Author Jennifer Chase

To Outline or Not to Outline

I’m a person who makes lists and crosses things off when I’ve completed them. It makes me feel positive about what I’ve accomplished when I can see each item marked off that long list. In fact, I make a lot of lists. It comes from working in the corporate world, specifically in the accounting area, that I found out quickly that lists and outlines were the best way for me to stay on target and to finish projects within the deadline.

So… the big question is… “Should you completely outline your novel or not?”

I love asking other writers if they outline their novel first or jump right into chapter one and never look back. And truthfully, I’ve received answers that are almost split right down the middle of this debate.

People seem to ask me quite frequently if I outline my stories or not. My answer is always the same – yes, I create a complete outline of my story before I begin writing the actual chapters.

Why? It makes the chapter writing part a breeze and you don’t have to do as many rewrites. It’s a blueprint, roadmap, or snapshot of your entire story. Basically, the completion of your book takes less time with a completed outline.

Does it stifle your story and creativity doing a complete outline? No way, because you can change anything you want along the way. It’s just really nice to have an outlined first draft of your story. That way you completely know what’s working and what isn’t, you can change a portion of your story, add a new character, or ax part of the storyline that isn’t working. You can do all of this before you begin writing the chapters. It doesn’t get any better than that.

These are my 7 basic outline areas that I use for all my projects:

1. Character lists with a complete background from physical characteristics to internal and external goals. It resembles a type of rap sheet of everything that I can create for each of the main and supporting characters. Minor characters just have a few sentences, but they are still important too.

2. Settings

3. Freestyle of the plot outline with the beginning, middle, and end.

4. Timeline of crime and character backgrounds necessary to the plot.

5. Research is one of the most important things for any story whether it’s fiction or nonfiction. I research everything that I can think and then even a little bit more. It’s great because even if you don’t use some of your research in one story you will probably be able to use it in another.

6. Story evolution that incorporates the conflicts, struggles, and resolutions. This helps me to be able to see if there is enough tension and that the story moves forward at a good pace. It’s very helpful in writing thrillers to make sure that the tension is escalating.

7. Finally, I decide how many chapters I’m going to write to achieve my story goal. I then put all the information from the above steps into a chronological sequence, which will eventually be my finished chapters.

Creating a complete outline may not be for every writer, but I find that it works for me. I would love to hear your comments on if you should outline or not.

Jennifer Chase
Award Winning Author & Criminologist

Blog: www.authorjenniferchase.com/
Website: www.jenniferchase.vpweb.com/
Book & Crime Talk: www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-chase/
Books: Compulsion = Dead Game = Silent Partner = Screenwriting

Crime Scene Investigation – Challenges of Cellular Phones & Handheld Devices

Take a moment during your day and look around at all the technology buzzing away and crackling about the airwaves. Cell phones are literally everywhere and some phones have amazing capabilities of text messaging, Internet search, email, and GPS to just name a few. It has been estimated that 90% of all Americans own a cell phone. That number is just an amazing statistic to ponder.

What does this mean for police and crime scene investigators?

As with any evidence, this new and constantly evolving technology poses challenges with law enforcement on how to properly handle this type of evidence during an investigation. However, these cell phones and handheld devices can be extremely helpful in order to solve crimes for both minor and major cases.

Handheld devices are like complex little computers and pose many questions on the proper procedure of legal authority and potential evidence protection. Cell phones operate on radio frequency protocols. For example, when a cell phone is turned on, it searches for the strongest signal. It will continue to search and adjust accordingly. The most recent information is then recorded as a database type of entry in the cell phone file system.

There are three main questions that seem to plague law enforcement during their investigations.

1. Should the cell phone/handheld device be powered off or left on?

2. Is it necessary to have a proper legal authority to conduct a forensic examination?

3. What’s the best way to protect this evidentiary data?

It is recommended to power the device off in order to preserve the data and battery power. It’s just like all forms of potential evidence and it’s important to take precautions to preserve it for any investigation.

Cell phones and handheld devices are basically like any other computer evidence and should have the proper legal authority to conduct the forensic examination. Searches that are incident to arrest are similar to searches conducted of arrestees and motor vehicles. There are penal codes that allow law enforcement to conduct searches for police officer safety and the preservation of evidence that can/will be destroyed, as in exigent circumstances.

To protect this type of evidence after it’s properly collected, it must be turned off, packaged, and placed in evidence storage with the proper chain of custody. It is imperative that the evidence is handled with extreme caution as to not change the evidence in any way. It is also important that any lab technician handling the evidence use some type of shielding to prevent contamination or loss of evidentiary data. This is a complicated and daunting task for any evidence or lab technician, but vital for the investigative efforts.

In so many ways, crime scene investigation has seemed to move into a more science fiction based application and keeps evolving with the needs of technology. The next time you send a text or surf the Internet on your handheld device or cell phone, think about all the information that is stored and what is says about you.

Jennifer Chase
Award Winning Author & Criminologist

Blog: www.authorjenniferchase.com/
Website: www.jenniferchase.vpweb.com/
Book & Crime Talk: www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-chase/
Books: Compulsion = Dead Game = Silent Partner = Screenwriting