“And then he planted a bomb which exploded everything within a 100-metre radius for no reason, then killed his best friend for, surprise! Also no reason at all!”

While it can be entertaining to read this sort of story for the first couple of times, it soon gets dull when it becomes clear there is actually not much point to all that carnage besides functioning as a shock factor. In fact, crime and violence can be so much more than an attempt to elicit “Oh my gosh!” from a reader.

To start with, crime and violence can be used as an effective introduction to the story’s genre and setting. For example, if a story opens with the robbery, it sets a tense and thrilling tone of the scene right away. Alternatively, if a character does something that is normally legal to our understanding but is penalised for their actions in the story, this shows that laws and values in the story work differently, thus giving readers insight into the rules of the world you have created.

Next, crime and violence can be utilised effectively to show the nature or values of a character. Do they show anxiety and remorse after committing heinous acts? Or are they consumed by emotions like greed, vengeance, or even sadistic pleasure? Do they turn themselves in, make a run for it or proudly announce their sins to the world?

Finally, crime and violence can be used in the plot to lead to meaningful and intriguing consequences that trigger following events in the story. Perhaps a morally righteous character who once swore never to take a life, ironically kills her greatest enemy when blinded by grief and vengeance. Perhaps her choice for revenge leads to a plot twist that changes the flow of the story in an unexpectedly exciting way.

While it is certainly cathartic to allow your characters to viciously lay waste to their surroundings, do think twice before letting self-indulgence take the wheel. There is plenty a writer can do with crime and violence, and if you are a writer, you can do it too!