How many times have you found yourself in this situation, where you've written yourself into a corner and don't know , or understand, the procedural or what to say, or do next. All of us have, and when in doubt, we punt. just like the young CSI agent above. There is nothing wrong with punting, as long as your reader goes along with it. It's a critical moment where Mr. Reader might say, "What a bunch of crap" and toss your book in the pile next to his recliner. When you are not sure of what to say, make stuff up that sounds technical or, informed. I had a character in my novel, THE BODY BROKER, I needed one of her kidneys for a high paying customer. I wasn't sure how to extract the kidney while she was kicking and screaming, so I invented a drug I named Hextametephine, a powerful hypnotic that did the trick, she went under immediately, after I shot her up with five cc's of the stuff. A half hour later, I had her in a bathtub filled with crushed ice, called 911, and walked out of her apartment with her kidney, locking the door behind me.
I may be wrong about telling people to make believable stuff up, but so far it's worked for me. I would be interested in how some of you others handle situations like this.
Shoot me a reply, let's communicate. If you share with me, I'll tell you how I got a sample of Uday Husain's DNA before the Iraq war =o)
