To be honest, I don’t intend to get into the gory details about how to write legal fiction properly. I picked the headline, because when it comes to legal novels (and other stories), so often authors get the details all wrong.
Everyone I know who writes novels tends to sweat the details when it comes to subjects they’re unfamiliar with. Usually, in the case of crime writers, they tend to agonize over exactly how the police do their various tasks, from evidence collection to DNA testing. They also love to hear about myriad ways of killing people – poison, drownings (often made to seem like accidents), hangings (erotic asphyxiation has acquired a new panache as a possible reason for accidental hanging, thanks to crime fiction writers), accidental falls from various high places possibly onto various sharp objects. I could go on.
But why do so few writers double and triple check the legal details, when those issues come up in novels and screenplays?
Why must I endure such ridiculousness as watching a lawyer give a speech to a witness on the stand, instead of asking a freaking question? Seriously – don’t!
Today’s vlog will be the first of (hopefully) a series of videos, in which I’ll discuss some of the myths about law, as well as some of the worst offenders in book or on screen. Not to mention some of those who do it really, really well!
And lest you say, “Gee, Debbi. Aren’t you as guilty? After all, how many lawyers investigate murders? Let alone break into strip clubs to find them?”
To which I say, how many private investigators actually carry a gun or beat a thug up? Try … none! Yes, really. Most private investigators are computer literate nerds who collect information off various Internet databases. But who would want to read a mystery about that? 🙂
