Hello everyone! New member here. I recently re-watched Psycho and the money theft subplot sparked my interest, mainly due to the irony that the protagonist saw it as a means of salvation when it inadvertently/unrelatedly led to her demise. It gave me an idea to write a short story/possibly novel about a man who finds himself in a tangled web due to a similar lapse in good judgment but I don't have the slightest idea about the particulars on laws regarding theft, investigatory procedures, etc. I was hoping someone here might be able to point me in the direction of a few good, easy-to-understand resources so I can make some sense of which direction to take my story. Everything I've come across so far hasn't been very informative. Any help will be greatly appreciated!
First of all, you'll need to decide where your story is set. Laws differ from country to country, state to state, etc. Then, if you have no idea what your plot will be like, I'd advise that you go to Amazon (either the US Site, the UK Site, or wherever you plan to set your story) and put these words into the search bar: The Writer's Guide To That should throw up dozens of books, specifically designed for writers, to help keep you straight on whatever tack you're going to take. There are books on Crime, Detectives, etc. You'll have to scroll through quite a few, but I'm sure there will be a couple that will get you pointed in the right direction. Of course when you start writing, you'll have more specific questions. Google is your friend! Good luck. Oh, and welcome to the forum, by the way.
Hello Jannert! Thank you for both the welcome and your input. I know I want to set the beginning 1/3 of my story in Chicago, so I know I need to find out the laws, etc for there. I was also considering setting the story in the early 1980s, which could prove to be an added challenge since historically laws have a tendency to evolve and information on laws then, I assume, wouldn't be as readily available as laws today... at least not without some digging. I initially thought my main character would steal money and I've already done some research in that area... nothing too helpful or easy for a layman like me to comprehend, though... so I may decide to do something less predictable. Steal a valuable art piece? An animal, perhaps? But I digress. I'll have to take a little jaunt over to Amazon and see what I can find there. I was hoping to avoid buying books because I'm hesitant of making a purchase in case they wouldn't have the specific info I'm looking for. Renting from my local library isn't an option at the moment either, as I'm in the middle of a big move and don't want the hassle of remembering to make a return. At any rate I thank you for your help!
About British laws, jurisdiction... Stephen Wade & Stuart Gibbon: The Crime Writers Casebook. It's a good start. It might help to understand what to seek.
Google is definitely your friend, but you will have to do some digging. However, since you aren't sure what your 'crime' is going to be, just browsing some of these sources might give you an idea. (Check the bibliography at the bottom of the Wikipedia article. LOTS to discover here.) You are lucky, in that so much is on the internet. When I was doing research for my story (set in Montana in the 1880s) the internet was just getting started. I ended up ordering LOTS of books, etc, that just seemed good. That was before Amazon had its 'look inside' feature as well, so I did spend a lot of time and money on material that proved not so helpful. Nowadays you can get hold of just about anything you need simply by checking out what's online ...then maybe supplementing with a couple of books that are specific to your needs. For starters, try these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Chicago theft crime in Chicago (put this into google as the search topic) 1980s Chicago crime records (put this into google as the search topic) Your chances of finding somebody here on the forum who is fluent in Chicago/Illinois/Federal crime law and is willing to tell you all you need to know isn't that likely. That's the kind of research you'll need to do yourself ...but we can certainly help point you in the direction of what you need to do to get there.
If all else fails you can go to a police station and just ask them how it all works, but definitely explain you're writer or maybe they'll think you're sussing them out for less than legal reasons.
Thank you, Jannert! I've always had an interest in crimes, heists and things of that ilk but not having any proper knowledge about them will be a hurdle to jump, for sure. You're right in that I'm lucky to have so much information at my disposal through the internet but at the same time I'm hoping that overabundance of material doesn't become a mental tangle of confusion! I'll definitely follow your suggestions, though. Thanks again for them!
Hello GrJs! Thank you for the suggestion! I'm not sure visiting a police station would work for me, seeing as I don't live anywhere near Chicago (which is where I've decided to set my story) and the laws here in PA are likely at least somewhat different. I can definitely see how that could be helpful to a crime author, though, and explaining that you're writing a crime story to them would definitely be a must, lest they suspect suspicious activity. I wonder if there are phone numbers which one could call for the type of info I'm searching for? I'll have to look into it. Thanks again for your recommendation!
Hello Oscar Leigh! I'm not sure what you mean by "shouldn't this go in research"? I did tag my thread as a resource discussion...
he means into the research forum - the plot development board is for discussing plots while research is for well, research, of specific things - its always a grey area and this could have been in either - but i tend to agree you'll get a better response in research so i'll move it over for you. the tags don't work well here so we tend to delete them... the exception is using prefixes in the genre and by writing form boards
