So I find myself in sort of a bind. I want to write a sort of courtroom drama and/or political thriller. The problem is that I want to take the elements that make a courtroom drama, or the elements that make a political thriller, while removing the specific details of (let's say) the American judicial system or the political system. Essentially taking the genre tropes/techniques and separating out the setting specifics. Why would I want to do that? Well the book is in the Paranormal genre. It deals with Vampire Politics and laws/politics of the Faeries, etc etc. It's dealing with a different setting with its own rules. So what I need is: 1) Some resource that distills the elements of the Courtroom Drama or the Political Thriller (what makes them what they are) without getting bogged down in the actual real world legal system. 2) Some resource that would assist me in constructing my own political/legal rules for these various "organizations". I'd probably be looking for "old school" legal systems rather than fair democratic ones. Any suggestions?
I think your best bet is to decide where your faerie and vampires hail from and look into the systems of government prevalent in those locations during Ancient times and put similar twists on it.
What are the foundations of law in your society? Is the accused presumed innocent or guilty unless proven to the contrary? What are the rules of evidence you will use to decide whether a piece of evidence is admissible? Is there a jury or equivalent, or is the decision made by one or more officials or elders? Can the defendant testify? These are the kinds of questions that make your courtroom drama unique, The essence of courtroom drama, of course, is an adversarial conflict carried out under specific but complicated rules, and with high stakes for tghe participants.
Thanks, Cogito. That's the kind of things I'm looking for. As for "Where they come from", hrm. That might not work necessarily for say, werewolf pack things. The main character is essentially a Lawyer/Negotiator. One who negotiates deals, resolves issues, and moves through the various legal/political systems. So I'm trying to find ways to work that into the systems. Hence trial by combat wouldn't be that useful. I intentionally want to move away from "The Main Character wears hot leather pants, kicks in the door and kicks ass". I do want some situations where in violent confrontation, the main character ducks for cover and hides.