THE TRIALS OF A CRIME WRITER: USING WHAT YOU KNOW
I've been published for twenty years in August. I've also been writing for about twenty-five years, and I guess at that because I can't quite remember when that writing bug became something that I wanted to spend my life doing. I've been very lucky to be able to all this my full-time job, and also been very lucky to have made connections within the professional scope of what I write.
For those who don't know, I write young adult fiction across a variety of genres. I've done crime/mystery, paranormal, dystopian, and urban fantasy, as well as a few others. My point is that while a lot of my books have some mystery element to them, the crime ones have allowed me to cultivate contacts within my local police. I've also used a lot of my medical connections, from being a chronically ill and disabled patient, and am, usually, able to ask those questions for things from my own doctors, or someone they know. It's been really useful for me as a writer because it means that I'm mostly getting things right.
I know the common advice is to write what you know. I can't claim to have ever solved a crime, or had a psychic gift, or any of the many things that've happened in my works, but I can claim to have used those connections, to make sure that what I write is as accurate as it can be. My step-mum worked in the police on the admin side of things, so I was able to quiz her on some of the finer points. It also led to many discussions over dinner that might be worrying for any other parents should they not realise what I did for a living!
You can't just write what you know. No one can, because even those who have experienced a whole ton in life, they won't have experienced so much when it comes to crafting stories. Now I've always been a writer who likes to flit around genres. I didn't always to begin with, the story ideas I had were always linked somewhat to the crime genre, but beyond that, as I grew as a writer, as I read more, I realised that I had other story ideas and wanted to get them out and into the world.
Some of that involves bringing in specialised people, like sensitivity readers, which I'll talk more about next week, but some of it is simply research and asking questions of people in the right area. Now I do not mean dial the emergency line and ask questions, I feel like that should be obvious to not do, but I don't want to risk people thinking that's a good idea! I mean going into your local police station, explaining what you need, and asking if anyone would be willing, and able, to discuss things with you. But if they're busy, they might say no, and that's okay, and you gotta respect that. Same with medical situations, either calling and asking whether they would be willing to talk, or cultivating contacts another way.
The big thing to remember is that these are people, and careers that have a lot of urgency to them. It might be that they can't spare the time, which is completely valid, or it might be that it's not on your own timetable, and then it's things like google, or talking to other writing friends to see if they can help. For a time I was part of a professionals sharing info group on Facebook where a lot of people with varying specialities joined and then you could post and get answers to your queries when they were able. It worked for a lot of things for me, and I miss those days sometimes.
But my point is, that using what you know can be a powerful tool, just be ready to work at it, and allow people the chance to turn you down and not be difficult about it. Overall, good luck with your searching, and happy writing!
Any questions? Lemme know in the comments!
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