Courtroom Dramas

As you know I’ve been having a slow go of finishing the rough draft of my novel. I got to the first of two courtroom scenes at the end and found they just didn’t hold the reader’s interest. They interested me because it is the conclusion of the events I’ve been writing about, but I wondered how can I make this more engaging? I occurred to me that I was writing a courtroom drama. So, I decided to look them up specifically to study the plots. I found a great article, “The 10 Key Elements to Writing a Courtroom Drama” by Industrial Scripts. No matter how long I’ve been writing I still find interesting articles on the subject.

I read through the article’s 10 Elements, and this confirmed for me that I was, indeed, writing a courtroom drama. I had just thought of it as an historical mystery. We all know that there are many subtypes of mysteries. Historical is my favorite. Both the novel and novella I’ve written with the character of Lincoln are courtroom dramas. I didn’t have trouble with the courtroom scene in the novella. I believe, in part, the scene is too long. I plan to edit it heavily in the rewrite. But after reading this article I felt that the content/context didn’t build up properly for the reader to grasp what the trial meant to the world and the characters.

A couple of interesting things I learned from the article, which I recommend you look up if you’re at all interested in mysteries. Did you know that Miracle on 34th Street is considered a courtroom drama? It makes sense. In a courtroom drama there is a decision-maker, which is usually the court. This is why the courtroom scene (whether it’s shown or not) is so important. The article refers specifically to movies. Many of these began as books and I believe the same principles apply. The decision-maker is decides that outcome of the story. Even in a movie like The Post, where the courtroom scene is mostly not shown. The Supreme Court decides The Post can publish the Pentagon Papers, and that decision is what the movie was about.

Since reading this article, I have decided to watch all the movies mentioned in it to get a look at different types of courtroom dramas. This means that my next blog may be on the same subject. Why should you care about courtroom dramas? Because they encompass all sorts of stories not thought of as mysteries, and because they are one more tool in the toolbox of how to write/read your own mysteries.

I also watched Anatomy of a Murder, which has a long, detailed courtroom scene. In this story we don’t know who the killer really is. It is determined by the court. Evidence we were previously unaware of comes to light. We knew some of it existed, but we didn’t know where it was–it couldn’t be found–so we didn’t know what it would prove. Now, in most mysteries the killer is caught and assumed punished. Justice is served. But not always in courtroom dramas. At the end, we can be left wondering if the wrong man/woman was convicted. Irony is one of the Elements of the courtroom drama. The justice system is less perfect than it is in other types of mysteries.

I Want to Live! illustrates the revenge and twists that can be present in courtroom scenes, the double-cross. This movies also shows a very realistic execution. Courtroom dramas are often stories about real life events, as are my books. But not always. The can be completely fictional. Well, I’m having fun with it. Until next time….