I’ve become hooked on the Court TV channel.
It used to be just hokey court cases. But no more. It’s a veritable fountain of potential research for a writer now.
Oh sure, Cops is on there. And Cops is fascinating, entertaining television. Sure, some shows are amusing. Because some of the people pulled over or caught breaking the law are just damn idiots and you can’t help but laugh at them. Other times the Cops shows expose the gritty side of Narcotics and Vice, and it’s rife with research potential. Want to learn how to write action scenes? Watch some real life police chases. Yowza!
Oh, but there’s so much more. Haunting Evidence, Psychic Detectives, Forensic Files. You name it, if you’re a writer, you would love this channel. It doesn’t even matter what genre you write.
Last night’s show featured bestselling author Lisa Scottoline giving a running commentary on a case of a man who duped this woman into believing he loved her. She turned over her cash to him, then let him take out $750,000 in life insurance on her. Then he and this other guy killed her and her two children. It took them years to prove it, but the way they worked the case was riveting.
I find the shows compelling in the way a writer can piece together a plotline. Forensics is a step by step process. A lot like plotting. You can learn much by watching these types of shows.
And characterization? Talk about finding interesting characters. Especially bad guys. You want to search for the heart of evil, watch some of these real life murder cases. You could build yourself one hell of an evil character from the files of actual cases.
So while some might think I’m wasting time watching hours of this channel. I’m really researching. Honest. :popcorn: