In my opinion, no one can tell or show anyone else how to write noir.
The person writing it must feel it: a sense of the lead character's present situation being all screwed up, the belief--even the subconscious belief on the part of the lead character--that no matter what he or she does, things will get worse and worse and worse. And that every effort to get out of the situation will only make it worse than it was before.
In the general plot of other novels and stories, things get worse and worse until at the end it seems impossible to escape or succeed, but the lead does escape, succeed, or reach an otherwise satisfying ending ... with some hope out there.
In the noir story or novel, there is no salvation, no light at the end of the tunnel, no success possible, If there is, it isn't noir.
That's not how you do it, but that's how the best noir writers have done it. There ain't no noir template.
There are many "conventions" of noir, but not all conventions must be met, perhaps none of them are met in the best new story. Noir just works out that way, and the reader, writer, and as I said before even the lead character on a subconscious level sees that from the beginning.
All opinion, of course. I am sure that Jim Doherty will amend all or most of the above.
Jack Bludis
Read, read, read. Write, write,write. << do that with noir and you might get the idea.
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