In some of Capote's works of the 1950s, his attention is turned away from traditional fiction.
In “Local Color” he wrote a collection of pieces retelling his impressions and experiences while in
Europe. In “The Muses Are Heard: An Account” he wrote essays about his travels in Russia with a
touring theater company that presented the play “Porgy and Bess”.
Before Capote found his main subject, he published one more traditional novel, “Breakfast at
Tiffany's”. In 1952 the novel was adapted as a Broadway drama. Critics believe Breakfast at
Tiffany's is a good example of a maturity lacking in Capote's early fiction. Though Capote
conceived his story as fiction, he was already drawing heavily from real life incidents. Capote saw
the second phase of his development as a writer come to a close with Breakfast at Tiffany's. He
turned his efforts toward writing as an art form.

From these projects Capote developed the idea of creating work that would combine fact and
fiction. The result was “In Cold Blood”. Originally, chapters of the book appeared in several issues
of “The New Yorker” and the work was later published in book form. This book describes the
murder of Kansas farmer Herbert W. Clutter and his family in November 1959. Capote and Harper
Lee, his childhood friend, went to Holcomb, Kansas, to research the case. The town residents were
not only emotionally shocked and upset about the murders, but they were also deeply suspicious
of Capote and his motives. He retraced the killers' flight to Miami, Florida, and Acapulco, Mexico.
He did months of research on the criminal mind and interviewed a number of death row killers.
Before he began writing, Capote had gathered over six thousand pages of notes. After doing all of
that he began writing the book, which took almost six years to complete. “In Cold Blood”
was published in 1965 and became a bestseller. Capote received an Edgar Award from the
Mystery Writers of America.

In the late 1960s Capote began suffering from writer's block. He spent most of his time revising or
throwing out his works in progress. During the mid-1970s he published several chapters
of “Answered Prayers” in “Esquire” magazine. It was a gossip-filled chronicle of society's jet set.
The stories revealed intimate details about his friends. Most critics found the chapters
disappointing. His friends felt betrayed and refused to remain in contact with him.