By Forris Day Jr.
When I was a kid I loved the Medical/adventure TV drama “Emergency!”. Roy DeSoto (Kevin Tigh) and Johnny Gage (Randy Mantooth) were two Paramedic/Firemen who were first responders to various accident scenes. They would call Rampart General Hospital over their huge portable radio and ask what to do. The doctor usually told them to “Administer Ringers Lactate with D5W and transport”. I didn’t know what that meant and I always thought it was funny that no matter what situation, whether it was a lady who fainted or a major car wreck, they always treated people with only Ringers Lactate with D5W.
The writers of that show did what they could with limited resources. Now writers of medical/forensic TV and films have access to a great book called “Forensic Speak – How to write Forensic Crime Dramas” authored by Jennifer Dornbush. The book is a reference manual for hundreds of terms you hear in the medical and crime dramas you probably watch all the time. The book covers blood stains and splatter, guns, DNA and courtroom terms plus several other categories. Each page is a topic. Each topic is broken down into a “What is it?” where she describes what the topic means or is. Then there is a “Where do I see it?”. This is an example from a TV show or movie with a picture from the show or film to back up what is being described. The last section on each page is “How can I use it?”. Here she gives examples of how to use it in your writing and how to tie it together with different parts of the story.
In the fingerprint section you will learn about latent prints and poroscopy. Not sure what those are? Look them up. You’ve probably heard them used in your favorite shows. The book goes into just enough detail so that you can intelligently write about a subject without actually becoming a forensics expert. By perusing the book you may even get some ideas to incorporate into your story. Each chapter wraps with some exercises to get you writing and thinking about ways to merge the information you just read about into your script.
Although the book is primarily aimed at writing crime drama I feel it can be used for any genre. As a writer you may want to toss in some medical jargon into your comedy, thriller or horror script. Grab a copy of “Forensic Speak” by Jennifer Dornbush and push the boundaries of your stories with some medical stuff you may not have thought of otherwise. By adding some medical terms to your characters vocabulary it can make them sound smarter (doctor) or even scarier (serial killer). The possibilities are endless with the ideas you will get from the book.
At nearly 250 pages it has a lot of information packed inside. You are bound to snag a few tidbits of information, even if you are just leafing through it, to add depth to your characters and emotion to your story.