I see, well neo-noirs aren't my strong suit, I wrote my thesis on film noir and how it was received depending on the political and economic situation of a certain nation before I graduated, but several times I was forced to refer to and research neo-noir. In truth both styles are very similar and only differ on the fact that neo-noirs had content and capabilities its predecessor had no access to. At least at first, over the years neo-noir has been slapped onto so many movies and stories that by now any cop or crime movie qualifies. That said I'll still give you some basics of the original noir, perhaps it will give you some inspiration at the very least.
Anyway, I'll try not to ramble and keep things short and simple: When writing any sort of noir stories there are three archetypes that should be at the very least kept in the back of your mind:
-the seeker of truth
The seeker of truth is stereotypically seen as the detective, but in reality very few movies or books had detectives, more often they were insurance agents, bank clerks or regular Joes. Some noirs, like detour, didn't even have one.
What the seeker of truth does is just that, he/she seeks the truth. Whether or not there is one.
-the hunted
The hunted and the seeker often, but not always, have the most to do with each other with the seeker trying to find the hunted or trying to find what is needed to lure the hunted out. He/she also doesn't necessarily have to be a person, in the Maltese Falcon, one of the hunted was merely a statue. The hunted also not required to be on the run as the name suggests, in many movies and books the hunted was often underneath the seeker's nose.
-and the femme fatale
Perhaps the most interesting addition to the media of books and movies is the femme fatale, these are women who use their looks, charms and seductive skills to string along stronger more capable men to do their dirty work. These women stem from the writers their own experiences as they often returned from either WW1 or WWII and found their women, whom they left as "frail & weak girls" on their own to fight in the war, had become strong and independent in the men's' absence.
That's the basics for the characters, for the story itself there is really only one thing that is vital to making any noir story and that is the underlying feeling of dread and fatalism. I cannot give you enough examples of stories in which the main character is thrown from one bad spot into another for no apparent reason. And that is exactly why all that is happening to him, for no reason whatsoever. That was the whole thing with these stories, the writers realised that the world isn't black and white and that bad things happen to good people for seemingly no reason because perhaps they met the wrong person, made a mistake or were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Another thing that shows the fatalism in these stories is that fact that very few had a happy ending, even now I'm straining my memory trying to think of one and the best thing I can remember is the original ending to detour in which Al actually "gets away" with his accidental murder. More often than not the main characters of these stories either die by the end or get arrested. The times in which some get away are the same times in which they must live with what they've seen and done and you can see that they have been changed because of it.
Any questions?
