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The Ethics of Writing Fiction Based on Real Crimes By Isabelle Kenyon

February 28, 2024 | By Women Writers Women Books | Reply More

The Ethics of Writing Fiction Based on Real Crimes

By Isabelle Kenyon

As an author drawn to the psychological, I’m often inspired by the twisted true crimes I read about in newspapers and online. One such case that sparked my imagination was that of the so-called “doomsday couple” in the USA, who believed their children were zombies and buried them in the backyard. The warped minds and family drama surrounding this case got me thinking “what if?”

I began outlining a novel flipping the gender dynamics – a psychopathic woman and passive man – to subvert stereotypes of women as weak or passive. Though loosely based on the couple, I crafted my own distinct characters and story, of which I won’t give too many spoilers! I named my protagonist Amber – a complex, quirky widow who works as a traveling faith healer. Whilst leading a faith-healing retreat, she meets Chad, and sees in him a settled life and marriage in the Mormon church for her and her two teenage children – but life in Lehi isn’t all that she hoped, and she finds the community there will do anything to cover up its secrets.

As I wrote, the real doomsday couple’s trials began, streamed live online. I realized the legal proceedings were mirroring the trial scenes in my draft! The woman was found unfit to stand trial, just as I’d written. (I’d enjoyed researching the rules of each state, and ‘insanity’ is not recognised in all of the states of America. Instead, those are found to be unable to withstand trial, are allocated a determined amount of time to be exposed to therapy, before standing trial.) Though I later cut the courtroom drama to focus on the crimes, this “life imitating art” moment gave me pause.

What are the ethics of cribbing from real people’s lives? Taking inspiration from real life had never been a problem for me before as a writer. There’s a fear of seeming derivative, yet we are told that we only have so many basic story structures. And truthfully, how well do we ever really know strangers in news stories? Press coverage inevitably filters reality through another lens.

As authors, we strive for originality, but pull inspiration from life. While crafting unique characters and scenarios, it’s impossible not to incorporate intriguing true events that grab our imagination. Yet fictionalising real cases requires sensitivity.

Ultimately, I believe fiction writers have creative license, if using real cases as mere jumping-off points. My goal was never to exploit or directly replicate the doomsday couple’s specific story. Their saga simply sparked my ideas about gender, family dysfunction and crimes of passion. The result is a dark, thrilling tale that’s distinctly my own, showcasing the boundless potential of the imagination.

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Isabelle Kenyon is a Manchester writer and editor, and the author of 5 poetry chapbooks including Growing Pains (Indigo Dreams) and one short story with Wild Pressed Books (‘The Town Talks’). She has had work published internationally in journals such as Ink, Sweat and Tears and newspapers such as The Somerville Times and The Bookseller. She coordinates the Northern Fiction Alliance and runs PR campaigns for writers and publishers under Kenyon Author Services (www.kenyonauthorservices.co.uk) She has performed at Cheltenham Poetry Festival and Verbose, Manchester, Leeds International Festival as part of the ‘Sex Tapes’, Apples and Snakes and Coventry Cathedral’s Plum Line Festival.