Last week, Pocket editor Abby Zidle stopped by to talk about the top 5 mistakes that crime writers make.  So, how can a crime writer make her story sparkle, while getting those authentic details right?  Here are some suggestions.

1. Talk to real-life sources.

Know a lawyer or police officer? Ask her about your scene. Don’t know one? Most police stations have a public relations branch that will put you in touch with someone who can answer your questions. Many will allow you to do a ride-along, going in the marked cruiser while a patrol officer does his shift. This is a wealth of how-to information.

Most cops and prosecutors love telling war stories. Be respectful, ask questions, follow up with thankful emails. You may find you have more stories than you can use!

2. Tour your local police facility

Many police stations offer the public the opportunity to visit the station and tour the facilities. For many years, the Baltimore City Police Department had a whole series of tours set up where you could see the coroner’s office, police station, or crime lab. You’ll see the kind of details you simply cannot get anywhere else.

3. Visit a courthouse, watch a trial.

Trials are public, and they can be good entertainment in addition to a wealth of information. Go for a specific trial, or simply poke your head into a bunch of different courtrooms. Each one will have its own ambiance. Some courtrooms are cattle calls of a dozen misdemeanor cases, while others may be holding a major homicide trial or a multi-defendant federal racketeering case. You’ll get a sense for how lawyers ask questions, how witnesses answer, and how the courtroom feels.

4. Consult books on criminal law.

An excellent book on getting the legal details right is Leslie Budewitz’s “Books, Crooks & Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure.” It won an Agatha last year and is a thoughtful, easy-to-understand how-to manual.

5. Check your terms.

In New York, the main trial court is confusingly called the Supreme Court, while highest court is called the Court of Appeals. A writer unsure of terminology can call the court, check its website, or consult the National Center for State Courts website (www.ncsconline.org) – its  directory shows the structure and names of all state courts.  Another trick: call a law professor in the state you’re writing about.

6. Read the local papers.

Once you’ve chosen the jurisdiction where your story is set, read the local papers for that area. You’ll quickly get a sense of the terminology for that jurisdiction. The stories also reveal local quirks that give a story a sense of place and realism.

7. Walk your city.

Go behind the scenes, beyond the parts you’d see on a bus tour. Touch the pavement and see the streets you’re writing about. Visit the real places where your scenes are set. Ask for a tour. When organizations hear that you’re a writer, they’re often happy to chat with you and get the free publicity.

8. Talk to people.

Strike up conversations with people you wouldn’t normally chat with. Have the courage to ask questions. And then really listen to their answers. Get to know them, where they’re coming from, and what makes them tick. Then use what you’ve learned to create your characters and make them real.

9. Use the Internet

There’s nothing like the experience of actually being in the real place you’re writing about. But if you just can’t make it there, you can find information online covering everything from police terminology, forensics, government sites, and guns. Here are a couple sites that have a great database listing lots of different sources:

Internet Research Resources for Mystery and Crime Writers:  http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/feb99/gak12.htm

Exploring Web Resources for Crime: http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2010/04/exploring-web-resources-for-crime.html

Good luck and have fun!

The wonderful Abby Zidle is the paperback editor of my first novel, “Law of Attraction.”  Abby and I recently went to the Romance Writers of America national conference, where we presented a seminar called “Criminal Mistakes: what crime novels and TV shows often get wrong.”  I spoke about many of the topics we’ve covered here on this blog.  Abby discussed the mistakes that make her cringe when reading a manuscript.  I’ve gotten lots of requests to post Abby’s speech, so here it is —  with thanks to Abby for letting me reprint it here.  

Crime writers, take note of Abby’s Top 5 mistakes, and avoid getting these things criminally wrong!  

1. I have a secret, but I can’t tell you.

When your protagonist overhears the bad guys explaining a key plot point, but chooses not to share that information with anyone. When the victim tells the investigator he has no idea who’d want him dead, and leaves off that business partner we saw threaten him two pages ago. If you’re going to let us know that one of your characters is keeping a secret, you’d better have a good reason for it.

2. I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.

So you’re at the climactic scene in your book, and the protagonist has been captured by the villain. All the baddie needs to get away scot-free is to shoot your guy in the head and skip town. So what does he do? Decides to have a little chat in which he confesses every detail of his plan because “What does it matter? I’m going to kill you anyway.” Ok, Dread Pirate Roberts, thanks for sharing. Please, try to find a way to avoid or overturn this cliché—your readers will thank you.

3. Oh noes! My cell phone/GPS/Interwebz is down!

I know, I know, these things happen. They do. But when they happen in your book, it can’t feel like they happen just so that you can get to page 384. If you need your person to be incommunicado, establish a good reason for it. Did she flee the bad guy and was forced to leave her purse behind? Is she living in a remote mountain cabin to get away from it all, and has to drive down to the general store when she wants to make a call? If you set it up well, I’ll believe you. But if your protagonist is a type-A perfectionist who dots every i and crosses every t, no, she didn’t just forget to charge her phone last night!

4. Don’t go in the house!

We’ve all seen them—the “too stupid to live” characters. Just like in your favorite bad horror movies, these protagonists are constantly ignoring advice, orders and common sense in their efforts to dash headlong into trouble. When the cops tell the “plucky” journalist at the crime scene, “Let us do our job,” and she starts investigating, only to get snagged by a crime ring? I say, “She had it coming.” Mind you, there are good reasons for your protag to strike out on her own—just make sure you’ve established them.

5. Too many red herrings in this tank.

You know whodunit—great! And you also know you need some likely suspects who didn’t do it. But we don’t need to meet every single one of those suspects in one overstuffed chapter. And we do need to meet them occasionally thereafter. Nothing says “guilty” like the snippy secretary who gets a really long scene in Chapter 3 and then disappears until Chapter 27.

Abby Zidle is a senior editor at Gallery and Pocket Books, where she acquires a variety of commercial fiction and nonfiction. She always charges her cell phone.