Crime writers who were journalists.

[Denis OLeary]

I’ve noticed a large number of successful crime writers were journalists early in their careers. Has anyone else noticed this trend. Other than ex-police, I can’t think of any other profession so well represented.
Any thoughts.

[Hazel Edwards]

Observation skills, writing to deadline and curiosity seem common to journalists and to crime writers. Maybe the other occupational group are those who have earlier contemplated a life of crime?

[Karen from AustCrime]

I think you're right about the observational skills, deadlines and curiosity. If anybody's listened to Peter Temple talk about the process of self-editing as well, there's something in the way that the writing and story-telling methodology that lends itself to journalism and to crime writing.

Perhaps writing about it is a better choice to actually getting involved in a life of crime? (Slightly less spent on lawyer's fees anyway [vbeg]).

[Dana King]

Hazel has the nest answer. I think many crime writers who were once journalists were also crime journalists, which gives them another leg up on the possibilities of crime fiction.

[I. J. Parker]

Yes. That would include the late Tony Hillerman who speaks of this in his autobiography. It's not really the way I write, but then my background is in literature. There are all sorts of ways one may come to the writing of the crime novel.

[John McFetridge]

I wonder if this is why so much crime fiction is written in that journalistic style?

Like all writing, there are also a lot of academics writing crime fiction. Some are even here on Crimespace.

[John McFetridge]

shootin' iron, good. I was worried you'd start forming committees.

[I. J. Parker]

But not all committees confront the administration. In fact, most don't. Most exist because the administration says they have to. And then they play the game of giving all the work to the one member who was naive enough actually to do his assignment. The best way to get credit is to chair the committee and assign the work to others. But it's still a miserable way to spend an academic year. And a word of warning: anyone from English gets to keep the minutes. You'd best lie about that.

[Jude Hardin]

I'm not a journalist, but I play one on TV.

[Dennis Leppanen]

As a former journalist, I can't answer this. Ha! I believe writer's write. I wore many hats during my career including crime reporting.

The reason I write about mysteries and crime is that is what I love to read. The discipline one learns from having deadlines to meet certainly helps me keep the nose to the grindstone.

I only wish I could write with such fast-paced humor as two of my Florida contemporaties, Carl Hiaasen & Tim Dorsey.

[Christopher Valen]

I know Michael Connelly was a journalist working the crime beat before he became a crime writer. I've heard him speak about his former job and how he used it to generate ideas and to create Harry Bosch.

[Dennis Leppanen]

Christopher,

We used to sit around the newroom & discuss our novel ideas. I wrote my first one years ago, a reflection on my time in Nam that was a horrid depressive account. I managed to lose it, thank God.

Michael Connelly is one I haven't gotten around to read. Do you recommend him? And, Harry Bosch?

[Christopher Valen]

Dennis,
I definitely recommend you read Michael Connelly if you like good police procedurals. His first book, "The Black Echo" won the Edgar award. He's written a dozen Bosch novels and a few others featuring different characters. Connelly's work inspired me to write my first police procedural, "White Tombs" which came out last March.