Crime Writing Beckons
BY NITHYA K
If your cash is running out fast and you have an
incessant need to write, why not turn to crime?
No! Not committing crime, but to writing about crime.
Crime is all around us, and people want to know about it. Don't believe
me? Turn on the five o'clock news, Lifetime TV or USA TV Network. You'll
see true crime stories run rampant across television schedules. True
crime on television is the number two genre (next to romance). And guess
what? Someone has to write those movie scripts —might as well be you.
Many movies are adapted from books. Again, someone has
to write those books. It's legal, profitable, and downright intriguing.
You ever wonder, when you're watching the news, "How
could she be so stupid?" or "Didn't they know they were living with a
maniac?" I do, it's only natural. In fact, I think we feel it could
never happen to us.
But, crime can happen to any one of us. That's where
true crime writing comes in. It answers the questions in story form.
For instance, we have learned that kids believe
'strangers' are ugly and 'scary-looking' — like monsters. But we know
that's not accurate, so we teach our kids that a stranger can be good
looking, well educated, and considerate. We can tell them about Ted
Bundy (without the violence) and show them a picture if we really want
to make the point. Many surviving crime victims often say that the
person was so nice; they never suspected he could be capable of such
destruction. We know this because we were told a story either in verbal,
written, or picture form.
If true crime writing interests you, begin by
searching local newspapers for stories. Don't search across the country,
unless you are independently wealthy! Anytime you see an article that
looks interesting, clip it and put it in your 'true crime clippings'
file. If there are more articles about the same crime, then you know it
is intriguing enough to warrant your attention. Still... it does not
mean it is enough for an entire book. To discover the answer to that
question will take research.
Do you have a fascinating criminal? Is the crime
random, or was the victim chosen for a reason? Is the place of action
special (was it at Disneyland, for instance)? Can you write about a
totally different lifestyle than what we know? Is the criminal a member
of MENSA? Is she dressed up as a clown when she commits her crimes? Is
the victim the first woman space rocket engineer? Perhaps the victim is
a deaf child. All of these facts increase the story's public interest
and can take us into a world we have never been in before.
Are there subplots in the crime (not only did he
murder his best friend, he also barged into his friend's family life and
became like another son, then he robbed them one night, and then...).
These questions will help you decide if you have a story worth
considering?
True crime writing is lucrative and actually a
challenging kind of fun. It is about combining journalism with novel
writing. Nonfiction with fiction. If you have what it takes —
determination, time, and a strong stomach — you can take up this as a
career and soar.
Nithya K is an India-based writer who
specializes in writing fiction and has tremendous interest in writing
non-fiction related to science, technology, and other genres. She is
also experienced in creating technical documentation. Basically a BE
graduate with an MBA degree, her main focus is still writing. Nithya is
also interested in ghost writing books and articles in the areas of
business, technical writing, science and technology, and fiction. Visit
her
webpage.
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