…Even if you’ve never been arrested!
Expert Advice from a Former Federal Agent
via Script Reader Pro
Thankfully, screenwriting isn’t just about “writing what you know.” It’s obviously also about creating and recreating worlds that you might have zero experience of.
So let’s say you want to write a script that involves a crime scene or police investigation scene… But you’ve never been involved with law enforcement.
Many aspiring writers don’t see a problem here. They just dive into writing the script—and fill in the blanks using their imagination.
They feel that because they’ve watched so many police procedural shows, they have a good enough idea of how crime scene investigators operate.
The vast majority then wind up suffering from a severe lack of believability.
Professional writers take a different tack.
They do research.
Writing a crime scene or a whole police investigation script with all the correct details in place will help make for a better story and, ultimately, a better chance of a sale.
Introducing Kirk Flashner: a law enforcement technical advisor…
One way of doing this is to enlist the help of a professional advisor who can read your script and let you know what you’re getting right in your crime scene and what you’re getting wrong.
If you’re writing a crime-based feature script or TV show, you should definitely consider hiring the expert services of a guy like Kirk Flashner.
For almost 27 years he was officially employed as a Federal Agent for the United States Government. He is now a technical advisor for film and TV—reviewing scripts to ensure technical accuracy for law enforcement practices and procedures.
Kirk has been kind enough to make a list of the more common misconceptions he finds in scripts when it comes to police investigation scenes and you can find his contact details at the end of the post….