Roy Glashan's Library
Non sibi sed omnibus
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The Author & Journalist, July 1937
MR. KLINE is both a literary agent and an author, his own short stories, serials, poems, novelettes, and novels having sold to a long list of publications in the United States, England, Canada, and continental Europe. Two of his novels have beeen reprinted by Grossett & Dunlap in the popular edition, and he has also contributed to the movies. His latest motion picture was adapted by Universal from his novel, "Jan of the Jungle."
SO many of the old-fashioncd, straight deductive formula detective stories come to my desk these days, that I feel an article on the modern detective story would be helpful to a great many aspiring writers.
What is meant by the straight deductive formula? I can give it to you in a nutshell. Here is how it was written in the old days with a thousand variations, until the reading public grew heartily tired of it:
John D. Morganbillt's butler found him lying on the luxurious Baluchi rug that adorned the floor of his library, weltering in a pool of his own blood. The butler called the police. A squad arrived, led by a burley blundering inspector, chief or lieutenant, who immediately proceeded to question witnesses and suspects, and perhaps make one or two false arrests. There were a number of people in the house, and a number who had been there, all of whom might have committed the murder, as every one of them had a grudge against Morganbilt.
The inspector got nowhere with the case, and the smart detective was called in. He began questioning witnesses and suspects, nosing out clues, pacing the floor, smoking his pipe, and deducing. Never was he in any danger, nor were those by whom he was employed in danger.
The story went on endlessly with the minute tracing of clues, page after page of dialog which consisted of questioning and discussion, interspersed with pipe-smoking, floor-pacing, and deducing.
After interminable pages of this sort of thing, the detective assembled all witnesses and suspects in a single room, and told how the crime was committed, according to his deductions. At the end of his harangue, he pointed out the guilty party, who betrayed his guilt by promptly swallowing poison, seizing an officer's gun and shooting himself, or making a dash for freedom.
This general formula was published over and over, ad infinitum and ad nauseam, in the pulps of ten to fifteen years ago. But although the song has ended, it seems that the memory lingers on, for hundreds of student writers are still banging out and trying to peddle this obsolete formula.
You will observe that this story type depends solely on the element of mystery or puzzlement to hold the interest of the reader. Its sole appeal is that of a puzzle or problem, a sort of game between reader and writer in which the former tries to outguess the latter.
The element of mystery persists in the modern detective story, but there are other elements which editors consider equally important. Not the least of these is the element of plot conflict, for this is the source of suspense.
Suspense can only be the outcome of conflict or struggle. The difference between reading a story without plot conflict, and a story with it, is the difference between watching a man shadow-boxing and one who is boxing an opponent. In the former case, there is no contest, hence no suspense. In the latter case there is a contest, and spectators feel suspense as to the outcome.
Suspense is the thread that binds your story together—that holds your reader's interest. So conflict, which produces suspense, is the strongest story element, and the basis of all plot.
A third important element in writing the modern detective story is menace—menace to your detective hero, as well as to others in the story, particularly those whom he seeks to protect.
Menace makes your reader feel apprehension for the safety of your detective and other leading characters, thus increasing the reader's interest in your story.
Another important element in the modern detective story is action. I do not mean by this that the modern detective story should merely be a chronicle of violent physical action. Such stories have had their day, just as have the straight deductive yarns. I mean that there should be logical, carefully motivated action throughout the story. The story should be kept moving. Something interesting should be happening all the time.
Characterization is important in this type of story, as in any other. Your characters should stand out as living, breathing human beings, rather than puppets that move when the author pulls the strings.
In order to make them more easily recognizable by your reader whenever they appear on the stage, they can be "tagged." You can give each one certain peculiarities of appearance which will identify him in action, and certain characteristics of speech which will identify him in dialog.
I do not mean by this that you should go to extremes and burlesque the characters. You should simply make each leading character stand out so that he will be easily identified and recognized.
Which brings me to the matter of character description. Lengthy descriptions of your characters slow up your action, so it often is a good plan to combine character description with action. How? Simple enough.
"His keen, gray eyes flashed menacingly."
Here you describe a characteristic, and depict action at the same time.
"He banged the desk with his ham-like fist."
"He ran his slender, claw-like fingers through his thin graying locks."
With lines such as these you tag your characters, and keep the story moving at the same time.
You can tag the speech of some of your characters by giving them favorite expressions or exclamations which they use under certain conditions. Foreign characters can of course be tagged with a foreign accent, usually suggested rather than completely written out. You can also contrast the speech of your cultured characters with those who are uneducated or uncouth. And you should not fail to depict, in all cases, the subtle differences between feminine and masculine expressions, exclamations, etc.
Women writers often unconsciously make their male characters talk like women—while men, though less frequently, sometimes make both men and women talk like men.
So much for character delineation.
NOW how can the elements of suspense, menace and action be introduced into the mystery story?
As previously stated, suspense is always the result of conflict, so in order to build suspense you must introduce plot conflict.
This should be easy for you if you will stop to consider that the basis for plot conflict is already there in any murder mystery.
Conflict presupposes the existence of two or more opposing forces throughout a story. In the modern detective story, your detective is your hero. He is trying to accomplish something—to protect a client or the client's interests. Now the simplest way to introduce plot conflict into any story is to have a wily, resourceful villain. The more powerful, wily, and resourceful you make your villain, the stronger your conflict and suspense will be. So after you find the corpus delecti, you have, ready made, a source of plot conflict in the murderer and his friends, associates, or hirelings.
This person or group will be a force working against your detective hero, seeking to prevent him from apprehending the criminal, and perhaps endeavoring to kill others whom he seeks to protect, or to work against their interest in other ways. So your element of plot conflict is there, ready made for you, in any murder mystery. In the old-fashioned straight deductive story it was static—the murderer merely sought to keep from being discovered by keeping quiet about it, and perhaps by trying to throw the guilt on someone else. In the modern detective-action story, he does something about it. Your element of conflict is dynamic instead of static.
The element of menace follows logically and easily when you introduce active plot conflict. The villain and his associates fight back. They may try to kill the detective. They may capture him and even torture him. They may try to kill or abduct others whom he seeks to protect.
When there is conflict and menace there is bound to be action. And so the element of action falls naturally into the scheme of things.
One of the oldest devices for introducing action, conflict, and menace is what I call the "chain-murder" device. It is still used today, and when well done, is quite effective. In fact, one well known detective magazine invariably uses the chain-murder formula in its lead novelette.
The chain-murder device consists of a series of murders which are related to the first, and which are committed either to conceal the identity of the murderer, or to accomplish some purpose which motivated the original crime, or both.
At the other end of the line is the straight action-detective yarn, which combines the mystery and action-adventure formulas. And there are numerous gradations and variations between these two.
In the very short detective stories an old type still persists—the "almost perfect crime" story, in which the reader sees the murderer committing his "perfect" crime, after which the law suddenly clamps down on him because of some little slip which he has made.
In this group another favorite is the "hoist by his own petard" story, in which the consequences of the murderer's act rebound to take his own life, or in which he loses his life in unsuccessfully attempting to commit a "perfect" murder.
This story type was popular as a short in the days of the old deductive formula, and reappears again and again, today.
What is the most popular type of detective story you can write today—the type that will have a chance in the largest number of markets?
It is the story which has a likeable detective character for a hero—a character with whom your reader can identify himself in order that he may vicariously experience his adventures.
It is the story that has an interesting criminal or villain and a colorful and perhaps exotic background.
The story with the eccentric, crabbed, uncouth or disagreeable detective hero is still written and sold, but it is in the minority.
The story with the sordid villain staged against a drab, uninteresting background, is also written and sold, but it is likewise very much in the minority.
WHAT about the gangster story?
Most of the old-time magazines that featured the gangster story have folded up. The few that are published today do not pay as good rates as the average detective-story magazine, and do not have large circulations. Most editors of detective magazines believe their readers are fed up of gangster yarns, and other things being equal, will take the other type every time in preference. Some editors do not even care to read gangster yarns.
The advent of the G-man movies a couple of years ago brought with it the type of gangster story in which G-men relentlessly pursue public enemies Nos. 1, 2, 3, etc. There are several magazines featuring this type of yarn exclusively, and paying good rates. Other magazines like to run one or two per issue.
The gangster, however, is necessarily the sordid type of criminal or villain. He is seldom as colorful as the international spy, banker, lawyer, doctor, capitalist, or person from everyday common walks of life who for one reason or another has turned criminal.
As a rule, he resorts to violent physical action, where other criminals accomplish their ends in a more wily and resourceful manner—with a little more finesse.
Some readers prefer one type, some the other, but the modern trend is toward the more colorful type of criminal.
IN writing the modern detective story, the author should not overlook the value of establishing a good character-continuity series.
There are three general types.
In the first, the chief character is the detective hero, always on the side of law and order. This type is exemplified by Philo Vance or Charlie Chan.
In the second, we have the Robin Hood type, at loggerheads both with the police and the underworld. He destroys criminals. He often robs the rich to pay the poor, as did Robin Hood, hence the designation. The Moon Man is a good example of this type.
In the third, the outstanding character is the villain. The detective character is secondary. Such a story type is exemplified by Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu.
The foregoing suggestions apply chiefly to the great pulp detective field. They are subject to some modification when applied to the smooth-paper detective story, or to the detective or mystery novel for book publication.
The changes in this field have been more gradual, but they are taking place, just the same.
Changes of style in stories may be compared to changes of style in clothing.
In men's suits, the most radical changes are first noted in the cheap, ready-made clothing. In the more expensive and particularly the tailor-made clothing, the changes are more gradual.
New fiction trends first manifest themselves in the pulps, and it is here that they change most swiftly and radically. The more conservative slicks follow the lead—but slowly. And most of the book publishers are equally conservative.
In spite of the inroads made by Western, air-war, and some other types of magazines, the detective-story field remains one of the largest and most important in this country. And it is equally important in many other countries, A great many detective and mystery stories are published in England each year. The same is true of the Scandinavian countries, where eighty per cent of the shorts and novels I have placed have been detective stories.
As for Germany and Austria, the popularity of this story form can be illustrated by the fact that out of eighteen novels sent me by a large Berlin publisher, for the sale of rights in this country, Canada and England, sixteen were detective and mystery novels, "Kriminalromane" as they are called in Germany.
Good detective stories furnish entertainment for both the classes and the masses—for the educated and the uneducated—in the leading nations of the world. I have an idea that in some modified form they will entertain our great-grandchildren, and perhaps their great-grandchildren as well.
Roy Glashan's Library
Non sibi sed omnibus
Go to Home Page
This work is out of copyright in countries with a copyright
period of 70 years or less, after the year of the author's death.
If it is under copyright in your country of residence,
do not download or redistribute this file.
Original content added by RGL (e.g., introductions, notes,
RGL covers) is proprietary and protected by copyright.