With all the information available today via the Internet, TV shows, textbooks, etc., concerning all aspects of forensics, it assists those of us who write crime to make our fiction stories ring true. The characters, events, and possibly even the locations might be fictitious, but our killer's actions/reactions, and the processes of the investigators, courts and so on are taken from real life. I do believe it is necessary to do whatever research is necessary to accurately depict all those elements since writers aren't the only ones watching the shows and reading the reference books--our readers do as well.
The other day I was watching one of those documentaries about a killer who, during an interview, stated that he based a lot of his methods of torture on a mystery book he had read. He also had avoided capture for quite some time due to another book, also fiction, that went into great detail about how the use of forensics had caught the killer in the novel. Now, this killer did not say that the books he read actually caused him to kill; he was not trying to place any blame on the writers. But he did say that the books were very helpful to him during his 'career' as a murderer. This man had a library card that he had used on a regular basis, all for true and fictional crime novels. While he attributed no causal effect to the books, he did state that the information in them made him a better killer. I guess he forgot to read the chapter about getting caught...
Anyway, my point being, have you ever wondered what your readers are actually getting out of your work? I know we don't 'cause' people to do anything. People 'do' whatever by their own choice. But, the more advanced crime solving becomes, the more information we provide in our stories, the more entertaining they are to potential readers. But, who are those readers? Are they businessmen sitting on a plane on their way to close a big merger, or are they those teetering on the edge of becoming serial murderers trying to find out just how effective recovery of DNA from certain surfaces can be?
I'm not trying to suggest feeling any kind of guilt here. My stories are hard, dark and violent, and I write only to entertain, as do we all. Let me clarify my use of the word 'entertain', however. I am not trivializing tales of brutality and cruelty as if to portray them as some type of joke. I use the word 'entertain' only to differentiate crime fiction/true crime from those who write books specifically to instruct, as authors of textbooks.
I'm just curious if any of you have ever wondered what effects your stories have and who it is they possibly are affecting.
I don't spend a lot of time worrying what someone might or might not do after reading one of my stories. I don't write to incite... I write to evoke.... big difference between the two.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that as writers, we have a moral obligation to not incite criminal acts - e.g.; don't write a 'how-to-kill-your-evil-stepmother-because-she-deserves-to-die-because-she-made-me-eat-broccoli' - because there probably is someone out there who would follow your 'advice'.
I think it important that our stories have a moral message. I am not saying that good should always triumph over evil, because that isn't the way it is out in the real world and what we write, for the most part, is a reflection of that world. I feel there should be consequences in our stories. There should at least be a subliminal 'lesson' in our stories, something in the tone of the writing.
People will make their own moral judgments and what they do with information gleaned from our writing is on the reader, not the writer.
Veronica, Good points. There truly is a huge difference between 'inciting' an act and 'evoking' an emotion. Unfortunately, good does not always triumph over evil, and sometimes in a story, the bad guy walks away. I'm not sure whether or not I have included any 'lessons' in my story endings, but in no way would I ever try to glorify the evil anyone has done. I also hope that it never comes across as though I am 'celebrating' the fact that they got away with some horrific event--simply the fact that they didn't get caught, but not to make that appear as something to be admired.
DeletePeople are going to do what they're going to do regardless and I do feel that the responsibility for making the moral judgments does lie with the reader. Too, it isn't as if my stories are the only material out there that contain some general forensic information or police investigative tactics. Textbooks and encyclopedias contain all the 'how-to's' criminals are seeking, and all they need is a library card, or to sign up for a class. They don't need to depend on my words to further their 'careers'.
I've shied from the obvious revenge stories for a while because of this. Not thinking I'd influence someone, but because that mindset felt unhealthy to me, I was angry all the time. I still write about vengeance but I try to see how sick and angry you have to be to go through with it, and how at some point the desire to mete out justice is to satiate the person meting it out, and not the victim being avenged.
ReplyDeleteBut that changes the subject. Were you talking about serial killer Arthur Shawcross using The Search for the Green River Killer? Because that's a true crime book that a killer used to evade capture. CSI has supposedly helped many pros evade capture. I don't worry about it. I don't write about serial killers or evil protagonists because I find it often becomes salacious, and I don't want to appeal to readers who would enjoy that. I have enough problems when I write a violent scene in a story and that's all the reader talks about.
Thomas, Trying to write from the perspective and mind-set of a disturbed individual can end up being quite 'disturbing' to the writer, and I do mean that literally. To make characters real to the reader, they have to be real in our own minds, and at times, that can be quite frightening. Not that we would go out and commit crime of any kind, but being deeply involved in a novel or longer piece especially, I've found it affects my behavior to those around me. I'm impatient and tense and have to keep my focus. After a while, I think to myself, 'stop'. It's okay if you walk away for a time. In fact, it probably would be a good thing.
DeleteI can't remember the killer's name, but it wasn't Shawcross that time. I agree though that potential, or active, killers, etc., watch CSI and have unlimited access to the web, and use it. I don't concern myself with anyone using my stories to copy my crimes or evade capture because of something I said. There's plenty of 'how-to's' out there--they don't need me. One thing though, and I think you've basically said this too. You don't want to deliberately appeal to those who only seek the brutality and death. There has to be a story in and around all that. I try very hard not to glorify the evil deeds and individuals, even though at times, they may avoid capture. I don't make them appear as heroes or someone to admire. Even though I don't worry about someone copying from a story of mine, I still don't go out of my way to make them appear as role models. I don't like to read those who write them that way either. Seems cheap.
I see so much of this 'how to' information in blogs, on TV and in movies, that I don't worry what impact my own stories might have. It's all out there for a would be killer to research on their own. Perhaps there's a balance, maybe our stories also redirect some of the more violent prone back from the edge, to live out their fantasies safely in a bit of fiction.
ReplyDeleteRavens, I totally agree. I've often said, they don't need me. There's textbooks, encyclopedias, reality crime shows, newspapers, and so on. I try very hard not to glorify brutality and cruelty, even though sometimes my killers get away with it. It's not because I worry about someone getting ideas--I just prefer not to set them up as potential role models. You make a good point too. Perhaps those who are contemplating taking their violent fantasies a step further (not readers who simply enjoy dark tales) will remain at the fantasy phase if they read some good, dark, and disturbing noir. Perhaps that will suffice. Who can say...
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