Doing time for the write crime
Writing group members are in for a long stretch with these crime-related exercises from Julie Phillips
Crime, whether true life or fictionalised, is big business and is one of the most popular genres. Readers cannot get enough of murder, intrigue and a good old whodunnit. So this month it’s time for your writing group to think about the criminal world. Choose a real-life crime that has happened in any time period. Write down what you remember from news reports or books or know about that crime – the people involved, the nature of the crime, the police investigation, and any subsequent jail sentences or punishments. Think about what fascinates readers of crime? What are the elements that crime writers, whether of fact or fiction, draw upon to pull their readers in and keep them there? Make a note of all the different sub-genres of crime: psychological, thriller, police procedural, sci-fi, historical, cosy, etc. What are the commonalities between them and the differences? Analysing texts like this will help you to narrow down the type of crime writing you want to try and recognising the differences and similarities could help you write a better piece.
Think about the different types of crime: murder, manslaughter, espionage, theft, assault, fraud, etc. Does the type of crime dictate how the piece is researched and written? What is the subject of most of the crime fiction and real-life crime you have read or heard about? Are there any crimes that aren’t so commonly written about that you could use? People are always looking out for something different, or a different angle, for example, a crime investigation from the viewpoint of a family liaison officer.
Going back to the crime you thought of earlier, ask group members to write a short piece from the viewpoint of first the victim, then the perpetrator and the investigating police. You could structure it as an interview with someone – the police or a reporter asking the questions. Perhaps it could be a monologue, with the victim lamenting their predicament – even a murder victim from beyond the grave. it could be the aggressor denying all knowledge of the crime or, perhaps, taking full responsibility for it and showing off, bravado with no remorse on the outside but fearful of the consequences on the inside. Maybe the police can discuss what they think happened and who is to blame. A bystander or witness could offer testimony that may or may not be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Unreliable narrators are interesting and can really throw the police and the reader off the scent, especially if the unreliable witness has something to gain by lying and everything to lose if the truth came out.
How do you begin to unravel a tangled crime? What sort of questions and information do you think you need? If there are people trying to covertly derail proceedings, how do you discover what is truth and fact? What can you do to try and decipher who the victim really is, who the perpetrator is and what circumstances led to the alleged crime, if indeed a crime has been committed. Is it a case of hearsay and can it be proved either way?
Think about diaries, both work and private, mobile phones, security cameras. Consider eyewitness accounts that tally or disagree, the relationship between the victim and perpetrator, if any, phone records, bank records, any other source of information you could access.
What if the victim doesn’t want police involvement? How might they conceal that a crime ever took place and why?
What would their motivation be for that? Perhaps they want it investigated privately using a private detective on the quiet, to monitor and track the perpetrator or suspects and administer their own personal brand of justice because they know the police and criminal justice system won’t deliver. How can you work that into a story?
Thinking about true crime, who would you need to speak with to get the information you need? Most of it might be freely available on the internet or through the media reports but how would you approach the victim’s family for the inside story? They may have a very different story to tell than the official reports and accounts.
Stage a crime in your meeting room or virtually. Give each member a character to play with some information pertinent to that role and their involvement that only they know. Have a member who is the victim, someone the perpetrator, some detectives and some witnesses, some who may or may not be entirely truthful or reliable. See if the group can solve the crime. Writing crime is a great way to learn about plotting, pace and story and also character and if you want a publisher to feel your collar and love your arresting writing, delve in to the murkier side of life.