Characters

Using “The Book”, I’ve gone through a checklist of things I should think about my know about my characters. The audience don’t need to know this information and a very large proportion of it probably won’t even be used, but it’s essential I know my characters inside-out - it simply makes writing their parts easier because you understand them and know why they’re the way they are and why they do certain things. For now I’ll just be jotting down points but I will turn this into a full biography at some point.

Name: Detective David Hyde
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: 20/09/1969
Age: 36 (assuming we’re in 2005)
Height: 5′10″
Weight: 11st (154lbs)
Build: Medium-Slim
Hair Colour: Medium brown
Eye Colour: Brown
Handedness: Right
Favourite Colour: Blue

Physical Health: Good eyesight. Heavy smoker from the age of 15, he’s annoyed at the stupid habit, annoyed that it will cost him his life (if his job doesn’t), but he’s resigned to defeat in one way or another, so he doesn’t bother trying to quit (a.k.a. he chain smokes). Matches or Zippo?

Voice: American accent (not a heavy ‘Noo Yawk’ accent however), normally at a low-ish volume and pitch, talks at a medium-slow speed. He doesn’t really swear except when things are really bad and even then it’s only mild. He doesn’t tend to use slang either.

Mannerisms: Slow and methodical, contemplative. The Detective lives to work, work is his life - it’s just that he hates his job, so he obviously hates his life. He has no spare time and has no hobbies - not because he doesn’t have time, he simply doesn’t make time for himself. He longs to leave his life but is too scared, lost and weary to quit. He’s frightened; if he did quit, what would he do with his life?

Goals/Conflicts: The Detective’s short term goal is to solve the case he’s just been given whereas his long term goal is to escape this empty life he has been leading for so long. His conflict is quite significant: he no longer has any taste for the job. He has compassion and empathy, but doesn’t give it out easily. He’s bitter at what the job has made him, bitter at himself for not doing anything about it. Now he only lives for his job, he’s dutiful, but it’s not a good thing considering he hates his job so much.

Biography (The numbers refer to his age)
Born on 20th September in 1969 in a small rural town, Hyde lived with his parents, William and Emily. Life was quiet and peaceful for the first 12 years of his life, attending school and going to church on Sundays with his parents. His mother worked in a small general store in the town and was known by all. His father, a cop was offered a transfer and promotion to the big city.

12: Attracted by the bright lights and opportunity to give his son a better chance in life, they moved into a small 2-bedroom apartment in the inner city. His father started his new job on the beat whilst his mother took a job at the local library. David started at his new school and found it difficult to settle in, a number of small disciplinary incidents, including smoking on school grounds, ending up on his permanent record. His mother continued to go to church when she could, but Hyde and his father stopped going after moving.

18: When he was 18, his mother died in a hit and run traffic accident on her way back from work. David moved out of the family apartment soon afterwards to try and start to live his own life. He spent a year working bad jobs to help pay his way through college.

22: Wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps, he enrolled in the police force, having gone to college to study criminology. His aspirations were promptly set back after being placed on street duty for a long time despite his qualifications. His father continued his job in the force, but suffered a knee injury following an attempt to prevent a late-night robbery on a coffee shop he was passing whilst off duty. He was subsequently given a desk job which he continued to do proudly, despite wishing things could go back to how they were.

28: Frustrated with his seemingly dead-end job and fearful of becoming too like his father, Hyde became impetuous and somewhat unruly, hard to control, a tactic looked down upon by his superiors. In an attempt to subdue his fiery behaviour, the chief of police decided to finally promote him to the position of detective on the Homicide team. His life on an upturn, he met a girl Claire, an attractive waitress with aspirations of becoming a painter, whom he married within the year of their meeting. They moved into a house in the suburbs, near the edge of the city.

32: After the honeymoon period, the job started to put a strain on the marriage. Having waited years for his chance to prove himself, he threw himself into the job, worked late and became distant and unapproachable. He started to have trouble sleeping, insomnia, nightmares. They tried for a baby, put Claire miscarried due to stress. Shortly after, Claire filed for divorce. David understood the reasons, blaming himself for the failure of the marriage. He let her have the house, moving into a small, rented apartment close to the police station. They keep in touch; Hyde still has some of his stuff over at the house.

36 (the present): Now living alone, Hyde spends his time engrossed in deplorable and grisly murder cases. He keeps to himself, rarely leaving his apartment outside of work hours except to go and visit his dad once a week. They like to pretend they don’t get on, but deep down there is a mutual respect; Hyde has a huge respect for his father. His father is so very proud of his son; following in and surpassing his footsteps.

He’s on basic detective pay, but tends not to spend his money on material items. He gets take out most nights and eats his dinner watching cheap TV or reading over case files. He’s not worried about his finances, he’s perfectly independent, he just doesn’t spend it on himself, or anyone else for that matter. With all the things he’s seen over the past 8 years, he resents his job almost as much as he relies on it; he simply couldn’t do anything else for a living.

He’s a bit of a smartass, with a dark sense of humour, bordering on the shocking at times. He is generally well-liked by his colleagues even if it is in a ‘love-hate relationship’ sort of way. His chief is increasingly worried about him, but he knows he’s good at what he’ll do and will always strive to get the job done, the case solved.