How to Write Your True Crime Story

Summary

The video script outlines a method for crafting true crime stories, emphasizing the distinction between journalistic and narrative non-fiction styles. It suggests focusing on the 'who, what, when, where, why, and how' of the crime. For journalistic writing, an inverted pyramid approach is recommended, prioritizing crucial information upfront. In contrast, narrative non-fiction delves deeper into character development, motives, and scene setting. The script introduces a five-box framework to organize the story's elements, from the lead to the kicker, guiding students to create engaging and impactful true crime narratives.

Takeaways

• 📝 The goal is to write a true crime story, which can be approached either journalistically or in a narrative non-fiction style.
• 🔍 Both styles aim to provide the 'five Ws and H': who, what, when, where, why, and how, but differ in their approach and language use.
• 📰 Journalistic style is more objective and fact-focused, using succinct language and following the inverted pyramid model where the most important information is upfront.
• 📚 Narrative non-fiction style delves into character development, motives, and uses more imagery and scene setting to build suspense and interest.
• 🧩 The story structure can be built using five 'boxes' to organize information: lead, nut graph, new image/detail, supporting material, and kicker.
• 📈 The 'nut graph' summarizes the story, answers why it matters, and provides the impact and timeliness of the story.
• 🔑 Different types of leads are suggested for both journalistic and narrative styles, such as straight news leads, observational leads, anecdotal leads, scene-setting leads, and zinger leads.
• 🎨 The narrative style uses descriptive language to paint a vivid picture, focusing on character and setting, while journalistic style is straightforward and fact-based.
• 🔍 Research is key, and students are encouraged to use true crime resources to gather information on their chosen crime or criminal.
• 📋 The script instructs students to bullet point their findings and organize them into the five boxes to create an instant outline for their story.
• 🔄 The next class will focus on organizing the story, deciding whether to focus more on the crime itself, the context, the community, the victims, or the perpetrator.

Q & A

What are the two main approaches to writing a true crime story mentioned in the script?

The two main approaches mentioned are a journalistic approach and a narrative non-fiction style approach.

What are the key elements that should be included in a true crime story, regardless of the writing style?

The key elements to include are the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the crime, the criminal, and the victims.

How does the language style differ between journalistic and narrative non-fiction in true crime writing?

Journalistic writing is more objective and focused on facts, being succinct and less flowery with language. Narrative non-fiction uses more imagery, character development, and scene setting to build interest and suspense.

What is the inverted pyramid model in journalistic writing, and how does it apply to true crime stories?

The inverted pyramid model places the most important information at the beginning of the story, ensuring that even if a reader stops halfway, they have received the most crucial details.

What are the five boxes used to structure a true crime story, and what information should be placed in each box?

The five boxes are: 1) Lead - initial image or detail to draw readers in, 2) Nut graph - summary of the story and its relevance, 3) New image or detail - a shift in the story that resembles the lead, 4) Supporting material - additional information to flesh out the story, and 5) Kicker - a strong closing image or emotion to leave a lasting impact.

What is a 'nut graph' in the context of writing, and why is it important?

A 'nut graph' is a section of a story that sums up the main points, answers the 'so what' question, and provides the impact and relevance of the story to the reader.

How does the script suggest developing characters in a narrative non-fiction true crime story?

Characters should be developed by focusing on who they are, what is known about them, and their motivations and actions within the context of the crime.

What is the purpose of the 'kicker' in a true crime story, and how does it differ between journalistic and narrative styles?

The 'kicker' is meant to leave a strong emotional impact or memorable image with the reader. In journalistic style, it's a factual statement, while in narrative style, it's a more detailed and evocative image or quote.

What types of leads are suggested for journalistic and narrative styles in true crime writing?

For journalistic style, straight news leads, observational leads, and anecdotal leads are suggested. For narrative style, scene-setting leads and zinger leads are more appropriate.

How should a writer research and prepare to write their own true crime story according to the script?

A writer should research their chosen crime or criminal, bullet point the who, what, when, where, why, and how, and create their own five boxes with quotes and statistics to build an outline.

Outlines

00:00

📝 Crafting a True Crime Story: Approaches and Techniques

This paragraph introduces the task of writing a true crime story and outlines two primary approaches: journalistic and narrative non-fiction. It emphasizes the importance of providing the five Ws and an H (who, what, when, where, why, and how) in the storytelling. The paragraph distinguishes between journalistic writing, which is more objective and fact-focused, and narrative non-fiction, which delves into character development, motives, and uses more imagery. It also explains the inverted pyramid model typical of journalistic writing, where the most crucial information is presented upfront, contrasting it with the more story-driven, suspense-building narrative style.

05:02

🔍 Structuring the True Crime Narrative with Five Essential Boxes

Paragraph 2 delves into the structure of a true crime story, introducing a method using five 'boxes' to organize information. The first box is for the lead, which should be engaging and set the tone for the story. The second box contains the 'nut graph,' explaining the story's relevance and impact. The third box introduces new details or a turning point in the narrative, while the fourth box provides additional information to flesh out the story. The final box is for the 'kicker,' a strong closing element that leaves a lasting impression on the reader. The paragraph also discusses different types of leads suitable for journalistic and narrative styles, such as straight news leads, observational leads, anecdotal leads, scene-setting leads, and zinger leads, providing examples for each.

10:03

🔬 Applying Research to Build a Compelling True Crime Outline

The final paragraph focuses on applying the learned techniques to one's own writing. It encourages students to use true crime resources to research a crime or criminal of their interest, and to bullet point the essential elements (who, what, when, where, why, and how). The paragraph guides students to create their own five boxes with quotes, statistics, and other information for each part of the story, from the lead to the kicker. It sets the stage for the next class, where students will explore how to organize their story, focusing on either the crime itself, its context, the community, the victim(s), or the perpetrator.

Keywords

💡True Crime

True crime refers to a genre of storytelling that explores real-life criminal activities and the events surrounding them. In the context of the video, true crime is the central theme, with the focus on how to write compelling stories about real crimes. The script discusses various approaches to writing true crime, including journalistic and narrative styles, highlighting the importance of detailing the 'who, what, when, where, why, and how' of the crime.

💡Journalistic Approach

A journalistic approach to writing emphasizes objectivity and a focus on facts. In the video, this approach is contrasted with a narrative style, suggesting that a journalistic true crime story would be more straightforward, succinct, and centered around the essential facts of the crime, such as the 'who, what, when, where, why, and how,' without excessive embellishment or narrative flourish.

💡Narrative Non-Fiction

Narrative non-fiction is a style of writing that tells true stories in a manner similar to fiction, with a focus on character development, setting, and plot. The video explains that a narrative non-fiction approach to true crime storytelling would delve deeper into the motives and backgrounds of the characters involved, use more descriptive language, and build suspense to engage the reader.

💡Inverted Pyramid Model

The inverted pyramid model is a journalistic writing technique where the most critical information is presented first, followed by less important details. The video uses this concept to explain how journalistic true crime stories are structured, ensuring that even if a reader stops halfway, they would still have grasped the most important facts of the case.

💡Character Development

Character development is the process of creating and presenting characters in a narrative. In the context of the video, character development is a key aspect of narrative non-fiction true crime writing, where the writer aims to provide a deeper understanding of the individuals involved in the crime, their motivations, and their roles within the story.

💡Chronology

Chronology refers to the order of events in time. The video discusses the importance of chronology in true crime storytelling, where the writer organizes the events leading up to, during, and after the crime to provide a clear timeline for the reader. This helps in building a coherent narrative, whether the story is told linearly or with a non-linear structure.

💡Setting

Setting in a narrative refers to the time and place where the story occurs. The video emphasizes the importance of setting in true crime stories, where the writer paints a vivid picture of the environment to provide context and enhance the reader's immersion in the story.

💡Motive

Motive in a crime story refers to the reason behind the criminal act. The video highlights the significance of exploring the 'why' in true crime narratives, which involves understanding the motivations of the perpetrator and possibly the reactions of the victims or the investigative process.

💡Lead

In journalism and storytelling, a lead is the opening section of a story designed to grab the reader's attention. The video discusses various types of leads, such as straight news leads, observational leads, anecdotal leads, scene-setting leads, and zinger leads, each with different strategies for engaging the reader at the beginning of a true crime story.

💡Nut Graph

The nut graph is a summary statement in a news article or story that encapsulates the main point or significance of the piece. In the video, the nut graph is described as a crucial component that connects the lead to the rest of the story, explaining why the story matters and what impact it has, which is essential for maintaining reader interest.

💡Kicker

A kicker in storytelling is a strong closing element that leaves a lasting impression on the reader. The video describes how the kicker in a true crime story should provide a memorable image, quote, or emotional impact that resonates with the reader after the story has ended, effectively concluding the narrative.

Highlights

The goal is to write a true crime story, which can be approached either journalistically or through narrative non-fiction.

Regardless of style, the story should provide the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the crime.

Journalistic style focuses on objectivity and facts, while narrative style delves into character development and scene setting.

Narrative non-fiction relies more on imagery and building suspense, even in true crime stories.

Journalistic writing follows an inverted pyramid model, prioritizing the most important information upfront.

Narrative style focuses on character development, action, chronology, setting, motive, and narrative description.

Five boxes are suggested for structuring the story: lead, nut graph, new image/detail, supporting material, and kicker.

Leads can vary in style, including straight news, observational, anecdotal, scene setting, and zinger leads.

The nut graph sums up the story, answering why it matters and why the reader should care.

New image or detail serves as a transition, resembling the lead and drawing readers into the narrative.

Supporting material provides necessary information to round out and flesh out the story.

The kicker is a strong closing element that leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

Journalistic leads tend to be straightforward, focusing on the essential facts of the crime.

Narrative leads often involve storytelling elements to engage the reader and set the scene.

The nut graph in journalism is brief and to the point, while in narrative it can be more detailed and descriptive.

Narrative style can play with chronology, starting with a dramatic event and then unfolding the story.

The setting in narrative non-fiction is vividly described to immerse the reader in the story's context.

Motive is a key element in narrative non-fiction, exploring the reasons behind the crime and the characters' actions.

The narrative style's description chronicles the entire tale, showing how all elements of the crime story come together.

Transcripts

with our true crime unit

your goal is to write your own true

crime story

so how are you going to write your true

crime story you can take a more

journalistic approach or you can take a

more narrative non-fiction style

approach

in some ways building on some of the

techniques we learned with narrative

non-fiction

in our memoir unit at the beginning of

the school year so

regardless of which

sort of tactic you take more

journalistic or more narrative in style

you are going to be giving the who the

what the when the where the why and the

how

of the crime the criminal the victims

the crime story

that you are going to be sharing so

journalistic versus narrative they are

not an either or

proposition however your writing will

probably tend to lean more towards the

journalistic

or more to the narrative so if you're

going to go more journalistic in your

nonfiction

uh crime story true crime story you're

going to be

more objective more focused on the facts

the

the who the what the when the why the

where and the how you're going to be

succinct you're going to get

to the point it doesn't mean you're not

going to have description and lots of

information

it does mean that you're going to be

less flowery and perhaps less

painterly with your language because

it's the narrative writing

when we get into true crime writing that

is developing the characters that are

involved delving maybe a little bit more

into the motives and the motivations

uh setting the scene and using more

imagery it's not the journalistic

uh true crime non-fiction wouldn't use

imagery it just means that narrative

will rely on it a bit more

and narrative nonfiction is again going

to tell a story the beginning the middle

and the end

and it's not going to tell everything

upfront it's going to build interest

even suspense especially with true crime

so traditional

journalistic writing is typically going

to follow

an inverted pyramid model

in which the most important information

is at the top of the story

so for example if someone stopped

reading halfway through the story they

still would have gotten the most

important information because we're

relating the news we're giving them this

information

so the who the what the when the where

and the why the how

can also be there but it tends to get

built a little bit more with the body of

the actual story

so it is the most important pieces of

information

and it is taking center stage right up

front

very top of the story

now when we move into doing true crime

and a more narrative style that doesn't

mean we get rid of the who the what the

when the why

or the why and how we we have those two

but the who

becomes a focus on the character who are

the characters involved and we want to

develop them

who are they um what do we need to know

about them

the what is the action the crime the

incidences leading up to it the

investigation of it

all of the action that that is making up

the story

the when is the chronology the beginning

the middle the end of the story

um we could switch the chronology up we

could start with

perhaps the actual trial and then work

backwards but then we're still going to

follow a chronology that gives the win

of when the elements of the crime

happened and the where is the setting

and we're going to paint that scene

we're going to give the context for the

community perhaps

we're going to make the visual of the

perhaps the crime scene or the heist

come alive

the caper the why is the motive

so why did this all happen what was the

motivation behind

the perpetrator or the way the victims

responded or the way the

investigators investigated and the how

of all of this

is our narrative the description that

chronicles the entire tale

how these things all gelled together and

made this crime story

so this is where you take true crime and

you make it more narrative in style

as opposed to more journalistic with our

inverted pyramid of

putting that most important information

right there at the top

so how do we build our actual

true crime story start off with five

boxes

these are five boxes that allow you to

put in

information that will get you rolling

that you can fill with

the the information the quotes the

statistics

that you will be putting into these

different areas to be building these

different components

it doesn't mean that the info you put in

the box is you can't move around within

your story

it just means this is the quickest way

to build your true crime story fast

so you want to have the lead you want to

have that initial

image detail that draws people into the

story whether you're doing a

journalistic style

or narrative style um the second box is

made up of all the things that are the

nut graph that the things that sum up

the story that

answer the so what why why does this

matter why would the reader care about

this story

how what impact does it have the

transition

that occurs from the lead to the rest of

the story this is what the nut graph

does

it also really hits that timeliness

factor why

do i need to know about this even if

this is a narrative non-fiction true

crime story

and it happened years ago why would i

care now

what what is what is the impact today

what what legacy

still exists if it's breaking news then

the timeliness is a factor

that i want to share and then again any

supporting material any information

that's going to

help me understand and then that's going

to lead us into our third box

a new image or detail like a turn a

maybe a shift in the story something

new revealed and it helps us

go into the rest of the narrative and it

also resembles the lead and that it

draws us in

that fourth box is all the other maybe

less compelling information

that is needed to kind of round out and

flesh out the whole story to make it

um more understandable more relatable

more enjoyable to read

and then that last box is the kicker

that you're going to leave your reader

you know with at the end of your story

that strong emotion that strong

quote or image that you want your reader

to walk away with feeling

oh okay wow that story had an impact

so excuse me with the journalistic there

are in a narrative there are

some leads that work better there are

many types of leads that you can have

with a journalistic we're tending to go

a little bit more straight news lead

that

important information that's going to

give us that who what why when where and

how

maybe an observational lead that puts

the story into the context of the u.s so

for example

the straight lead is the five shots you

know

killing dennis leach who is repeatedly

stabbing his wife

the observational lead is the fact that

you know three women die every day in

the u.s

and that you know joyce

leach was almost one of those three

women today um an anecdotal lead would

be a storytelling

relating kind of a story like approach

which works well with the narrative

um when the officers arrived and they

see dennis lee

chasing his ex-wife it's not even their

first domestic call

and it's not even the first

knife-wielding husband

then we have our scene setting lead

so this is when we have

basically our imagery at work we want to

build a picture we want to paint an

image

for our reader so they can feel what's

going on as we

bring them into our our story a zinger

lead is

best described as the kind of thing that

makes you spit out your drink you're

like shocked

oh my gosh that was a real zinger it

really got me it wasn't the first time

that dennis lease had violently

terrorized his ex-wife but it would be

the last

now i'm not going to read out each one

of the leads for this same news story of

dennis leach's attack on his ex-wife

joyce leech

however feel free to pause the video and

read

any of these different types of leads as

examples as you go through

and also the same thing for the other

boxes that we look at

so next we move on to the nut graph

journalistic it's going to be briefer

it's going to get to the point it's

going to get

to that information that we need to know

about what happened and who would happen

to and when it happened and where it

happened

and it's going to basically

um take us in to from our lead on to the

rest of our story

and it's justifying why we should care

this timeliness of it this happened you

know now

today and this is what the officers

had to do and

then with our narrative we might be

doing more into the supporting material

why this story is important what was

going on we're painting more of the

picture we're

we're pulling in the quotes i'm going to

kill you we're going to bring up the

fact that the children were briefly

taken away

that had been returned that dennis had

just gotten out of jail

and already a few days later this is

what's happening

and he'd gone to jail for attacking her

before in may and now we're in june

so with

our graph we then want to

pull our reader back in with a new image

a new detail

that's resembling the lead dennis leach

was pronounced dead at the scene

that's journalistic just the facts

narrative he collapsed and died on the

side of the road as the police draped

a yellow tarp over his body and his

parents were watching from inside their

home

so again that image that that

you know that pulls us back in then

rounding out the story um you know the

additional details the neighbors how

they are interacting how they saw this

um what the what the parents thought

like we weren't supposed to let him stay

here but he just showed up you know like

what could we do

the fact that joyce was trying to get

herself back together that's a more

narrative amount but again the

journalistic one is still giving that

additional

details of turmoil had been a common

occurrence at the leech household

and that kicker that strong image that

element in this story

for journalistic he returned his

family's house on tuesday night and by

saturday afternoon he was dead

just the facts but again that kicker

that strong oh my gosh

narrative after all the pain in their

marriage joyce's thoughts were still

focused on dennis

as she was hoisted in the ambulance with

the knife still stuck in her right

shoulder joyce leach turned her police

and said

why did you shoot him again that

narrative image that's the last image

we're left with

and again he's dead she could have been

dead

and her thoughts are still asking the

police why did you shoot him

getting into this idea of what's at the

heart of these dysfunctional

relationships all right so you want to

apply this

what you've learned to your own writing

you want to go to your true crime

resources

all those links that we've had to

stories into podcasts you want to

determine

the who what when where why and how of

whatever

crime or criminal that you're interested

in writing about

researching on bullet point that list

create your own five boxes

put in that information those quotes of

statistics for

information that you'd use for your lead

or your nut graph or your

new image in detail in the middle or

that rounding out info and especially

that kicker

then you have an instant outline and be

prepared we're going to build on this

prep work that you've written and the

outline that you should have done

with the lesson and assignment that

we're going to do during our next class

because we're going to be working on

how would we organize our story are we

going to focus more on the crime

we're going to focus more on the context

of the crime the community

the area the time period are we going to

focus

on the actual victim or victims are we

going to focus on the perpetrator the

criminal

so again we'll talk about how we would

organize our focus

in our next class lesson please have

your initial research and your written

outline done

so that you can start building that