Having our characters make mistakes - both in handling the evidence and in interpreting it - what can this add to a story?
I think this can be a great character point, if done well. Cops are human too - they get tired, they make mistakes. And these mistakes can mean the difference between catching a criminal and another death; or once you have the suspect in custody, it can be the difference between conviction and a killer going free. Or, conversely, it can condemn an innocent person.
Also, science can easily be misinterpreted - forensic tests give you a lot of raw fact, but don't always point to a clear cut answer. So the interpretation of the raw data is just as important as securing said data.
Adapting existing crimes from real life/other sources - how can this be helpful, and how can it be dangerous? (With outright plagiarism of other fiction excluded, since I think that's usually pretty clear.)
This is an excellent question to ponder. As writers we can be plot magpies. And shows like CSI and Law and Order do this all the time - how many plots have seemed very familiar and you realize they've adapted a RL case? But the question comes in - is this ethical? Real people's real lives were effected, and sometimes destroyed by these events.
So I think as writers we have to be careful not to exploit the pain of real people. I think that while real life events can be a useful source, they should be just that - a source. Not something to be lifted whole cloth and plunked down into your own fic (or show). If that makes sense?? Even if the readers of your fic will never know that these details were taken from someone's real life, it just strikes me as wrong and exploitative. Just my opinion, of course!
Having our characters make mistakes - both in handling the evidence and in interpreting it - what can this add to a story?
I think this can be a great character point, if done well. Cops are human too - they get tired, they make mistakes. And these mistakes can mean the difference between catching a criminal and another death; or once you have the suspect in custody, it can be the difference between conviction and a killer going free. Or, conversely, it can condemn an innocent person.
Also, science can easily be misinterpreted - forensic tests give you a lot of raw fact, but don't always point to a clear cut answer. So the interpretation of the raw data is just as important as securing said data.
Adapting existing crimes from real life/other sources - how can this be helpful, and how can it be dangerous? (With outright plagiarism of other fiction excluded, since I think that's usually pretty clear.)
This is an excellent question to ponder. As writers we can be plot magpies. And shows like CSI and Law and Order do this all the time - how many plots have seemed very familiar and you realize they've adapted a RL case? But the question comes in - is this ethical? Real people's real lives were effected, and sometimes destroyed by these events.
So I think as writers we have to be careful not to exploit the pain of real people. I think that while real life events can be a useful source, they should be just that - a source. Not something to be lifted whole cloth and plunked down into your own fic (or show). If that makes sense?? Even if the readers of your fic will never know that these details were taken from someone's real life, it just strikes me as wrong and exploitative. Just my opinion, of course!
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