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So you've decided to write a story. You love to readThe Big Sleep, so you've decided to write ''hardboiled'.

First, be sure to check outWrite a Story for basic advice that holds acrossall genres. Then, get look over a rundown of the genre-specific tropes that will help you, hurt you, and guide you on your way.

Necessary Tropes

The very nature of the genre dictates that your materialwill fall under these tropes. Learn to use them well.

• Hardboiled Detective: mentally and physically tough, cynical, and street smart. A military or law enforcement background is common. Often with fedora and trench coat, which you'll see in Fantastic Noir and Cyberpunk (which has its roots in hardboiled fiction). Harrison Ford's Decker in Blade Runner (1982) doesn't have the hat but he has the coat and the Private Eye Monologue. He also has a big "gat in hand."

Familiarize yourself with what has been done, and see if you can create something new - or at least revive a long-forgotten version. It might also be a good idea to research the history of vampire legends online or at your local library.

• Big Bad: Big epic quests like these tend to have Big Bads; it'd be hard not to have a major villain and still have a good, workable story. And the Big Bad doesn't have to be a person, either - but you can read more about that on the page itself.
• During the War: Well... yeah... hard to avoid this trope when you've decided to write a war story.

Choices, Choices

These tropes cover a wide spectrum of choices regarding a certain element of your story, and you're going to have to pick a spot somewhere on that spectrum. Unless we've forgotten to include something, and you can spot it, because in that case you might actually surprise us after all.

• Death: FromNever Say "Die" throughRed Shirt Army toAnyone Can Die (or even"Everybody Dies" Ending), you're going to have to decide to what degree death can affect the characters you've created. Don't forget the death of villains, too, fromThou Shalt Not Kill toShoot the Dog and so forth.
• TheSliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Just how idealisticis your story's worldview? And to what extent do the characters agree with this? Cynics in an Idealistic world may be funny; Idealistics in a Cynical world, decidedly less so.

Note: Depending on how the Choices section plays out, it might get pulled over to the genre-free page after all.

Pitfalls

Watch out for these tropes! They're bad news - or, well, at least they're tropes you generally want to avoid - and they're particularly common in your chosen genre.

• Glurge: Any heartwarming story has the chance of descending into utter glurge, and you should study the examples to get an idea on how to spot it and, more importantly, how to avoid it.
• Purple Prose: Many Romances fall prey to flowery writing that detracts from the story and often makes it difficult to even figure out what is going on. Then again, there are those who defend at least a certain amount of flowery writing... and I wish I could recall the name of the "How to Write Romance" books I found that discussed the matter, so you could read the defense for yourself.
• Mary Sue: Too many fanfic authors fall prey to this one. Not that aMary Sue can't bedone well....
• Your newReality TV show? For the love of all that's worth watching,please find a way to minimizeFilleritisFiller.

Potential Subversions

These tropes are in common use throughout the genre, so we'll forgive you if you use them - but if you can think of a good way to subvert, invert, or just plainavert them, then you just might be able to start a newtrend....

• Space Is an Ocean: Okay, your averageSpace Western rides along on this wave, but isn't there some way you can reinvent the analogy, the terminology...?
• Living in a Furniture Store: Yes, there's good reason to not make things too messy when you're filming aSitcom, and it's not like we're going to notice it... unless you call our attention to it, of course.

Writers' Lounge

Suggested Themes and Aesops

• After the End: You could go with an anti-nuclear-weapon Aesop, a total, Gandhi-esque pacifism Aesop... an "if we all work together we can survive and bounce back from anything" Aesop (hey, it worked quite well inWall-E)....
• That cynicalTabletop RPG might use the theme ofCrapsack World to underscore everything that happens,perhaps coupled withHumans Are Bastards.

Potential Motifs

• Vampire novel means lots of roses and blood.
• If you want yourCosmic Horror story toreallycreep your audience out, make sure to throw in lots ofeyes. And maybe anEye Scream to boot.
  • Tentacles will do too. Be theyCombat Tentacles or the other kind, tentacles tend to freak people out.
    • Of course, why not have both? Or in a true Lovecraftian style, create a monter so horrible the protagonist is unable to even describe it, other than saying it had lots of tentacles, eyes and pointy teeth.

Suggested Plots

• Your High SchoolSitcom could include such plots asTwo-Timer Date,In with the 'In' Crowd,Feud Episode, and evenHorrible Camping Trip.
• A fantasy/horror piece that's heavy on Telepathy andMind Manipulation? TryFake Memories,Grand Theft Me,Amnesia Danger,Journey to the Center of the Mind, andOut-of-Character Alert.

Departments

Set Designer /Location Scout

• Given that you're after aHeroic Fantasy, you'll want to look intoThe Good Kingdom, theEnchanted Forest, andRuritania.
• Lemme see, for the classicBig Bad we have theElaborate Underground Base, theEvil Tower of Ominousness, or, if you prefer, go even bigger withThe Empire.

Props Department

• Spy thriller, eh? You'll need to look at someweapons: I suggest using a cool gun (especially a rare model), like a revolver... and let's not forget some backup, likeRazor Floss. Then you'll need equipment: aGrappling-Hook Pistol, aShoe Phone... and perhaps aCaper Crew.
• Dark magicks require dark regeants. Let's set you up with theGreat Big Book of Everything, aMagic Wand, aCrystal Ball, and your own pantry full of spell ingredients including a year's supply ofEye of Newt.
• Heroic Fantasy: Take up the tome ofWeapon-Based Characterization and consider it well.

Costume Designer

• Any school-based anime worth its salt needs theRed Armband of Leadership and at least one example ofTransfer Student Uniforms.
• Superhero uniforms, superhero uniforms... ah! there we go. Let's see, if you want to avoid spandex and tights, there's alwaysCivvie Spandex, or then again theBadass Longcoat; and of course you'll want to disguise your face, so let me suggestCool Shades (orSinister Shades), maybe anExpressive Mask....

Casting Director

• Well, for a heroic quest, you might go withHeterosexual Life-Partners, thePower Trio, theFour-Girl Ensemble, theFive-Man Band....
• For the Western, choose from amongThe Drifter,The Gunslinger, theMountain Man,The Gambler, theNoble Savage...

Stunt Department

• Your spy thriller could benefit from some good moves:Dressing as the Enemy, aCeiling Cling, maybe someJuggle Fu... and if you want to getreally fancy, add in someLe Parkour.
• Romantic Anime, we're looking at maybe aMeet Cute, aYawn and Reach, maybe anIndirect Kiss....

Extra Credit

Now, if you're really looking to bring up the quality of your work, head off to your local library (or jump on your computer... wait, you're already there) to study how the best (and worst) have managed to make it work:

The Greats

• If you ever wantedAn Anvil about the value of education dropped as well as an anvil evercould be dropped, look no further thanThe Phantom Tollbooth.
• Tired of your friends teasing you about how extensive your world-building is and how it's all really a waste of time?Tolkien did it right, and boy, did he ever pile on the detail.

The Epic Fails

• Harry Potter Fanfiction: Here's a short list ofMSTings of bad fics, so you can tell just where they went wrong.
• So you want to adapt a video game story to a movie script, eh? Let me walk you over to this section ofUwe Boll movies....
• I'm not sayingAmerican Idol is necessarilybad (and in fact I do enjoy it!), but if you want to avoidFilleritisFiller, give it an objective look to see (1) what the audience really wants to see and (2) all the many things they don't care about that you could easily cut out of the program.

Necessary Tropes

Choices, Choices

Pitfalls

Potential Subversions

Writers' Lounge

Suggested Themes and Aesops

Potential Motifs

Suggested Plots

Departments

Set Designer /Location Scout

Props Department

Costume Designer

Casting Director

Stunt Department

Extra Credit

The Greats

The Epic Fails