SOURCE: "True Crime Writing: A Dynamic Field," in The Writer, December, 1995, pp. 16-17, 41.

[In the following essay, DePree comments on how to write a true-crime article, stressing that an article should only be written if the crime is recent, a conviction was made, and research and photographs are available.]

Few genres in journalism today are as exciting and profitable as true crime, whether article or book. Although this piece focuses on the true crime article, many of the techniques and methods discussed in the following six steps are readily applicable to the true crime book.

STEP ONE: Researching the field. Buy several true crime magazines and spend a rainy afternoon getting a feel for the slant and depth of the articles. Jot down what you liked and didn't like about them. Then, dash off a request to the editorial office of one or two of the magazines for...