...
Your story will be infinitely better if you research the topics you represent, and no, it does not need to turn into hours and hours of wikipedia rabbit holes; often times, simply looking up the "history of x" , whether it is a specific dish, technique, ingredient, etc will give you a general timeline of when it was first available and where it spread to on a timeline.
