This past weekend, I joined a couple hundred fellow writers at the Writer's Police Academy. It's an awesome opportunity for authors to get in the trenches with policeman and firemen and EMTs to find out how things work and ask dozens of questions. We go to the school where they are trained and the fun part is that we get involved in real-life scenarios.
When we arrived at the Tech the first day, it was to the scene of an accident. Someone was lying on the hood of a car after going through the windshield and other passengers were trapped inside the car. Once we'd all arrived on the scene, the police drove in, lights flashing and sirens blaring, along with firetrucks and ambulances. They demonstrated (very realistically!) how they triage the victims, including putting one of the drivers through a sobriety test (which she failed). A flight for life helicopter joined the scene and transported the most seriously injured person, while they declared the man on the hood of the car a potential fatality (he can't be declared dead until the coroner arrives). Except the guy on the hood kept turning his head (I'm sure he was uncomfortable!) When the scenario ended, the "dead guy" hopped off the hood to a rousing round of applause. Then the questions commenced. Details the authors wanted or had missed. And the weekend continued from there. Lots of hands-on stuff, lots of demonstration stuff, more live-action scenarios. SO SO helpful for authors, and a lot of fun. One of my classes was specifically designed to help you kill off your characters using poison. Had several police officers look at us in our classes and say things like "you're making me nervous!" with the scenarios the authors presented.
Back to the daily grind again this week and working on the next in the Epitaph series. The funny part? I have more ways to kill off characters than I'd ever imagined before, thanks to the Writer's Police Academy.
That
is kind of scary!
This past weekend, I joined a couple hundred fellow writers at the Writer's Police Academy. It's an awesome opportunity for authors to get in the trenches with policeman and firemen and EMTs to find out how things work and ask dozens of questions. We go to the school where they are trained and the fun part is that we get involved in real-life scenarios.
It's a fantastic way to get first-hand experience and avoid CSI/Castle mistakes in our books. This year was my 5th time, and I still found lots of new stuff to do. Like shooting a .223 patrol rifle. Those suckers are heavy for a 'no upper body strength' person.
ReplyDeleteI shot a paintball gun - not exactly what the class advertised, but it was still "hands on" experience. I also found the lecture that discussed suspension of disbelief to advance a plot (as with Castle and CSI) extremely interesting.
DeleteThis was my first year at WPA. I was nervous at first but now I can't wait to go back. Reading as many blog posts as I can about people's experiences, it is amazing how differently we each interpreted certain details.
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd gone last year (except it sold out quickly). The good news is it validated what I'd learned through interviews with local "action heroes." But I almost didn't make it this year, either due to health issues. I'm so glad I made it!
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