The writer in me sometimes needs to go on research trips. Most of those trips involve either an actual trip to the library or, a staytrip into cyber world. Research can be tedious, but it can also be enlightening. And fun.
Part of my continuing education as a writer involves getting involved in classes and discussions about how to improve my craft, my on-line presence, my marketing skills, or my research voyages. For the past 2 weeks I’ve been taking an on-line class entitled “Autopsies for Authors.”
Cool right? It is cool, but as you can imagine, we talk about some gross stuff. I mean death and body decomposition is not a casual dinner table topic by any stretch of the imagination. But, as a writer of mystery and romantic suspense, I often have to deal with dead bodies in my manuscripts; how to kill them, how to get rid of the evidence, how to find them, how to figure out who they are, etc. Let’s just say, writers would potentially be very creative murderers.
So, anyway, this class is fascinating. We talked about the different types of autopsies – yes there’s more than one. We talked about manners and causes of death – no they are not the same. We talked about ways to identify remains. We discussed the vernacular associated with coroners, medical examiners, pathologists, technicians and other persons involved in the process. We talked about dissecting bodies. We talked about the different stages of decomposition. We talked about chain of command of evidence. We talked about how Hollywood gets it wrong. There is just so much I don’t know about dead bodies and how to process them.
Throw in all the what ifs (questions from other on-line students) and the strange request to see photos (shudders), it makes for a really rousing bedtime read. Gross, but cool.
So tell me readers, would this class be of any interest to you? Do you write about dead bodies? Do you watch cop shows or similar types of shows on TV and wonder how accurate they are? Am I the only one who thinks this stuff is cool? Inquiring minds want to know.
Word of the Day: Gork
Fun fact about me: I’ve actually seen 2 dead human bodies. (That’s probably not such a fun fact.)
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, September 2017. Photo courtesy Google Images.
Good for you! This kind of research is so important. However I’m very glad there are not usually any dead bodies in my stories. You may have them!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Patricia, this class was so informative. You often hear terms thrown about that you think you understand by the context they are used, but it turns out sometimes those terms are not what you think. And Hollywood takes so many liberties that would never happen in real life so you can’t base your stories on what you watch on TV. I thought the entire class was cool.
Dead bodies aren’t for everyone that’s for sure, but if you’re going to write about them, you want to get it right.
Thanks for your support. Have a great – dead-body-free – week.
Patricia
LikeLike
I guess it’s a good thing you don’t know much about dead bodies and how to process them…? There are a lot of things I can handle without any problem, but when it comes to medical stuff, I’m out. A demented clown doctor would be my undoing! 🙂 I love taking classes and learning new things, especially if it will improve my writing. Sounds like the perfect class for you and other closet murderers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh – I think there are quite a few closet murderers out there in the world. My characters don’t necessarily kill people, but they do happen upon dead bodies and those corpses need to be “processed” in order to find out who and how. That’s the part of the writing I need to make sure I get write. Evidence collection and storage are not what one would think. But, you know all about chain or evidence from the legal profession so that’s no secret to you.
I’ll keep my dead bodies and try to steer any demented clown doctors in another direction far, far away from you. But, a demented clown pediatrician? Hmmmm. Might be on to something. I’ll acknowledge you in the credits for the idea.
Have a fantastic week.
Patricia
LikeLike
My murders are all Civil-war era, so forensics aren’t all that important a consideration. You can study for me.
By the way, any rumors that I’m a GORK are patently untrue. My body still works fine on its own. It’s just my brain that’s dead. lol
LikeLike
But, Dave, if I were to dig up a dead body from 1864 in my back yard whilst installing an in-ground pool – modern forensics would most definitely come into play. So, I’ll keep studying. You kill ’em off, I’ll hunt down the dirty low lifes who put ’em six feet under.
And, I have not heard any rumors about you being a GORK. If I do, I shall set them straight immediately.
As always, thanks for visiting. Enjoy the rest of your week.
Patricia
LikeLike
Don’t know what happened to my comment, but I don’t think I’ll write it again.
LikeLike
Okay. It appeared, but now I don’t know how to remove the 2nd comment.
LikeLike
Surprise!
LikeLike
That class sounds fascinating! I think I might have taking something like that online many years ago. Good luck with your writing!
LikeLike
I totally enjoyed the class and presented from someone who knows his stuff. He answered any question and clarified some scenarios in peoples’ manuscripts. It was well worth the time and money I invested.
Have a wonderful week. I hope the relocation process is going well for you.
Patricia
LikeLike
I saw a young man who had just been shot with a small caliber pistol (.380 acp) straight through the heart there was NO BLOOD just a very tiny hole in the chest.
Incident #2 several years ago a bones were found in a yard a few blocks from your place, the lady who reported it had a rather intense conversation with the local PD where it was implied that she may be responsible, It turned out to be a pre Civil War grave. So the gritty detective that wants
“Just the facts” is a bit of Hollywood as well.
LikeLike
What now? Graves near our house? Who’d imagine that? People died here? Sounds like maybe the lady was a bit off her rocker, but hey, whatever floats your boat right?
Now, I’ve never seen anybody die, just the corpse after the incident. One of the ones I saw was COVERED in blood. I’m not sure how it happened, but a lady fell out of a moving vehicle on the freeway and had been run over by 2 or 3 cars before traffic managed to stop. Our car the the next in line so the bloody body was right in front of the car in the headlight beams. It was GROOOOOSSSSSS. I’ll not talk about the other incident.
So, there you go. We’ve exchanged “war” stories.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. Always good to see familiar faces.
Patricia
LikeLike