Turning Real Life Events Into Novels

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Last week, a reader emailed me a question about fictionalizing real life events and people. It’s a topic I don’t think I’ve actually discussed here before, and one worth diving into, as writers pull from the real world all the time. But there is a difference between inspiration from a writer’s life, and basing a novel on real events.

Great events and people tend to inspire stories. We can’t help but imagine the inner workings of a situation, the twists of a potential plot, and the reactions of the people involved. It’s only natural for us to want to take that spark and develop a story around it.

10 Tips for Writing About Law Enforcement

By Harry Sarkisian

Even when we write about fantastical worlds, we still want that sense of realism and authenticity to our writing. For crime and mystery writers, getting those details right is even more important, as factual errors can hurt a book's (and an author's) credibility. To help with that, crime scene photographer and writer Harry Sarkisian is here to share a few tips on what writers commonly get wrong about law enforcement. Welcome Harry!

Harry began writing seriously in November of 2011. He has nine works in progress with one "Flying On The Ground" going back to the editor hopefully releasing by this summer. 2014 marks the ninth year of stepping over bodies in Los Angeles California as a crime scene photographer for the Los Angeles Police Department.

Take it away Harry...

Twisting Legality for the Sake of the Plot

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Even when we're writing realistic fiction, writers sometimes have to stretch credibility to make a story work. Novels are often about larger than life situations and adhering to real life rules would take all the fun out of them. This is especially true in juvenile fiction, where plots focused on kids doing things the child reader could never do is part of the appeal.

Sometimes writing things as they would really happen actually hurts the story, as in this reader question:

Q: I asked a question on a writing forum and someone brought up an issue of legality within the novel's plot. My MC is a 12-year-old boy who is recruited by a secret part of the FBI for various reasons including his recent alien abduction. I was trying to decide if the parents should know about his job or not. A commenter asked about the legality of having his parents not know. Of course in the real world that would be an issue but how/when do you worry about those things in fiction? Specifically in a sci-fi or fantasy setting where the rules of real life are already being broken? When do you twist legality for the sake of plot?