Murder Walls for Crime Novelists

A Murder Wall is a vital tool for crime novelists. Imagine trying to write a story without knowing your suspects or their possible motives. For any great crime novelist, your job is to treat your novel like a police investigation, following the clues and the evidence until it reaches the outcome or climactic resolution. If you watch most great crime dramas such as Law & Order and Without a Trace, you will notice that investigators often use visuals on a wall to keep each case organized. This is a Murder Wall.

Developing a fictional crime and its cast of characters can be confusing and overwhelming without a tool to keep everything organized. A Murder Wall shows the structure of the crime and the characters who are involved. On a wall close to your computer for easy access, tape up letter-sized pieces of paper featuring photos and key points on each character linked to a murder or crime. This technique enables the writer to visualize the cast of characters more fully, to give each suspect or victim a face and to bring them to life. It ensures that the basic facts of each character