- A Lucrative Genre: The True Crime Biography - Clipart.com Photo
A number of true crime writers are (or were) newspaper journalists, who have encountered the victims of crime regularly in the course of their work. Journalists on the crime beat have an advantage, because they tend to know the court system and have contacts in the police force.
However, that certainly doesn't mean that this field is not open to newcomers. A writer who can pitch a good true crime idea to a publisher, and who can get the necessary background information from not only victims and their families, but also from the criminal and their families, has a good chance of getting a contract.
One of the best-known true crime writers in the world is Ann Rule (commonly acknowledged as the 'Queen' of True Crime in the USA). Ann has built a lucrative career writing about the crimes of others; through both book sales and spin-off mini-series sales.
Ann's first book was The Stranger Beside Me, about serial killer Ted Bundy. This set her on the path to success, and there have been many books since. Readers may remember another of her books, Small Sacrifices (the story of a mother convicted of shooting her three children) which stayed on the New York Times' paperback list for nine months after it was first released in 1987.
True Crime Writing – Authors Need Sensitivity
Writers of true crime biographies should keep in mind that the story reflects real suffering endured by other people. Yes, the facts of the case are often fascinating, but because this kind of writing frequently involves murder, it is also gruesome – and usually sad. The person who has been killed is not the only victim: the pain of the families endures, and the writer needs to be sensitive to this.
Families of the victim have usually had to face the glare of publicity surrounding the case, and some harassment from the media. The criminal who is the subject of the biography may or may not want to talk to the author. The criminal's family may or may not want to talk. The writer has to be prepared to put in a lot of effort to get the facts, and to meet people he or she would never usually spend even five minutes of time with.
What Goes Into a True Crime Biography?
True crime writing is based, first and foremost, on the facts of the crime. After the court case is over and the criminal has been sentenced, the court transcript is usually available for scrutiny. (The Court sometimes makes a ruling that the transcript not be made available to anyone other than the parties to the proceedings – if, for example, the hearings are held "in camera" or if there is a suppression order.)
The true crime author's job is to adopt a certain attitude to the crime, and to decide what information should be included or left out. Then there's the time frame of the story... where will the story open? With the sentencing? With the day of the crime itself? With the early life of the victim or of the killer?
A writer of a true crime biography has to think about:
- how to check the facts
- how to order the facts
- how to interpret the facts
- how to present the criminal (and the criminal's family)
- how to present the victim (and the victim's family)
- how to pace the story
- how to make all characters come to life (this can involve paraphrasing what the criminal has said in any interviews; quoting the victim's family; imagining how any conversations might have gone between people who are no longer alive to confirm it... and a lot more)
Writing True Crime and Suspense
It's obvious that writing biographies (whether true crime or not) involves using many of the tools at a fiction writer's disposal. The writer's job is not only to present the facts of the case, but to entertain. It can be tricky trying to get into the mind of the main players in the drama, and to do it convincingly... but for those writers who can pull it off, a potentially lucrative career awaits.
For those tempted to try writing a true crime biography, there are still plenty of second-hand copies of Tom Byrnes' book Writing True Crime and Suspense on Amazon.com. Although this was published in 1997, it still garners positive reviews.
A final insight from True Crime guru Ann Rule: On her website, Ann tells us that she gets hundreds of suggestions for homicide cases to write about every week. She says: "...cases that garner so much media saturation don't make good subjects for me. There is nothing left to tell, and certainly no way to create any suspense in a book."
So what does Ann prefer? The murder mysteries that do not attract heavy media interest (interesting from someone who first achieved success writing about Ted Bundy, one of the most notorious killers of all time!) She also doesn't opt for unsolved homicides or those that are solved too readily. It's probably worth heeding a tip from the Queen of True Crime!
Marg McAlister - Marg McAlister has tried on a good many writer's hats in her career, and has enjoyed wearing most of them. Her writing achievements ...
