How to Write a Detective Story
by Edwin Baird
I wrote the following for Ed Gorman's blog at edgorman.com, but since I got the raw material from one of our number (thanks again, Bill) and it includes an early reference to the “golden age, ” I think it might be of some interest here: Courtesy of Bill Vande Water, I have before me photocopies of a series called “How to Write a Detective Story, ” by Edwin Baird, which ran in the writer's magazine The Author and Journalist between December 1929 and December 1930. Baird (1886 - 1957) was the editor of Real Detective Tales, a former Weird Tales stable mate that despite the title featured fiction at that time, though it would later transition to true crime. Obviously, some of the good advice Baird gives writers of his time (knowing where you're going beforehand, not giving characters similar names, not making elementary mistakes on firearms and poisons, obtaining accurate information about police procedures and jurisdictions, not writing stupid cover letters to editors) might have been written today, but some of it is quite different.
A very few tidbits: “S. S. Van Dine is a master of the surprise ending. So is Earl Derr Biggers. So, also, is Ferrin L. Fraser.” According to Al Hubin's comprehensive bibliography, Ferrin (1903 - 1969) was the author of one published mystery novel: The Screaming Portrait (Sears, 1928), which presumably impressed Baird no end. “As I write this, there are on sale at the news stands upward of a dozen pulp magazines using (detective stories) exclusively. And half a dozen more are on the way. Detective stories are also being featured in the slick - paper books. And even the ladies' periodicals (God bless `em!) are flirting with them coyly.” On the Sherlock Holmes stories: “Whatever shortcomings these tales may have—and I think they have many—they are at least worth inspecting, if for no other reason than to learn some of the tricks of arousing and maintaining the reader's curiosity. They are hardly worth studying for any other purpose. Their style is somewhat passé now, their plots trite, and their characters, particularly the thick - headed Dr. Watson, rather absurd to modern eyes.” Gee, no wonder nobody reads Doyle any more, huh?
“…(W)hen an editor picks up your manuscript he is influenced, consciously or unconsciously, by its external appearance. Attend to that. Should it be beautifully bound in purple morocco, daintily stitched together with lavender ribbons (believe me, I am not citing an extreme case), he is at once prejudiced against that story.” Just think how you could impress that editor with the variety of weird fonts offered by contemporary word processing programs! “The trouble is, with most new writers, they do their murdering in such a casual way! One might think they were swatting flies instead of killing people. Murder is a serious business, and it should be treated as such.” Wait `til you hear a few radio shows of the thirties and forties, Mr. Baird. “Save in rare instances, it is not only unnecessary to meet your editor personally: it is downright unwise. Unless you have sold him several stories—or unless you know him well enough to tell him he needs a shave—better not call on him. Notwithstanding most editors are eagerly seeking new talent, few, if any, are exactly eager to meet new writers. I don't know why this is, unless it's because they are continually bothered by so many half - baked amateurs that they come to regard them all as pests.”
“A survey of the widely known authors, who regularly are featured in the slick - paper books, reveals that most all of them got their start in the wood - pulp market. And many of them, permit me to add, did better work than they're doing now.” “A few of the recent successes among detective novels have brought each of their authors, I understand, upward of $100, 000, including magazine rights, book royalties, movie sales, and newspaper syndicate rights. These, of course, are exceptional cases, but we're in the golden age of the detective story, and no efficient practitioner need fear being underpaid.
What with publishers bidding against each other for detective - story authors, and with fat movie magnates hovering about with certified checks (why do these people always certify their checks?), it's a wonder that all our authors aren't buying Rolls - Royce cars and living at the Ritz.” Of course, the Great Depression wasn't properly underway yet when Baird wrote this. He may have been painting an overly rosy picture for his readership of wannabe authors, but on the whole his advice is well expressed and commonsensical. I suspect he was a good editor.
Juryboxer
Courtesy of
Jon Jermey
