Oh dear, November has already gone! The speed of time, my friends…jeez!

Most of my November was packed with NaNoWriMo-related writing, and I must admit I didn’t do much reading. Instead, to unwind after long hours at the day job followed by an evening in the NaNo-trenches, I rewatched the first few seasons of one of my favorite TV shows of all time: Criminal Minds!

Even though it was my second time re-watching the show, it hadn’t occurred to me until now that the series is a treasure trove for writers! So, instead of giving you my favorite November reads, movies, and music, I decided to dedicate this post to the wonderfully addicting world of Criminal Minds.

Criminal What? 

Criminal Minds follows the members of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) as they travel across the country solving gruesome serial killer cases, abductions, and all the horrible stuff. The series ran from 2005 until 2020, and there are so many things this show super well: the writing, the acting, the banter—it’s all insanely amazing!

Why The Show Is Interesting for Writers 

Criminal Minds is not a classic “whodunit” or police procedural; it’s more about the “why” behind the “whodidit” from the point of view of the person committing the crime. 

Each episode takes a deep dive into the mind of an “unsub” (unknown subject), using behavioral analysis and profiling to understand the unsub’s actions and predicting their next moves in order to lock them behind bars by the end of the episode. 

Because of its focus on character, the show has some interesting lessons for writers!

Criminal Ghosts

In some of my previous posts, I’ve talked about ghosts and how I use it as a starting point for crafting my characters. Most of the episodes of Criminal Minds feature a ghost, in one form or another, so they are great case studies for creating your own characters’ ghosts. 

A majority of the unsubs featured on the show have some pretty traumatic events in their past, which serve as the basis for the unsubs’ reason to commit a crime. The traumatic event helps the BAU understand why a killer acts the way they do. 

To make it even more interesting, each member of the BAU team has been through some ordeal, as well. These traumas drove them into the world of profiling, made them into the people they are—both at work and at home—and determine how they respond to the cases they solve.

The combination of both the unsubs’ ghosts and the team’s ghosts makes Criminal Minds delightfully complex, and so, so, sooo compelling to watch!

Presenting the Profile

Each episode of Criminal Minds has that *one* moment where one of the profilers says, “I think it’s time to present the profile”. That moment is usually my favorite moment in the episode (seriously, it makes me want to squeal with excitement, because we’re getting to the good stuff: the unsub’s “why”). 

While presenting the profile, each member of the team will provide a piece of the puzzle: explaining the unsub’s background and behavior, their ghost and motivations. They will also make predictions about what the unsub will do next. 

Occasionally, when I get stuck working on a character for my stories, I pretend I’m part of the BAU team: I say to myself “I think it’s time to present the profile” and start writing down whatever I can think of, keeping in mind the show. Sometimes it works and I have a profiler-moment-of-glory: I learn where to take my character next. Of course, sometimes it doesn’t work and I move on to something else (maybe watch another CM episode, muhahaha…).

The Importance of Character Motivation

Anyway, all of this was to say: I looove me some Criminal Minds. 

Also: discovering everything you can about your characters’ personal and family histories will help you connect with them on a deeper level. 

Understanding what drives your characters, and why certain things affect them in a specific way, will help you create complicated and vibrant personas—which will make your story infinitely more interesting to readers!