On Witty Dialogue Choices for Writing Noir and Hard-Boiled Characters

Blowfuzzy von Sassy Has Thoughts

Written dialogue for characters in hard-boiled and suspenseful scenarios can be dry and to-the-point, but the world is awash in delightful variations from this theme wherein the audience comes to understand the nature of each character through a more relaxed and playful interplay that pushes the narrative further down the field for the reader/audience.

Consider the witty banter between Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man series of detective films. This sharp-tongued couple of sophisticated detectives give each other guff by the bushel, but they make a fine team, and the audience gets to laugh with them. Notice how their light-hearted banter breaks the tension of the who-done-it story which nearly always involves something more sinister in nature. Rather than sitting for a tense 80 minutes waiting to find out the identity of the killer, the audience is reassured by the way Nick and Nora never let even the most grave situation dampen their playful approach to one another. The audience can breathe for a moment as they consider that if the people who are neck-deep in the drama are this flip about the occasion, well, the audience is free to relax a little, too:

William Holden and Gloria Swanson engage in extremely well-engineered repartee over the cooling corpse of her simian companion in this brilliant scene from “Sunset Boulevard”:

A crafty writer may choose to sidestep info-dump style delivery by composing a back-and-forth between characters. This may be serious as a heart attack, but this type of information exchange can be a magnificent way to introduce levity and humor into a dark situation. This also has the effect of—again—letting the audience breathe a sigh of relief, knowing the right guys and gals are on the case, they’ve seen this kind of baloney before, and they will get to the bottom of the matter forthwith. I’m thrilled to say that at least one of the new Moggie Noir stories features a bit of wordplay that takes me back to classic exchanges such as this delightful skit by Jack Webb and Johnny Carson:

As with any component of a story, balance is key, of course. Remember that there is a time and place for everything, but sometimes you can emphasize the tension of a situation when a normally wise-cracking dame or dude keeps their piehole shut, for a change. As with any other kind of seasoning, use in moderation. In fact, maybe think of it like salt. Add a little more and a little more until you think it’s right, but also remember that too much salt can ruin the whole dish.