My characters aren't made out of cardboard...
I finished writing up my NaNo outline (the extended version) in the early hours of yesterday morning. It was one of those cases where I knew everything that needed to be said and if I didn't get it down immediately then chances were I would forget it by the morning.
It was just as well that I did because the next morning I had nothing else to add and I was totally uninspired as far as planning was going.
However yesterday evening I was having some major break-throughs with my character development.
Some of my discoveries:
Stephen's middle name is Murphy. It was his mother's maiden name, and apparently she was Irish. He came from a middle class family and worked his way up through the ranks to become a DCI.
He was married when he was about twenty-four. He'd been married for less than a year when his wife (Elaine) was stabbed in a nightclub. Her murder was never solved.
Liv's full name is Olivia Jane Platt. Her parents had pretty much given up on the idea of having children when she came along. They were also quite well off, her father was relatively high up in the police force (and though retired still pulls some weight there) hence her position in the team. Stephen wasn't impressed with having her join the team at first because he didn't think she'd gotten the job based on her skills but because of who her father was.
Liv's mother died when she was 16/17. I suspect it was cervical cancer (this actually sort of annoyed me because it's become a stereotype in my stories - single father raising his daughter... can't think why).
Okay, time to get really complicated. Tom's best friend is Maggie. I thought that she was accompanying him to the speed-dating session (still something I have to research there) but apparently she's not involved - since she's gay and has no interest in any of the men that are there, so she's just sitting in the bar waiting for Tom to get done with it all. Also at the speed-dating is Chris (who is there for the men) but at the bar she meets Maggie and they hit it off (so I'm guessing Chris is bi now).
Luckily Liv and Stephen are now appearing in glorious 3D. Chris and Hannah are sort of cardboard cutouts, they're almost 3D but not quite there yet. The other team members; Alistair, Russell and whatever the pathologist and profiler's names are (one's called Eric and I think I gave the other one a name which sounded vaguely Scottish - what with it being set in Scotland and all) are basic pencil sketches in my mind. I'll work on them later this afternoon.
It was just as well that I did because the next morning I had nothing else to add and I was totally uninspired as far as planning was going.
However yesterday evening I was having some major break-throughs with my character development.
Some of my discoveries:
Stephen's middle name is Murphy. It was his mother's maiden name, and apparently she was Irish. He came from a middle class family and worked his way up through the ranks to become a DCI.
He was married when he was about twenty-four. He'd been married for less than a year when his wife (Elaine) was stabbed in a nightclub. Her murder was never solved.
Liv's full name is Olivia Jane Platt. Her parents had pretty much given up on the idea of having children when she came along. They were also quite well off, her father was relatively high up in the police force (and though retired still pulls some weight there) hence her position in the team. Stephen wasn't impressed with having her join the team at first because he didn't think she'd gotten the job based on her skills but because of who her father was.
Liv's mother died when she was 16/17. I suspect it was cervical cancer (this actually sort of annoyed me because it's become a stereotype in my stories - single father raising his daughter... can't think why).
Okay, time to get really complicated. Tom's best friend is Maggie. I thought that she was accompanying him to the speed-dating session (still something I have to research there) but apparently she's not involved - since she's gay and has no interest in any of the men that are there, so she's just sitting in the bar waiting for Tom to get done with it all. Also at the speed-dating is Chris (who is there for the men) but at the bar she meets Maggie and they hit it off (so I'm guessing Chris is bi now).
Luckily Liv and Stephen are now appearing in glorious 3D. Chris and Hannah are sort of cardboard cutouts, they're almost 3D but not quite there yet. The other team members; Alistair, Russell and whatever the pathologist and profiler's names are (one's called Eric and I think I gave the other one a name which sounded vaguely Scottish - what with it being set in Scotland and all) are basic pencil sketches in my mind. I'll work on them later this afternoon.