Questions about crimes

Well, as you’ve probably seen by the title of this thread is me asking my stupid question about crimes, and creating plot with crimes etc.

Backstory: Alright so I’m creating this story where the protagonist has stolen something (or maybe she has done another crime, feel free to leave suggestions :blush:). I want this to be something that she was forced to do (which basically is the reason I’m creating this thread hehe) and I want the reader to gradually find out why she did the crime and what it was about.

Alright, if some of you are still reading and not completly throwed off by my weird ass description, I now have some questions for you! :smiley:

  1. What could be possible reasons to force people to do crimes, such as stealing etc.? Feel free to give examples.

  2. What things could be valuable enough for someone to force a person to steal it?

  3. If any of you have any ideas of how I can hint things about what happened in a creative/artistic way let me know.

I do realize that this post is very messy and stuff, tbh English isn't my first language and sometimes I don't know how to express myself without having it sound f*cked up :grin:

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Well, I guess I could try to answer some of your questions :grin:

Reasons:

  • one of the reasons which are often behind this are threats. If the antagonist is threatening your family or friends and you know he/she would be able to hurt them, you do as he/she says.
  • ruining your reputation. If the protagonist has some dark secret or tragic past which was supposed to stay buried, he/she could commit the crime because he/she doesn’t want anyone to know (it could ruin relationships with certain people,…)
  • financial problems. E.g.: The protagonist needs to provide for his/her younger siblings/sick parent, so he/she makes a deal with the antagonist.

Things that might be stolen:

  • mobile phone. After all, everyone has there some personal stuff. Doesn’t matter if contacts, secrets, photos,…
  • jewelry/credit card
  • pet (yeah… you can steal a puppy or a kitty lol)
  • probably kidnap a baby… idk?
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Girl this was sooo helpful, thank you!:blush:

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Additional question: Reasons why the antagonist chose not to steal the thing him-/herself? Eg., beacuase it’s too dangerous etc.

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That’s a hard one :joy:

Maybe the ’victim’ is ex of the antagonist so she/he can’t get close enough because their break-up wasn’t a nice one. Or while the antagonist ’entertains’ the ’victim’, the protagonist can steal the thing. My third idea is that the antagonist needs that thing to be stolen during that one day/night and he/she can’t be there to steal it himself/herself.
I hope I don’t sound too confusing. :rofl:

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You don’t sound confusing at all (not compared to my post at least :sweat_smile:), thank you for your help and time hehe!

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No problem at all! :grin:

One idea is that they have a missing sibling or loved one and they’re looking for them, There is someone who says that they know information about the person they are looking for but they must do what they ask. So it’s basically just blackmail and the protagonist trying to find their loved one.

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Thank you for sharing your ideas!

Some Reasons

  • She stole to save a family member or someone important to her.
  • She did it because of peer pressure (Which isn’t really talked a lot about in episode stories, so it would be great to spread awareness).
  • She did it to save something (For example: If it is fantasy she could have stolen to save the world).

Possible Stolen Item

  • Something close to her family such as an heirloom.
  • Something of mass value (Money wise) such as: Diamonds, Jewelry.
  • Something non physical such as: Stock, Company Funds.
  • Rob a Bank
  • An Important thing that could lead to the discovery of something else (for example: If it was an Fantasy, She could steal something like a vile from a scientists lab that contained information from another planet)

How To Hint

  • I am not quite sure about this one, I believe you should have an idea of the other two questions before you jump into this one.

I hope I helped to answer some of your questions!! Best of luck writing!!! :grin:

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Thank you! I really like the idea about peer pressure, I completly agree that it’s not often displayed in stories:smile:

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