Best Laid Plans: What Was The Killer Thinking? Creating the Backstory That Drives Your Crime Fiction

Crime fiction writers must learn to think like criminals. They must plot the perfect crime so that when their protagonist solves the caper, he or she will be an authentic hero. To do this, the writer must answer several basic questions: What goes on in a criminal’s mind when he decides that some criminal activity will resolve his problems? What pushes him to act? What steps does he take to plan, commit, and attempt to get away with the crime? Where do his plans jump the tracks? In this lecture we will look at several famous crimes and attempt to gain some insight into what the criminal was likely thinking, the logic—or illogic—of his planning, and the fatal flaws that unraveled his best laid plans. 

Such planning becomes the backstory of your narrative. Your sleuth must then peel back the layers of this plot and its execution to solve the crime.

DP Lyle is the Amazon #1 Bestselling; Macavity and Benjamin Franklin Award-winning; and Edgar(2), Agatha, Anthony, Shamus, Scribe, and USA Today Best Book(2) Award-nominated author of 27 books, both fiction and non-fiction. He hosts the Crime Fiction Writer’s Blog and the Criminal Mischief: The Art and Science of Crime Fiction podcast series. As a founding member of International Thriller Writers he created and directed CraftFest and the Online Thriller school, and co-created and directed the Master Class program. He has worked with many novelists and with the writers of popular television shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Judging Amy, Peacemakers, Cold Case, House, Medium, Women’s Murder Club, 1-800-Missing, The Glades, and Pretty Little Liars.