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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.
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About
The Author
Nithya
K is a India-based writer who specializes
in writing fiction and has tremendous
interest in writing non-fiction related to
science, technology and other genre. 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 of books and articles in
the areas of business writing, technical
writing, science and technology writing
and fiction.
The author
can be contacted at tutor19us@yahoo.com
and also invites readers to visit her
webpage at www.geocities.com/tutor19us/index.html |
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