Spark: From the Courtroom

Writers are often asked, “Where do you get your ideas?” The answer, for me anyway, is pretty much everywhere. Here is the inspiration for my recent Flash pieces Can I Get a Witness? and Cold Comfort.

Can I Get a Witness? and Cold Comfort both sprang from watching a murder trial on TV. I have had jury duty once in my life [and that was not a murder trial], so that’s very limited real-world experience with lawyers, trials, courtrooms, and legal procedures. I do not watch any of the “reality” type courtroom shows. I have enjoyed fictional courtroom scenes from Perry Mason to Law & Order, but ain’t nothin’ like the real thing.

Near where I lived in central Florida there was a highly-publicized murder trial this summer. The place was a media circus — as bad as, if not worse than, three years ago when the tragedy exploded on the scene. I usually avoid media circuses to the point of turning off the media. But this time I watched some of the trial, much more of it than I ever thought I would.

I learned that witnesses fill a spectrum of fame, poise, hostility, preparedness, professionalism, interest, and clarity in their testimony. A significant portion of the testimony in this case was provided by experts in a variety of mostly very technical fields. As one might expect, the prosecution and defense produced witnesses that gave conflicting and contradictory opinions on the same evidence. As one might expect, the examinations ran the gamut from watching-paint-dry tedium to highly emotional contention. As I did not expect, I sometimes shook my head and muttered, “Are you kidding me?” I was amazed at the number of times some witnesses failed to grasp the concept of yes-or-no questions. And thus, Can I Get a Witness? was born.

A grief counselor and expert on trauma mentioned in her testimony someone, unrelated to the case, that she was working with — a mother who had lost a child. On the first rainy night after the child’s burial the mother called the counselor upset that her child would be alone in the dark and the rain. So the counselor took a blanket and umbrella to her. That, of course, gave me Cold Comfort, which I thought worked best pared down to minimal proportions. I will continue to leave it to my readers’ imaginations whether the narrator is totally empathetic or rolling his/her eyes.

The same witness started to quote Ira Gershwin at one point before she was stopped by an objection. That, of course, made it’s way into Can I Get a Witness? as well, but I had my witness try to quote George Bernard Shaw. To close on a humorous note, I tried to look up what Gershwin might have said [based on the few words the witness got out before the objection]. I still have no idea what the quote is, but on one page of Ira Gershwin quotes was a list of “Related Authors” including [the top three listed] Eminem, Tupac Shakur, and Kurt Cobain. Yeah, I get those four mixed up all the time.

Tim says:

2011/07/18 at 22:26

BTW, just because I don’t mention any of the names of the people involved in the trial doesn’t mean that you can’t. ~Tim

lime says:

2011/07/19 at 21:34

very interesting to know the inspiration here. for me, i read “cold comfort” with nothing but empathy from the one bringing the blanket and umbrella. the other thought never occurred to me.

Thanks, Lime. I wrote “Cold Comfort” from an empathetic POV, but since I pared it down so much and it followed a humor piece the week before I can see how it may be read from a sarcastic POV.

I also loved Anke’s comment that it may have been a pet that was buried, especially if the narrator is a parent comforting a child. [Kind of creepy too if you followed the trial that inspired this, but that's another story.] ~Tim

John Wiswell says:

2011/07/20 at 10:25

Didn’t realize you were so glued to tabloid trials, Tim. We all need hobbies, and sources of inspiration. I also draw from everywhere that sticks with me. Makes the prose a richer pursuit.

Thanks, John. I usually avoid every story the tabloids follow. I found the scenes inside the courtroom for this case oddly fascinating though. Go figure. ~Tim

Sonia Lal says:

2011/07/21 at 20:49

Knowing where those stories came from is pretty interesting. I wouldn’t have guessed they came from videos of a trial.

Thanks, Sonia. I have a couple of these in the pipeline. I usually enjoy learning where other writers get their inspiration. ~Tim