Pikes Peak Writers Conference 2017: Half-Day Workshop on Private Investigations

On Thursday, April 27, 2017, the Writing PIs, Shaun Kaufman & Colleen Collins, are presenting a half-day workshop at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference. These “prequel” workshops are for one day only, prior to the official start of the conference on Friday, April 28, 2017. Attendees may register for these prequel workshops separately, or add the prequel workshops to their regular conference registration.

To register: PPWC Prequel Programming

Below is the syllabus for our workshop.

Misdemeanors to Murder: Nothing but the Truth from a Criminal Lawyer & Private Eye

Prequel Afternoon Session #4

Presented by Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman

“Misdemeanors to Murder: Nothing but the Truth from a Criminal Lawyer and Private Eye” covers the history of private eyes, popular misconceptions of PIs, types of investigators, tricks of the trade, crime scenes, the relationship between PIs and police, legalities, and breakdowns of real-life investigative/criminal cases. At the end of presentation will be a Q&A.

At the end of the workshop, there will be a drawing for copies of our nonfiction books How Do Private Eyes Do That? and A Lawyer’s Primer for Writers: From Crimes to Courtrooms.

Syllabus

1. Introduction
2. History of the Private Eye
3. Types of Private Investigators: One Size Doesn’t Fit All
4. Misconceptions About PIs: Don’t Let Your PI Character Become a Cliché
5. Tricks of the Trade: Trash Hits, Spy Gear, Apps & More
6. Breaking the Law: Don’t Make Your PI-Character Look Like a Legal Dummy
7. PIs and Police: Debunking Myths
8. PIs and Crime Scenes: Cold Crime Scenes vs. “Hot” Crime Scenes
9. Examples of Real-Life Investigative Cases: Breakdown of PI’s Tasks (Misdemeanors to Attempted Homicide)
10. Examples of Real-Life Criminal Litigation Cases: Breakdown of Defense Lawyer’s & PI’s Tasks (Misdemeanors to Murder 1)
11. Research Sources for Writers: PI Blogs, Websites, Online Magazines
12. Q&A

All rights reserved by Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman. Any use of the content requires specific, written authority. All images are either copyrighted or licensed by the authors, who do not have legal authority to share with others, so please do not copy or distribute any images, thank you.