Imagine a Crime... by Matthew Greene

How has writing crime fiction changed the way you see ordinary people and everyday life—and has it made you more suspicious, more empathetic, or both?

I think one of the reasons I've been drawn to crime fiction is my propensity to imagine drama everywhere I go. And I'm not talking about run-of-the-mill-soap-opera-style stuff: crushes and grudges and love triangles, oh my. I mean something a bit more sinister.

You could try this yourself. The next time you're at a boring party, in an interminable meeting, or stuck on the subway, start to imagine what would happen if someone in your midst suddenly dropped dead. (This is, and I cannot stress this enough, strictly imaginary.) Who would do this him him/her/them?! And then, like you'd do in any good closed-circle mystery, let your eyes flit from one suspect's face to the next. Was it the brooding man in the corner? The aloof older couple? The single mom at the end of her rope? It's surprisingly easy to assign motives to strangers if you just let your mind wander to some of its darker corners.

The trick, I've found, is to believe that anyone is capable of anything if pushed. (Except me, of course. I would never hurt a fly.) I find this thought endears me to the strangers I see in situations like these. Instead of letting them pass me by, I suddenly find them endlessly interesting. I want to plumb their hidden depths and understand their hopes and dreams.

Although I know the sensationalized story I spin about them isn't accurate, neither was the knee-jerk narrative that popped into my head when they first came into view. At least this way, I'm training myself to believe that everyone around me is complex, multi-faceted, and worthy of attention. I may be casting them in a short-lived mental drama, but it only serves to remind me that there is more to everyone than meets the eye.

Of course, I make no promises that you'll find a solution to your impromptu improvised mystery. Endings are hard, but character intros are so much fun. And I can assure you that before you've had time to interrogate all your suspects, the party will be picking up, the meeting will be ending, or the train will be pulling into the station.

I'm starting to realize how terribly strange this all may sound, and I'm tempted to delete this rambling confession and start the blog post over again. (Perhaps this is the danger of missing too many therapy sessions while I'm rehearsing a new show.) But where's the fun in that? After all, I'm complex and multi-faceted, too.

So...does anyone else do this? Am I assuming this behavior is more normal than it really is? Is this like that time, before I came out, when I insisted to a group of guy friends that "all guys check each other out" and expected them to back me up? (Spoiler alert: they didn't, and I'm gay.) Or is this common among crime writers? 

God, I hope it is...