Bill Powers on the Difference Between True Crime and Fiction
In this guest post, veteran investigator and author Bill Powers shares a candid reflection on the craft of writing true crime. Drawing from fifty years in law enforcement and his experiences chronicling real murder cases, Powers explores the crucial differences between nonfiction and fictional crime writing—and why staying true to the facts is more than a literary choice. It’s a moral one.
Writing True Crime vs
Fictional Murder Mysteries
I have been writing in one form or another for decades and with the exception of two creative writing classes, it has all been non-fiction. Police officers live in a real-life world where they must always document their work with precision and accuracy because it will be minutely scrutinized by defense attorneys, judges and juries.
I don’t have a huge comparison sample of fiction to non-fiction, but I will say that I like writing both, but for differing reasons.
Non-fiction writing means telling “the truth and nothing but the truth so help me God.” The script has been written and the facts can’t be changed. The writing is more akin to storytelling than creative writing. You can develop your characters, but you can’t create new ones to help the story flow. Similarly, the crime scenes and other locations in the story already exist. You can describe the scenario as presented at the time of the crime(s) in great and vivid detail, but you can’t re-invent them.
Truth and accuracy in writing True Crime is vital and it originates by sifting through police reports, court documents, and trial transcripts, and conducting interviews. You can’t, or shouldn’t create revisionist history by altering facts or changing the scenarios or timing of events to create a better read. The same is true about adding hypothetical scenarios. Hypotheticals work well in fiction, but not when used to contaminate a story or in an attempt to rewrite history. The story isn’t “what could have happened,” it is “what happened.”
Honestly, when I see that kind of writing in a non-fiction book, I walk away from it and don’t return. Those storylines are great for fiction writers, but non-fiction is only about the truth.
Part of my thought process is undoubtedly the result of fifty years of investigating and reporting on crimes. If we stray or massage the truth we will get crushed by a good defense attorney and a disbelieving jury and lose the case.
Both When the Smoke Cleared and Murderous Rage are different than most other non-fiction stories because I was present and participating from the beginning through the end of both cases, so my narrative is pure and accurate to a fault. I believe they are exceptional educational books for teachers and students studying to be police officers, lawyers, and forensic and fire scientists, as well as sociology and psychology students.
Writing fiction is certainly something I have considered. As you might suspect, throughout my career I have amassed an abundance of factual storylines and met my share of characters. Together, they could serve as both a base to work from or as a way of twisting, turning, and moving a fictional plot along. Moreover, anyone that spends a significant part of their career in the business of death investigation always has a case or two that eats away at them because they remain unsolved. Scripting the story with a fictional approach would be a great way to close a few of them out. A few keystrokes and a bit of disrespect for the truth could bring about a gratifying finality.
Want to read the full stories?
Bill Powers brings his firsthand experience and investigative insight to life in two gripping true crime books:
👉 When the Smoke Cleared – A chilling account of the deadliest arson case in Massachusetts history, written by the man who lived it.
👉 Murderous Rage – A real-life psychological thriller that unravels the brutal murder of a beloved teacher, revealing the dark mind of the killer.
Both books are available now from Genius Book Publishing.
