Edited by: Kavya Mittal
Content Warning: bloody imagery, light gore
Picture this, you are standing on the streets of New York and a fresh crisp breeze unruffles your muffler. Standing on the roadside with a bear claw, which I have never eaten by the way, and a cup of coffee — you see the flash of ‘writer’ on a bullet proof jacket. Congratulations! You have spotted Richard Castle, mystery-detective writer, pun connoisseur, and local sidekick to the NYPD’s 12th Precinct’s erstwhile detective, and (spoiler alert) now Captain Beckett.
The writer in you itches, it squirms a little on seeing a master of the craft in action, even though the ideal writer action is hunched over a laptop with a cup of tea and dry snacks, while the TV runs on in the background. In Castle’s world, writers get to experience and partake in the most valiant and bizarre adventures. The crime fighting, action adventure atmosphere of this world does not preclude the novelist from being a subject of the story, instead of just being an observer. While there is no quality of ‘just’ in observing, it is mighty good fun getting to watch Castle be a normie, or as normal as he can be and still be engaged in the world of murders and mafia.
There is a safety in watching him be dangerous, he does it on all our behalfs. So when he leaps out of the car to punch a gun-wielding murderer with his handcuffed fist, the second hand excitement is accompanied with a widened pool of experiences to mull over. Right now, you have a choice though, you can follow him or go back – quietly of course. Walk with purpose behind him, stop periodically so that you can pretend you have a life outside of being enamoured with him and then proceed. Castle will head into an alley where a brutal murder occurred — there is a large pool of blood and no body or a bloody carpet rolled up in the alley’s corner. Castle is huddled up in many layers of warmth as he talks over the case with Esposito and Ryan. Beckett is too high up to show up for every case and Lainey was busy so the sassy, Castle-hating coroner Perlmutter makes a disparaging remark on the presence of writers on the crime scene. Ignore that. Repeat after me. Ignore that. Haters will be haters, but also Perlmutter has a job to do and let’s not get in his way.
As the case progresses and the team makes their way to the precinct, various threads begin to unravel — that is — until the shoe drops. That is when their shenanigans all over the city of New York occurs. The writer in you follows, even when you know you must sit in and write your ideas down before they escape or worse pop out into a jumble. However, just like Castle you follow the team of detectives anyway, through dangerously lit lanes, and past sharp street corners into the den of a dangerous crime lord or the layer of a mafia ring. Where the danger is, the writer shall follow.
Castle heads home eventually. To sit and write by his very lavish fireplace or in his beautiful office. The writing flies off the page for him — inspiration has been like never before and his work basks under it. That however cannot be everyone’s truth, at least sustainably. We see several instances of Richard Castle struggling to finish his pages, because writing is as much about creativity as it is about sitting yourself down and putting words on paper. His brawl with the bawdy world of words and writing them sees many resolutions but none of them sustain for any longer than a four episode arc. Maybe that is unintentional or maybe that goes to show how even the most popular and famous of writers need to employ various tips and tricks to get their work done.
What works best about being a writer in Castle world is that you get to have access to great insight in the subject of your writing. Even if you cannot find divine inspiration in the form of a cop, the pool of knowledge a person belonging to the craft of your investigation can offer is vast. So copy this Castle trick. Moreso, having crazy experiences also helps jolt the sensory occupants of our writer-observer symbiotic bug. Ultimately perhaps, it could be the fact that Castle has an amazing support system – a family that not only understands his vocation but also respects it and supports it. Martha and Alexis must also be massive creative influences in his life – being as brilliant as they are.
In conclusion, look up to the sky from where you stand in the alley you accidentally walked into. Rick Castle isn’t here but you are. Also, the sky is orange and pink. The sun may be setting or rising or doing neither depending on where you are. Look back, there never was a crime scene or even a crisp autumn breeze in New York. You could have been holding a bear claw and coffee, or maybe it’s a biscuit and chai. Maybe you took a wrong turn and walked into the wrong street, engrossed in whatever thought led you astray because that is what writers do. This isn’t Richard Castle’s world but you can write it into whatever you want it to be.