Working on a screenplay or story with crashes, fires, or other physical accident events and want some reality infused in the writing? If you have a fire or accident related question or two, we will gladly provide answers at no charge. In addition to being a court qualified fire expert, Mr. Williams is a writer and is also available for hire as a technical advisor on these areas of expertise for larger productions.

Let's Get Real
Writers are wise to write what they know, but how many writers have killed someone with a 9mm pistol, or set fire to a church, or faked a car crash? Not many, one would guess. Considering all the crime novels, TV shows, and movies out there, this is a very good thing. Yet writers must tackle these and other difficult subjects all the time - hopefully after doing some research.

Unfortunately though, there are far too many books, TV show plots and movies which simply don't get their facts straight, with situations forcefully contrived to fit the crime details. This is sloppy, lazy writing. The sad part is that it isn't even necessary. It is possible to get it accurate and make it interesting and exciting. All you need to do is ask someone who knows.

What do the following words have in common?:
Arson, murder, extortion, fraud, kinky sex, lies, accidents, corruption, incompetence, deception, strippers, strip clubs, bias, irresponsibility, death, trauma, serious injury, destruction, crashes, fires, nudity, tragedy, grief, revenge, vice, greed, adultery, total loss, pain, the legal system, wealth, juvenile delinquents, sexual fetishes, movie stars, celebrities, crime, blood, terror.

These subjects make great fodder for creative writing, yes? But no, that's not the answer. The answer is that this is a list of just a few components of real life cases investigated by Jeff Williams in his career over the past three decades. As you can see, fire and crash investigation is not a dry subject. The circumstances of many of these real cases are far more interesting than plots (which too often have no basis in fact at all) dreamed up by some of today's writers. If the real McCoy is so dramatic, what's the point in making anything up?

If you're a writer, you owe it to yourself to get your facts straight, to describe procedures and/or techniques properly and use them cleverly in the plot. In doing so you will demonstrate that you have done your research, and that you are clearly interested in getting it right. Your work will have legitimacy, and - more important - believability.

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