Writing the National Security Thriller, Part III: Spy Tradecraft
In my first two articles on Writing the National Security Thriller, I addressed the importance of verisimilitude and people, places and things. But the heart of any espionage tale lies in spy tradecraft. If the writing is good, the plot appears true-to-life and you've populated your story with credible characters, places and things, and you've got the tradecraft nailed down, you at least have the makings of a winner.
When I worked as a diplomat in Cuba, that country's intelligence services were on me practically 24/7. They tailed me constantly, riffled through my belongings, slashed my car tires, bugged my phone calls and placed hidden videocams in my hotel rooms. In Vietnam, that country's intelligence service set up a clandestine surveillance post in a building just opposite my villa and kept watch on me and my family for four years. I was often tailed there as well. Same in China, Laos and Cambodia. The formerly communist Hungarian secret service tried to lure me into a so-called "honey trap." I got into a car chase with a Russian KGB agent who pissed me off, and required 24/7 armed bodyguards in face of Iranian threats to U.S. diplomats. State Department Diplomatic Security authorized me to carry a weapon at times like that after scoring top marks in shooting tests. I also had the privilege of once working with the Secret Service on a presidential protective detail. All great grist for my novels.
When you serve as a U.S. envoy in countries ruled by governments hostile to America, these types of things become almost second nature. I incorporate my real-life experiences with intelligence and security activities in my thrillers. But what if the Cuban Directorate of Intelligence hasn't been on your case? And what if the Iranians haven't issued a fatwa against you? What if (for you) "Walk-ins Welcome" means your hairdresser accepts customers with no appointments rather than (to me) political defectors are encouraged to join our side? If you're an insurance adjuster by day, but an aspiring thriller writer in your free time, what do you do to make your tales crackle with authentic action as opposed to lumbering under contrived artifice? Ask Tom Clancy. He pulled it off and the rest is history.
There's no easy route to enlightenment here. Research and more research is the answer. Before even thinking of setting fingertips to keyboard with your story, hit the books and gain an understanding of the arcane worlds of espionage, or the military, or politics, or law enforcement, or whatever niche in which you're writing. As for espionage, I recommend reading the works of the best spy thriller fiction writers: John LeCarre, Eric Ambler, Alan Furst, Daniel Silva, David Ignatius. Other spy tale writers may slap together entertaining yarns, but too many of them flunk the reality test. I'd avoid them as I researched for my own opus and stick to the masters.
On the non-fiction side, there are surprisingly few classic guides on spy tradecraft. Two that I recommend (if you can find them in print) are: The Craft of Intelligence by Allen Dulles and Without Cloak or Dagger: The Truth About the New Espionage by Miles Copeland. They provide the timeless basics of spy tradecraft in very readable form. Another good, but more up-to-date, introduction is Wikipedia. Start with their article on HUMINT, i.e., human intelligence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_HUMINT. And, as I stated in my last article on writing the national security thriller, read the many excellent nonfiction books, usually by journalists, on real spy cases -- the Walker spy ring, Aldrich Ames, Robert Hansson, Jonathan Pollack, Anna Montes, et al. They provide detailed accounts of how spies, traitors and counterspies work. Finally, another good source on tradecraft is the legal indictments against those caught spying for foreign powers -- all of the above cases plus the recent Russian sleeper agent ring cracked by the FBI. These documents can be found through the websites of the relevant U.S. Attorney offices which prosecuted the cases.
If you invest the time poring over all of these resources, you'll find yourself actually grasping the esoteric and twisted world of spies and how they operate. You'll also find yourself doing surveillance detection runs in your hometown just in case the Cuban DI is on your case. . .
See also:
Writing the National Security Thriller, Part I: Tips for the Lay Author
Writing the National Security Thriller, Part II: People, Places & Things
Writing About Spies: Some Observations
Why Spies Love My Books