From Noir To Cosy In 12 Easy Stages
There is a wonderful array of crime fiction out there and it seems there are noir fans and cozy fans and never the twain shall meet. But how difficult would it be to turn a noir tale into a cozy, or vice versa? Well, how about writing 12 different versions to ensure your new novel appeals to the widest range of readers? Here are some handy hints.
A noir book is one that ends with all the characters dying/going to prison/becoming alcoholics/betraying each other and their own morals (if they had any to start with) - mostly a one book deal (after all, who'd want to put the poor sucker through all that again).
Add a wisecracking sidekick, a couple of shoot-outs and the love of a good woman for our PI who decides he's going to kick the booze, and you have a hardboiled tale.
Add a nasty serial killer, a morgue, some sharp knives and a know-it-all woman with a degree in pathology, and you have a forensic text book.
Give your serial killer a quirk where he's getting back at his mother by removing the left ear of his victim, add in a few italicized passages from the viewpoint of the killer, and you have a psychological thriller.
Add quotes from an obscure Turkish poet left at the scene of the crime, a chess playing killer and a discourse on philosophy every six pages, and you have turned it into a literary mystery.
Throw a couple of lawyers into the mix who use their courtroom skills to unveil the bad guy, and you have a legal thriller.
Enter the lone cop who has a passion for justice at the expense of his home life, and relaxes with a glass of something and some jazz music on the stereo, and you have the loner policeman book.
Give him some mates, a few jokes, a couple of attractive female colleagues and some interdepartmental squabbling, and you have a police procedural.
Introduce your newly optimistic and upbeat policeman to a nice widow with a penchant for sticking her nose in where it's not wanted, and you've got an amateur sleuth mystery.
Give Ms Nosy a clever, mystery-solving iguana as a pet, a hobby knitting bird tables out of leftover wool, throw in a recipe every couple of chapters, and you have a cozy.
Give the iguana the starring role, or give the heroine the ghost of a dead relative to contend with, and you have a paranormal mystery.
Transport the whole shooting match back to 1665 and dress them in pantaloons and bustles, and have them wander round exclaiming "Gadzokks and oddsbodkins" and you have a historical mystery.
OK, well, the talking iguana wouldn't fit that well in 1665 (even wearing pantaloons), but I'm sure someone will do it one day :o)
A noir book is one that ends with all the characters dying/going to prison/becoming alcoholics/betraying each other and their own morals (if they had any to start with) - mostly a one book deal (after all, who'd want to put the poor sucker through all that again).
Add a wisecracking sidekick, a couple of shoot-outs and the love of a good woman for our PI who decides he's going to kick the booze, and you have a hardboiled tale.
Add a nasty serial killer, a morgue, some sharp knives and a know-it-all woman with a degree in pathology, and you have a forensic text book.
Give your serial killer a quirk where he's getting back at his mother by removing the left ear of his victim, add in a few italicized passages from the viewpoint of the killer, and you have a psychological thriller.
Add quotes from an obscure Turkish poet left at the scene of the crime, a chess playing killer and a discourse on philosophy every six pages, and you have turned it into a literary mystery.
Throw a couple of lawyers into the mix who use their courtroom skills to unveil the bad guy, and you have a legal thriller.
Enter the lone cop who has a passion for justice at the expense of his home life, and relaxes with a glass of something and some jazz music on the stereo, and you have the loner policeman book.
Give him some mates, a few jokes, a couple of attractive female colleagues and some interdepartmental squabbling, and you have a police procedural.
Introduce your newly optimistic and upbeat policeman to a nice widow with a penchant for sticking her nose in where it's not wanted, and you've got an amateur sleuth mystery.
Give Ms Nosy a clever, mystery-solving iguana as a pet, a hobby knitting bird tables out of leftover wool, throw in a recipe every couple of chapters, and you have a cozy.
Give the iguana the starring role, or give the heroine the ghost of a dead relative to contend with, and you have a paranormal mystery.
Transport the whole shooting match back to 1665 and dress them in pantaloons and bustles, and have them wander round exclaiming "Gadzokks and oddsbodkins" and you have a historical mystery.
OK, well, the talking iguana wouldn't fit that well in 1665 (even wearing pantaloons), but I'm sure someone will do it one day :o)
Views: 11
Comment
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Comment by Rose on April 14, 2007 at 9:21am
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So, take the whole cast of characters, including the talking iguana in pantaloons, into history, and now you have an alternative historical SFF.
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Comment by Patricia Abbott on April 14, 2007 at 12:28am
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I have been having fun turning literary stories into crime. Just take that old couple, letting go of life, and throw a body in their basement. Or a bunch of them. Just take the woman running a B & B in Austin for country singers and have her knock off any who sleeps in the Elvis Room. See how easy it is.
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Comment by Donna Moore on April 13, 2007 at 12:27pm
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Aw - thanks guys! And Nancy - I shall see if I can find the beginning of the cat PI novel I started (not seriously of course!).
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Comment by Nancy Gardner on April 13, 2007 at 10:08am
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Well-said, Donna. You can really write. Who said you couldn't write a cozy-noir? Or is it a noir-cozy?
Nancy
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Comment by Tribe on April 13, 2007 at 9:36am
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Ms. Donna, you crack me up.
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Comment by Elaine Flinn on April 13, 2007 at 9:32am
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You are truly deranged, Donna Moore! Maybe that's why I love you?
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LOL. No Steven, do you think I should? It will keep me out of trouble for the next 12 years or so!
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Comment by Steven Torres on April 13, 2007 at 2:31am
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Very funny. Have you already started on this?
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