Writing the Hard-Boiled Private Eye

So my book "Blood Shadow: A Vera Shadow Mystery", is styled after the Hard-Boiled Detective genre, popular in the 1930's and 40's. I wanted to capture the style and setting of those novels, most notably those written by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.

I can't quite remember where I first saw the image of a brooding private dick wearing a fedora and overcoat, smoking like a stovepipe and drowning their woes in bottom shelf whiskey (though I expect Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes had something to do with it). But none the less, my imagination was taken captive and I began to become interested in the genre.

So, what makes a detective "hard-boiled"? For me, the characteristics that make someone hard-boiled are hard to quantify. I think at the most basic a hard-boiled shamus is someone who is damaged and cynical. They have seen the dark underbelly of the setting they inhabit, and they've been burned one too many times by people they thought they could trust. This has pushed them to find ways to cope with the trauma and their coping mechanisms usually aren't healthy. I wouldn't go as far as hard drugs, but the classics are alcohol and nicotine.

A gumshoe needs to be tough and willing to get their hands dirty. They always see the worst in people and are always suspicious. Yet despite this, they seem to have a heart of gold (though covered in layers of cigarette ash and drowned in whiskey) and genuinely want to help people. They know the darkness all too well and tend to want to protect the innocence from going down the path that they have fallen down. That's why they do what they do.

To write one of these characters I believe that you must take a deep look into humanity. Figure out what pushes people to do the things they do. For example, what pushes someone to murder? What pushes someone to steal; usually scorn, desperation, or lust. You really need to delve into that frame of mind, because that is what your detective deals with.

When I'm writing Vera Shadow, I like to turn on some dark/noir jazz and RainyMood and close my eyes and imagine the dark alleyways, the constant deluge, and harsh yellow streetlights. It makes me want to start monologuing about the dreadful weather and that dame with more curves than an alpine mountain road that just stepped into my office wearing the perfume of sin around her neck.

I hope this gives you an idea into my process of writing the Hard-Boiled Detective. Try it out for yourself. You may be surprised what comes out.

Cheers,
Enkelli Arn Robertson