A crime fiction novel or short story is one in which the main character is tasked with solving a murder. Because the killer isn’t revealed until the end of the story, crime fiction is also known as mystery or, in slang terms, a “who dunnit.” If you want to be a crime writer, you can make your dreams come true if you devote time to learning the genre and writing every day. Another thing you should do is read as many crime short stories and novels as possible. It’s best not to become a crime writer if you’re not passionate about the genre, but rather to write in the subject area that interests you the most.
If you’re interested in crime but want to be a true-crime author, you’ll need to be a good researcher and interviewer. Gather newspaper clippings, court transcripts, and information about the murder or other criminal case to use as the basis for your book. You’ll need to interview as many people as possible who are close to the victim; many crime victims’ families are eager to help true-crime authors.
Read the works of top true-crime authors like Ann Rule and Vincent Bugliosi to help you organize your true-crime book. You should continue to pursue your own unique style. You’ll want to have something unique to offer an agent or publisher when you approach them. You’ll need to present accurate, compelling text on a true event in your own reader-friendly style if you want to become a true-crime writer.
The main challenge in writing crime fiction is to give the reader clues at the same time as your main character, or protagonist, without allowing the mystery to be solved until you want it to be. If you want to be a crime writer who writes page-turning fiction stories, this quality is essential. You should read a variety of crime fiction books and analyze how the authors build suspense and clues. Keeping track of what you think works and what doesn’t in detective fiction techniques, as well as writing your own original material on a daily basis, can help you develop an appealing style as a crime writer.
You have three basic options for getting your crime fiction or true-crime novel published. You could hire an agent who specializes in crime fiction and has connections with publishing houses. Alternatively, you could approach crime publishers directly researching the best ones for your work, learning how they prefer to be queried or approached with new works, and following each guideline. Research self-publishing options as a third option; keep in mind that you may have to promote your self-published book yourself. Whatever publishing option you choose, you must begin writing your second book immediately after finishing the first if you want to be a successful crime writer.