Why crime stories are useful for all writers
Not all novelists write crime stories, but crime stories can definitely be useful for all novelists. I think there is something about crime fiction that makes it universal; it’s something that everyone can relate to. It’s not just compelling and interesting for readers, either. It can help writers to develop their craft, no matter what genre they want to write in.
Crafting quality plots
One of the big reasons crime fiction is useful for all writers is the centrality of plot to the genre. Crime novels live and die by the success of their plots. They are typically twisty and surprising and always gripping, and the nature of the genre forces the writer to think carefully about it. Everything needs to make sense and it needs to be believable, no matter how out of ordinary the story in question.
This is something that all writers can relate to. We all want to write stories that are compelling and original, and spending some time thinking through the plot of a crime story can give us a useful insight into structure, suspense and resolution.
A healthy dose of realism
As mentioned above, there is a certain sense of realism about crime fiction that is useful for the vast majority of other writers. This doesn’t mean that it stays away from the far-fetched and hard to believe. Rather, it means that there is something in it that we can all recognise. We might not be familiar with the situations in these novels, but we can certainly empathise with them, and a lot of that is down to the characters.
Crime fiction is well-known for its assorted oddball characters, yet the readers are still able to connect with them. This skill of building a relationship between reader, character and novel is something that can help authors of all genres.
The art of suspense
As suggested above, crime fiction is also famous for its suspense, and the need to build suspense throughout a novel is not just limited to this genre. The best of crime fiction brings in the suspense and doesn’t let up right until the very end – and sometimes not even then. Tricks such as ending chapters on cliff-hangers, giving the characters (and readers) only limited information and introducing threats are things that crime fiction is known for, but they can also apply to other genres.
What other lessons do you think writers can learn from crime fiction? And what can other genres bring to crime novels?
