WRITERS’ CIRCLES
DOING TIME FOR THE WRITE CRIME
Writing group members are in for a long stretch with these crime-related exercises from Julie Phillips
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.