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A couple tips to writing spies/spying into fanfiction:

What I wanted to share with you – after reading a lot of cop and spy novels – was some notes and observations I did about the spy life which is completely unlike how James Bond and the like depict it as. This is a post about spying when depicted as a meticulously planned, psychologically straining ordeal because stealing secrets is hard work.

[x-posted to dreamwidth for easier reading]

Table of Contents:

i. spies =/= action and explosions;
ii. spies have different personas;
iii. when spies meet other spies!!1! or people in general;
iv. how spies do most of their spying;
v. notes on a spy life’s privacy, family, and income;
vi. a spy’s personal security measures;
vii. parting notes

i. spies =/= action and explosions

First, I want to address the myth that ‘spies’ = ‘action and explosions’, something that has probably been perpetuated a lot by works like James Bond in media. Bond excels at being very good at causing mass property damage wherever he goes. That’s a terrible idea since he’s very noticeable, there are probably warrants for his arrest for his face, and – considering he’s usually in some homogenous country full of poc (another post for another day) – his identity can probably be traced back to Britain, which would essentially blow his cover to pieces and Britain would be left fielding a million press questions as to why ‘their agents are in another sovereign country in this day and age’, and the excuse of ‘government secrets’ won’t be able to cut it.

Spies should be noted for their general innocuousness, their ability to blend in, and how forgettable they are. You can’t be 'spying’ on anything if you’re blowing it up or if the other person notices you. If anything, spies should be able to infiltrate public spaces without being addressed. They should be able to frequent the same coffee shop without leaving any real trace of themselves to be remarked upon. Just ‘an average person’ – tips the average, drinks an average drink that dozens of customers drink, doesn’t do anything remarkable except look out the window and read the paper or play cards with a friend that comes in five minutes later. Perhaps they’re close friends. Maybe siblings. Who really knows. Who really cares?

ii. spies have different personas

Second, that isn’t to say that all spies are like this. You can have spies with Bond’s personality – a good looking man, a bit cocky, arrogant. You can have spies that are very charming, gentle people who host dinner parties. You can have downtrodden looking spies who seem one paycheck away from homeless. Spies are multi-dimensional because they’re still people, however the fascinating thing about them – I have noticed – is that they can create other people. They create alter egos who are clumsy or quick, beautiful or ugly, quiet or obnoxious. Just as they’re real people, their personas are very fleshed out human beings. The personas depend on the situation the spy is placed in, of course – social situations involve social people, quiet moments involve quiet people, etc.

There is a lot of fanfiction that involve two characters being ‘fake married’ to infiltrate whatever it is they need to infiltrate. It’s important to place emphasis on these new identities because they’re going to have to be complete to be convincing. Spies can bring out traits from their own personality into the persona, but it is still something separate from their original character. There needs to be paperwork, a documented history, references (‘oh, yeah, I know her! We went to college together a few years back.’) and an elaborately woven tapestry of memories and events within. In spy novels, it’s not a big jump to use the spy’s real life documentation as evidence for a new persona. ‘You were a member of a [xyz] group from university when you were young? Use that to convince the other side – being the [xyz] supporters – that you’re a part of their plans; no more ties to us.’ – and here we have a spy becoming a mole.

iii. when spies meet other spies!!1! or people in general

When spies organize meetings with other people – especially if it’s a traitor from the other side, someone doing something illegal to get your spy their information, or general people – dangerous or normal – they’re very meticulous. As far as I’ve noticed, spies don’t work the way drug deals work. Let me illustrate:

On one hand, you have a person with drugs. They show up at the drop-off location with their suitcase of cocaine. They wait. The customer doesn’t show up at the designated time. The drug dealer is disgruntled but ultimately lingers for five minutes – maybe even ten – and then goes back home or whatever drug dealing crib they’re living in. Maybe the drug dealer calls their customer, organizes a second location in two days to do the drop, and gets their drug money. Maybe the drug dealer just gets sick of the customer and murders their family – but you get the idea. It’s a one-time event and if it’s missed, that’s it.

For spies, it’s important to have back-up plans. They organize a meeting at a hotel bar. They wait. The other person doesn’t show. Not to worry. The spy continues to drink their whiskey on the rocks, pays leisurely, walks down the streets – looking as if they have no care in the world. An hour – maybe two hours – into their walk and you see them pat their pockets – ah, it seems they’re out of cash. The spy goes to an ATM, gets a few bills before they’re walking to another bar – jazz bar, nice, classy place now that there’s cash in the wallet. The walk and ATM stop took two hours – no, more like three, let’s say. Oh, it seems that the spy has met an old friend at this bar, what a coincidence. They laugh, hug, sit down for a drink and contemplate the music. Chat a little. Chat a lot.

The point is that spies will always have alternate drop-off locations and meeting places. If there’s no one who shows at 6 pm? Then the spy will head to the location they chose for 9 pm. Or midnight. Or the spy will go to the post office the next morning and pick-up a package that was dropped off the night before because the other person couldn’t meet them in person. The main thing that fanfiction often misses are the various back-up plans to the back-up plans that have been organized. Information has to be funnelled one way or another to the spy and it’s important to have every venue accessible.

iv. how spies do most of their spying

From what I’ve read, a spy’s best weapon is his awareness to detail. The facial expressions, the odd phrase in a report, the pause before a sentence – considering a spy’s job is to get important information out of people, they must be aware of that person. How they speak, how they gesture, how they lie. Spying isn’t full of paper trails and receipts of a government’s secret actions, since that is a liability, thus the spy’s best attempt to understand what is happening in enemy territory is talk to people that live and work there.

Also, you have photographs of what’s happening, satellite photos, or photographs of meetings of politicians, business people, and spies. When certain high profile people meet each other in secret meetings and there’s photographic evidence, this information can usually be extrapolated to explain how other events are happening. For example: the minister of Defence and a CEO of a manufacturing company based in an ally country meet. A month before (or a month later), news of the enemy government is becoming more militaristic and vigilant in its domestic activities. Conclusion: the manufacturing company is providing army supplies and resources to do this in exchange for… something. And so the spying goes on.

If another government has spies as well (and, let’s be real, most governments practice espionage of some sort – whether its international or domestic) then getting one of the enemy spies to betray their country and come over to the other side is one of the best ways to gain secrets and information. However, there is always the risk of ‘the mole’, a double agent who seems as if they betrayed their home country when they’re in actuality still working for them.

v. notes on a spy life’s privacy, family, and income

Rule of thumb: don’t tell your significant other you’re a spy, no matter how much you love them. It just won’t do, unless they are also born in the business of spying and are a spy as well, all you’re doing is creating a huge security risk should your cover be blown. If the enemy can trace your identity back and find that you have a spouse and your spouse knows about what you do for a living, they’re not going to be in for a good time when they get interrogated by the enemy.

Also, if you’re being employed by the government to spy for them, it will be very likely that they will give you a cover job. There will be documentation – false, of course – that you’re actually a manager of a lumber company, or that you’re the secretary for your country’s diplomatic attaché. Nowhere should there be any evidence that a spy is working as a spy – not in documents nor in wage.

Now, James Bond might have the entire treasury of Britain as his budget, but normal people do not. It’s the government – you need to appeal for grants, loans, bursaries, budget increases, and suffer the horror of budget cuts. Spying, just like any other extension of the government, runs on a tight ship when it comes to money. Yes, spies get wages and benefits – but it won’t be that significant. Just as spies have fake jobs and false documentation, their wage must match their identity, and their salaries aren’t going to be anything to write home about, just like every other civil servant job.

vi. a spy’s personal security measures

Being a spy, you watch people and how they interact and try to discern any information that you can from their actions in order to report it back. When you’re following a person to a club, it’s easy to imagine someone following you to the club as well. Thus, a spy usually lives as if they’re being spied on as well – whether they’re in their home country or not, because – again – no one knows they’re spies back home as well.

It’s important to have security measures if a spy thinks they’re being followed. In one novel, a spy begins his getaway by heading to a train ticket counter, buying a ticket for Destination A. Then they go out for coffee, wander, change clothes in a bathroom, go to another ticket counter, get a ticket for Destination B, drop off their luggage except for a small travel case, go wander again, exchange Destination A’s ticket for Destination C, hop on for Destination C and hope the person who was tracking you fell for your deception.

As for the home – go for security measures that are subtle instead of cameras and locks. Chances are – if there is a person spying on you and you’re not sure, then they’re probably good enough to get into your home unnoticed and go pilfering around. Leave your doorknob just a little turned to one side before you leave the home, as one spy in a novel did it. Or – as one character in a manga did – place pencil lead in the door hinge before you leave so when the door opens it breaks, but it’s not noticeable to anyone but you once you return.

vii. parting notes

On a psychological note, I’ve realized that a spy’s life is probably much more isolated than I ever thought, as you’re not only protecting government secrets from people around you, but your own secrets from your spying co-workers.

As for spy missions – they’re hardly ever as clear-cut as movies make them out to be. There’s a lot of more paper trail, quiet following of a target, taking pictures, and genuinely being as subtle as possible in spying. When people approach a spy to offer up the information they have, they usually present conditions first. ‘Let me immigrate to your country, let me take up residence, let me change my identity, let me have money to start a new life instead of living here’, and don’t give anything up until said conditions are met. Subsequently, there’s a delay where the spy must negotiate with both the government and the person and find the best outcome for both.

And people die. It’s James Bond in that sense – a spy’s life is a life of important political and military secrets that could be used as blackmail against an entire country. And, so, what better way than to seek out, torture, and eliminate? So, while there probably isn’t as many gun-toting, suit-wearing, car-racing explosions as you might have imagined (we’re on a budget here and a cover to protect), there will always be life-threatening situations involving people who’ve gone morally grey rather than on one side of another.

That being said – these are just tips to give your story a more realistic, complicated feel of the other side of spying. There’s a lot more to spies than what James Bond and like’s viewpoint shows the audience, and I wanted people to know more about the shadier, quieter side of it. Thank you for reading this if you got this far, and I hope this was helpful in some way.

Please – if you have any questions or comments, shoot them my way through my tumblr, and I’ll answer as best as I can.

posted 26 Jun 2013 @ 17:25
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