How to Write a Crime Novel

Typewriter

Writing a crime novel takes dedication and attention to detail. It also requires a large time commitment, as sometimes it can take a year or longer to write a crime novel. It is helpful to research how to write a crime novel before you commit to actually doing it.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Decide if you want to write a fictional crime novel or a non-fiction. If you choose to write a crime novel based on an actual case, stick to the details as much as possible. With a fictional crime novel, you can make up any details that you want.

2. Commit a certain amount of time each day or week that you will work on your novel. Without a time commitment, you may end up procrastinating and never finishing the book at all.

3. Attend court sessions. Even if your novel is not based on fact, it is important that you attend real trials so that you get an idea of what is involved. Even fictional crime novels get their story lines from real-life events.

4. Plan and research the crime that you want to take place in the novel. In other words, if you want a burglary to take place, then you better research how real burglaries have been carried out, how much planning was involved, what caused the criminal to get caught, etc. The more details you gather, the better. Keep notes on your computer or in a notebook.

5. Describe the hero of the story. You now have your crime, so you need to decide who is going to stop the criminal. Is the hero part of law enforcement or just a nosy reporter? Does the hero have any appealing qualities? Does the hero have a weakness? Describe the hero's physical characteristics.

6. Create an outline. The outline will take you from the beginning of the novel the end when the crime is solved. Creating an outline on a computer is ideal. New Novelist is a software program that has templates you can choose from based on your crime. You can fill in your information and it will help you create an outline and then eventually your entire novel (see Resources below).

7. Begin putting your novel together. This should flow pretty naturally as you move from one point in your outline to the next. Use your research and fill in the details. Don't worry about being perfect at this point--just get your story out on paper.

8. Proofread your novel and fix any spelling and grammatical errors. Then put the novel aside for about a week. This will give you time away from the novel so that you come back refreshed and ready to catch errors if there is anything in your crime novel that just isn't right.

9. Fix any mistakes or change any situations that just don't make sense. Print the novel out and have a crime enthusiast read it. Ask them to tell you the truth about the novel. Does the story make sense and is it believable? Are there any details that are lacking?

10. Decide if you are going to implement any suggestions made by your reader and then submit your crime novel for publishing.

Tips & Warnings

• When writing a crime novel based on factual events, conduct interviews of the people involved in the case. You should also clip out and save any newspaper articles.

Resources

• New Novelist