Follow The Rules, To Break The Rules

As I was listening to the amazing authors speaking at the Gen Con Writer's Symposium over the weekend (Aug. 1-4, 2019) about the rules of Show, Don't Tell, a topic I have written about a lot over the last few years: What Does Every Book On Writing Say

I suddenly had an thought occur to me when Melissa F. Olson said, "Follow the rules, to break the rules." about the treatment of criminals in fiction.

Follow the rules, to break the rules applies to criminal behavior as the best criminals break the rules while also following the rules. That is why high level gangsters or politicians get away with crime because they are so good at hiding in plain sight. They follow the rules of society and law while breaking them at the same time. These types of criminals are usually leaders of the organization.

Criminals who don't follow the rules, but just break them are the criminals who end up getting caught or worse, being killed right in the beginning. They go straight to breaking the rules without ever following the rules setup in the first place. Learning the ins and outs of society and how to strategically break them. Instead they go for the top the first time.

Even though each type of criminal can engage in a plethora of criminal activity including tax evasion, robbery, bribing, or even murder. The rules follower might have a chance of getting away with it, than the rule breaker.

Popular Follow the Rules criminals in fiction include:
Tony Soprano
Micheal Corleone 
Lex Luther
Gordon Gekko
Most Bond Villains

Not many popular Break the Rules criminals exist in fiction, or any I can think of, because they usually die early on in the story. Plus, this doesn't include henchmen which are a different type of criminal all together.

A straight to Breaking the Rules criminal might be popular because he/she is caught in the first act and through a road of trials is returned to the ordinary world as a better person or rehabilitated from a criminal to a hero who helps others not go down the same path.

If you are writing a mystery, thriller, suspense, paranormal detective or any other type of genre fiction involving crime and criminals, think about the different types of criminals and how they are committing those crimes so you will be able to organize them into one of these two categories.

Happy writing!

Joshua