How to write a detective story. Twenty rules for writing detective stories

Why do we read detective stories? On the one hand, this is a form of escaping from reality, another proof that we live in a just world. This is a sports passion - we are rooting for our detective. This is a pleasant illusion - we identify ourselves with the main character and, as a result, we seem to ourselves to be stronger, more courageous, etc.

On the other hand, this is an exercise for the mind - many people like to guess charades.

The main elements of the detective

The four pillars of a detective are:

Mystery. The reader, together with the main character, is looking for answers to the questions: What was it?, Who did it? and sometimes - Caught or not caught?

Voltage. For the reader to be seriously interested in the mystery, something important must be at stake. Therefore, detective stories appeal to such fundamental values ​​as life, freedom and money. dynamic story and high stakes creates tension, and the reader wants to know what will happen next.

Conflict. The detective is rooted in ancient legends about the epic journey of a warrior who fights Evil. Solving a crime, especially murder, is a symbolic victory over death. Therefore, in the detective story, white is separated from black, and Good and Evil are in a state of irreconcilable war.

Surprise. Theoretically, the reader has the opportunity to solve the crime himself: in the course of the story, he is given all the necessary clues. But he is disappointed if he still guesses who exactly killed Miss Jane or stole the diamonds from the bedside table.

The world of the genre detective only remotely resembles the real world. There is no place for accidents, coincidences and unexplained circumstances. Everything should be clearly thought out and logical. Each of the characters performs a strictly defined function: the detective investigates, the witnesses present him with the necessary facts, the criminal is hiding. But the plausibility remains important feature detective.

Types of detectives

Closed detective. The crime is committed in a closed space (on a ship, in a mountain boarding house, etc.), and suspicion may fall on a limited circle of people. Closed detective was especially popular in 1920-1930.

Psychological detective. The main emphasis is on the psychology of both the criminal and the detective.

Cool detective and close to him detective noir(i.e. black). Violence, corpses and sex are depicted in every detail.

Historical detective. The action takes place in the past. One of the varieties of historical detective is the investigation of a crime committed a long time ago.

Political detective. The action takes place around elections, political actions or privacy politicians.

Spy detective. The adventures of scouts are described.

Art detective. An art theft is under investigation.

Love detective. Love affair(often between two antagonists) seriously affects the development of the plot.

Ironic detective. The story is told in an ironic tone. Investigations are usually done by amateur ladies. Bloody Details go down.

Police detective. Investigative procedures and the work of professionals are described in detail. Variation - forensic detective. The authors of these works are usually lawyers or former employees law enforcement.

Fantastic detective. The investigation takes place in a fictional world.

Private detective. The investigation is conducted by a private detective.

Amateur detective. A non-professional is taken to solve the crime - a witness, a suspect, a relative or friend of the hero involved in the case. If we are talking about a series of novels about an amateur detective, a paradox arises when a seemingly ordinary person stumbles upon a corpse once every six months.

Detective characters

Detective- The person who is investigating. As mentioned above, investigators are divided into the following types:

Law enforcement officer;

Advocate;

Private detective;

Amateur detective.

The characteristic features of the protagonist of detective stories are courage, a sense of justice, isolation and the ability to break the law for the sake of a just cause. For example, a detective might intimidate a rogue witness in order to find out the truth. He is able to stand up for himself and is ready to help others. He is a professional in his field, although it is not necessarily about investigative work.

Often he has a special talent: a unique memory, language skills, etc. In a word, he is always somehow different from ordinary mortals - this is part of the myth.

Oddities and paradoxes in the character of the hero adorn the story: a quiet librarian can drive a motorcycle; pathologist - work as a clown on weekends, etc. But here we must be careful: a lumberjack who loves ballet looks unnatural. If a librarian drives a Harley to work, let there be a rational explanation for this. For example, she inherited a motorcycle from her deceased husband.

Assistant- serves to ensure that the detective can explain to someone the details of the investigation. As a rule, this is a person of average abilities, against whose background main character looks more presentable.

Criminal- a person who committed or organized a crime. As a rule, his name is not known until the end.

Here is what James N. Frey advises in How to Write a Great Detective:

The perpetrator must be selfish and act out of self-interest. If the reader discovers that the murder was committed by a kind nun who protected orphans, one of the factors of pleasure from reading the detective story is lost. People want evil to be punished. No evil - no conflict - no sense of satisfaction. If a good criminal is needed to advance the plot, escalate the conflict in other ways.

The offender must be afraid of exposure - otherwise the sharpness of the conflict is lost again. Make it smart and resourceful. Let them fight with the detective on equal terms.

A criminal in the past may have a mental trauma, after which he went on a crooked path.

Suspect- a person who is initially suspected. As a rule, he turns out to be innocent.

Victim- a person killed or injured as a result of a crime.

Witnesses- people who provide the detective with important information about the crime and/or the perpetrator.

Sage- gives the detective valuable advice how to conduct an investigation.

Expert- Provides the detective with important scientific or professional data. For example, in the field of ballistics, linguistics, art, etc.

Detective plan

Typically, a detective is built according to the following scheme:

1) The detective takes up the investigation. In some cases, the author describes a crime scene or introduces a prologue in order to create the right atmosphere.

If the main character is a professional, then there is no need to explain his motivation (why he agreed to conduct an investigation): he has such a job. If the protagonist is an amateur or a private detective, you can't do without an introductory part: you need to show why on earth the hero got involved in the case. This can be done in flashback order.

2) The detective begins the investigation and at first he is lucky. In mythology, this is called initiation - the hero leaves habitual life and gets into Far Far Away kingdom crime.

The investigation is carried out in two ways:

Hunting - the detective immediately finds important evidence and this allows him to unravel the whole ball;

Gathering - the detective studies disparate facts, which are subsequently combined into a picture of a crime.

The conflict can escalate if the detective finds himself in a different environment: for example, a simple, laconic guy from the social classes is investigating a murder on Rublyovka.

3) The detective faces a serious crisis that turns his life upside down, gathers strength and continues the investigation in a new direction.

4) The investigation is in hot pursuit. The detective discovers the missing links in the chain. There comes a moment of enlightenment - he finds answers to all key questions.

5) The detective catches the criminal. The killer (kidnapper, spy, etc.) gets what he deserves.

6) It tells how the events of the novel influenced the characters.

What to look for when writing a detective story

Investigators always track:

Motive - the reason for committing a crime

Method - the suspect must have access to the weapon of the crime and have the physical ability to perform a particular action.

Thinking through the plot of the detective story, one should start with the motive: why did the locksmith Kuvaldin strangle the ballerina Tapkina? Next, we think about the easiest way to do this: with your bare hands, your own pants, or a wire from a toaster. Keep it simple: water flows to where it is lower, criminals act in the way that is simpler.

There must be at least two stories in a detective story: one is true, the other is false. First, the detective develops a false version: it fits so well with the facts that he has no doubts about the chosen path. And only then, closer to the climax, does it begin to emerge true position of things. The situation is turned upside down and it is at this moment that the reader experiences catharsis.

It is useful to stop somewhere in the middle of the novel and write down: what does the reader guess by this time? What predictions does he make? And at least two or three predictions should not be justified.

To make it impossible to calculate the killer immediately, give each of the suspects equivalent advantages and disadvantages. Let the attention of readers concentrate on the detective: if the most interesting character there will be a murderer in the novel, the secret will immediately become apparent.

The same thing will happen if you emphasize that the locksmith Kuvaldin had neither the motive nor the opportunity to kill the ballerina Tapkina. When the author takes suspicion away from the hero, there is a feeling that this is where the dog is buried. This perceptual feature is often used to create false clues. For example, the author shows that Kuvaldin is as innocent as a camomile, the reader grins rather: “Well, everything is clear!”, but in fact, not everything is clear. At the same time, one should not forget that false keys only work when they fit perfectly into the original investigative version.

A good detective is like a quest - computer game: to get to the goal, you need to collect a certain amount of items that will later be useful to the player. In the detective, this role is played by evidence.

The level of skill of the author largely depends on how skillfully he hides them. Artfully does not mean far. On the contrary, the evidence should lie on the surface, but at the same time have such an insignificant appearance that the reader does not pay attention to them. As a result, at the moment of climax, he can only shrug his hands: Well, how did I not guess? After all, they gave me all the keys to unraveling!

How to hide evidence? American writer Shannon Okork gives this advice: “If the evidence is big, show it small. If it should get lost, put it in a conspicuous place. Dirty or break beautiful evidence, present dangerous evidence as a completely ordinary object.

An excellent example of hidden evidence can be found in Roald Dahl's short story The Sacrificial Lamb: A Wife Kills Her Husband Frozen leg of lamb, and then feeds it to the police, who all day unsuccessfully searched for the crime weapon.

Particular attention should be paid to climax. It is of the following types:

The detective collects all actors and announces who the murderer is;

In desperation, the criminal tries to do something terrible (grabs hostages, etc.);

The detective knows who the killer is, but he has no direct evidence. He sets a trap, and the killer himself falls into it;

The criminal is already ready to triumph, but then an unexpected witness appears;

A battle between a detective and a criminal (an option is a chase);

The detective suddenly realizes that his assumptions are not true;

Pseudo-climax. The criminal is caught, the reader rejoices, but in last moment It turns out that they took the wrong one.

The climax itself is built according to the following scheme:

Surprise - for example, the reader did not expect that the Minister of Defense would be the killer;

Increased threat - the killer is cornered, he has nothing to lose and now he is ready for anything;

The peak of the conflict;

Justice triumphs.

The detective catches the criminal only thanks to his own mind - no luck, fortune-telling by hand, god from the car, etc.

The reader will feel betrayed if the murder ends up being a suicide or an accident. The same will happen if the crime is solved when the offender turns himself in.

Surprises and unexpected twists storyline is wonderful. But when there are too many, the reader gets confused. It is recommended to introduce two or three big surprises and a couple of small ones. Neither the detective nor the criminal should do deliberate stupidity. Otherwise, it is not interesting to watch such a duel.

Luck may be on the side of the villain before the detective unmasks him. If the villain then flies away in a blue helicopter, the reader is disappointed.

Stamps in detectives

The detective wears a raincoat and hat, and always has a flask of alcohol in his pocket.

Before an audit in a store or warehouse, criminals start a fire.

The detective tries to seduce luxury woman is the prime suspect.

Before death, the victim whispers a mysterious word or name, which is a clue.

Pathologist chewing at the workplace.

The main mafia wears a diamond ring on his finger, licks his hair with gel and goes everywhere accompanied by
gorilla bodyguards.

The investigator constantly worries that the case will not be taken away from him.

A mysterious sect with a maniac leader at the head is to blame for everything.

The offender flees, asking for time off to go to the toilet.

Fake fingerprints.

The dog does not bark at a known stranger, from which the detective concludes that the dog knows this person.

Having caught the detective, the villain ties him to the death machine and talks for a long time about his cunning plans.

The head of the investigator is a complete idiot and/or scoundrel.

At the climax, the criminal grabs the detective's girlfriend and puts a gun to her head.

The detective's wife died at the very beginning (a few years before the start), and since then our hero has not known the words of love.

The detective finds a cigarette butt at the crime scene and traces the teeth (lipstick print) to figure out the villain.

The criminal provides himself with an alibi with the help of a mannequin or a twin brother.

The main villain has fun compiling secret ciphers and clever pictograms.

The detective draws deductive conclusions that are not as unambiguous as the author would like.

For a long time we did not dive into the hopeless abyss genre literature, did not revel in the gray monotony, and then a wonderful reason just appeared - this week I stumbled on a curious classification on the net detective stories, with which I hasten to introduce you today. And although the detective story is one of my least favorite genres, the classification below is so elegant and concise that it just asks for paper. And it will be even more useful for beginners to know it.

Let me remind you once again that we are talking about a classic detective story, the plot of which is built around a mysterious murder, and the main engine of the plot is the search and calculation of the criminal. So…

Classification of detective stories.

1. Fireplace detective.

This is the most there is traditional type a detective story in which a murder has occurred and there is a narrow circle of suspects. It is known for certain that one of the suspects is the killer. The detective must figure out the criminal.

Examples: numerous stories by Hoffmann and E.A. By.

2. Complicated fireplace detective.

A variation of the previous scheme, where a mysterious murder also takes place, a limited circle of suspects is outlined, but the killer turns out to be someone third-party and usually completely invisible (gardener, servant or butler). In a word, minor character which we could not have imagined.

3. Suicide.

The inputs are the same. Throughout the story, the detective, suspecting everyone and everything, unsuccessfully searches for the killer, and in the finale it suddenly turns out that the victim simply committed suicide, killed herself.

Example: Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians.

4. Group murder.

The detective, as always, outlined the circle of suspects and is trying to figure out the criminal. But there is not one killer among the suspects, because everyone killed the victim, by joint efforts.

Example: Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express.

5. Living corpse.

There's been a murder. Everyone is looking for the perpetrator, but it turns out that the murder never took place, and the victim is alive.

Example: Nabokov's The Real Life of Sebastian Knight.

6. Killed a detective.

The crime is committed by the investigator or detective himself. Perhaps for reasons of justice, or perhaps because he is a maniac. By the way, it violates commandment No. 7 of the famous ones.

Examples: Agatha Christie "The Mousetrap", "The Curtain".

7. Killed the author.

The introductory ones are practically no different from the above variations, however, the scheme implies that the main character is the author of the story himself. And in the finale, it suddenly turns out that he killed the unfortunate victim. This scheme, used by Agatha Christie in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, initially caused real anger from critics, because. violated the first and main of 10 Detective Commandments by Ronald Knox: « The perpetrator must be someone mentioned at the beginning of the novel, but it must not be the person whose train of thought the reader has been allowed to follow.". However, later the reception was called innovative, and the novel was recognized as a real masterpiece of the genre.

Examples: A.P. Chekhov "On the Hunt", Agatha Christie "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd".

Addition.

As a bonus, I will give three additional original schemes that were used a few times, but clearly expand the above classification:

8. Mystical spirit.

Introduction to the narrative of some irrational mystical power (vengeful spirit), which, possessing the characters, commits murders with their hands. In my understanding, such an innovation takes the story into the related field of a fantastic (or mystical) detective story.

Example: A. Sinyavsky "Lubimov".

9. Killed the reader.

Perhaps the most complex and tricky of the possible schemes in which the writer seeks to build a narrative so that in the finale the reader will be surprised to find out that it was he who committed the mysterious crime.

Examples: J. Priestley "Inspector Gooley", Kobo Abe"Ghosts Among Us".

10. Detective Dostoevsky.

The phenomenon of Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment”, which undoubtedly has a detective basis, lies in the destruction of the traditional scheme of the detective. We already know the answers to all questions in advance: who was killed, how and when, the name of the killer and even his motives. But then the author leads us through dark, untrodden labyrinths of awareness and comprehension of the consequences of what has been done. And this is what we are not used to at all: the simplest Detective story evolves into a complex philosophical and psychological drama. In general, this is a wonderful illustration of the old saying: “ where mediocrity ends, genius just begins».

That's all for today. As always, I look forward to your feedback in the comments. See you soon!

A good detective story will have charming characters, an exciting intrigue and a puzzle that will not let you stop reading. But writing a really worthwhile detective story, especially if you haven't done it before, can be difficult. With help proper preparation, brainstorming, planning and editing, and character development, you will be able to write a detective story that will be read out.

Steps

Part 1

Understand the difference between the detective genre and the thriller. Detectives always start with a murder. Main question in a detective story or novel, who committed the crime. Thrillers usually start with a situation that leads to major disaster, such as, for example, terrorist act, Bank robbery, nuclear explosion And so on. The main question in the thriller is whether the main character will be able to prevent a catastrophe.

• In detective stories, the reader does not know who committed the murder until the end of the novel. Detectives are built on logical chains of searching for crime targets or on a puzzle.
• Detective stories are written in the first person, while thrillers are usually written in the third person and cover multiple points of view. In detective stories, the passage of time is usually more measured, as the protagonist/detective tries to solve the crime. Also, detective stories tend to have less action sequences than thrillers.
• Due to the slower pace of time in detective stories, characters tend to be more deeply written and versatile in detective stories than in thrillers.

1. Read examples of detectives. There are many great detective stories and novels out there that you can learn how to write a detective story with. good plot and developed characters.

   Identify the main character in the presented stories and novels. Think about how the author introduces the main character and how he describes him.

2. Determine the place and setting of the story-example. Think about how the author shows the place and time of the story.

   • For example, in the second paragraph of the first page deep sleep Marlow places the reader in the place and time of the narrative: "The main hall of the Sternwoods had two floors."
   • The reader understands that Marlowe is in front of the Sternwood house, and that it is a large house, most likely rich.

3. Think over a crime or a puzzle that the main character has to solve. What crime or puzzle will the protagonist have to deal with? It could be a murder, a missing person, or a suspicious suicide.

   • AT deep sleep General Sternwood hires Marlowe to "take care" of a photographer who blackmails the general with scandalous photographs of his daughter.

4. Determine the obstacles and problems that the main character may have. A good detective will captivate the reader with the difficulties that the protagonist will face while fulfilling his mission (crime detection).

   • AT big dream Chandler complicates Detective Marlowe's pursuit of the photographer by killing the photographer in the early chapters, as well as by the suspicious suicide of the General's chauffeur. So Chandler introduces two murders into the story for Marlowe to solve.

5. Consider solving the crime. Think about how the crime is solved at the end of the detective story. The disclosure of a crime should not be too obvious or far-fetched, but it should also not be implausible or come from nowhere.

   • The disclosure of a crime should surprise the reader without confusing him. One of the perks of the detective genre is that you can build the pace of your story so that the revelation comes gradually rather than in a rushed manner.

6. View the first draft copy. Once you've drafted your detective story, go through the story, looking for key points such as:

   • Plot. Make sure your the story goes according to plan and has a clear beginning, middle and end. You should also note the changes in your main character at the end of the story.
   • Heroes. Are your characters, including the main one, unique and bright? All your heroes are behaving similarly or are they different? Are your characters original and charming?
   • The pace of history. The pace of a story is how quickly or slowly the events in your story unfold. A good pace will be invisible to the reader. If everything seems to be moving too fast, pay more attention to the sensations to highlight the emotions of the characters. If you seem to be bogged down in details, cut the scenes down to the most essential information. good rule is to always end an episode earlier than you think you should. This will help keep the tension from episode to episode, allowing the story to progress at the right pace.
   • Turn. A turn can either destroy or make the whole detective story. This is left to the discretion of the writer, but many good detectives have a turn at the end. Make sure your turn isn't too cheap. The more unique the twist, the easier it will be to describe. When you write a hackneyed twist, like "and here they woke up," you have to be a great writer for that twist to work. A good twist can make a fool of not only the reader, but the hero himself. Hint at a twist throughout episode scenes so that when the reader starts to remember previous parts of the story, they are surprised how they could have missed it. However, try not to make the turn explicit too soon.

Most books on how to write a detective story are filled to overflowing with wise advice: how to collect evidence, how to leave a false trail for a criminal, where to find poisonous mushrooms, and how to take fingerprints. You might get the impression that a detective novel is a mixture of ingredients. They are carefully measured, thrown into a bowl, beaten with a wooden spoon until a homogeneous mixture is obtained, then briefly put in the oven and - voila - the ingenious detective is ready!

I don't want to disappoint you, but it doesn't work that way.

The book "How to Write a Brilliant Detective" is not at all a collection of instructions on what to write and what not to write. This book will teach you how to brainstorm, build a detective scheme, write a draft, make edits. This book will detail how to create vibrant, dynamic three-sided characters that, when given free rein, will help build a complex, intricate yet believable story. It will be full of mysteries, dangers, dramatic conflicts and tension.

In addition, the book will explain how to choose correct form storytelling, how to style and polish a novel, and how to find a literary agent after a manuscript is completed.

Is there a guarantee that you will write a brilliant detective story if you use the recommendations in this book? Sorry, there are no such guarantees. A lot depends on you. If you follow the instructions carefully and rigorously, make the characters act as they are destined to, if you write, write, write, and then edit, edit, edit until your novel sizzles with passion - perhaps you are waiting for big success. It has been achieved by many authors detective stories. What are you worse?

Learning to write brilliant detective stories is like learning to skate. You fall, struggle to your feet, and get back to work. Again and again you repeat the same thing. Finally, you give your work to friends to read, and they say: “Listen, this is a real detective!”

Do not perceive the work on the detective as tedious or even hard work. Detective - adventure literature, so you need to feel the spirit of adventure. There are a lot of stories about writers who sit, bloody sweat, staring at clear sheet paper. Blood sweat is the lot of writers who create serious literature. For writers of detective stories creative process should be… well, shall we say, a pleasure. Create characters, invent cities and even entire worlds that never really existed, think about how the killer can avoid retribution, condemn to death people who resemble your sloppy ex-wife, petty boss, mother-in-law-bitch - what could be nicer?

Our adventures will begin in chapter I. In it we will discuss why people read detective stories, think about the place that detective stories occupy in contemporary literature and what part they take in the creation of the mythology of culture. If you are going to write a detective story, it is extremely important for you to know all this.

The first answer is classic (and yet correct)

If you want to write detective stories, you first need to understand why people read them.

The usual answer is that people want to "escape from reality", to plunge into silence for a couple of hours, to get away from the seething life, they want to have fun. However, there are many other entertainments that are not as popular as reading detective stories.

It is generally assumed that readers enjoy solving a crime described in a detective story, just like they enjoy solving a crossword puzzle. They say that a detective novel is a kind of puzzle that confuses the reader. The author plays with the reader, hides evidence, casts suspicion on the innocent who act as if they are the killers, etc. The reader is likely to go the wrong way, and all his guesses will be wrong. The detective in a detective novel, as a rule, always surpasses the reader in quick wit and is the first to discover the killer.

However, if the passion for riddles was main reason readers love for detective stories, this genre would have died out in the thirties and forties of the XX century, along with a special direction of detective novels, which were called "detectives of the locked room." They were carefully thought out and full of mysteries. The murder took place in a room locked from the inside, only a corpse was found in it. There is a bullet wound, but there is no bullet. The body was found on the roof, then it disappeared. Any reader who independently figured out the killer could be proud of himself.

To write a brilliant detective story, one puzzle is not enough.

Marie Rodell at work Detective genre» (1943) cites four classic reasons forcing people to read detective stories. These reasons have not changed to this day.

1. Readers are interested in following the train of thought of the protagonist, they empathize with the detective chasing the killer.

2. Readers enjoy the satisfaction of seeing a villain get what he deserves.

3. Readers identify themselves with the main character, "get involved" in the events of the novel, and thereby increase their own significance.

4. Readers are imbued with a sense of confidence in the reality of the events taking place in a detective novel.

Marie Rodell goes on to note that "a detective novel that fails to meet these requirements is doomed to fail." What was true in the time of Marie Rodell has not lost its significance in our day. Moreover, now the work on a detective novel must be approached much more seriously than before. The Modern Reader- a skeptic, he is more aware of the methods of police work, has become adept at jurisprudence. Making him believe in the reality of what is happening now is much more difficult.

Modern detective novel and heroic literature

Barbara Norville in Useful and educational book How to Write a Modern Detective (1986) argues that the modern detective novel is rooted in medieval morality plays, noting that "in the modern detective novel negative character commits a crime directed against his neighbor, in the morality play the negative character is guilty of the sins of pride, laziness, envy, etc.”

Undoubtedly, the medieval morality play and the modern detective story have common features. However, I believe that the roots of the modern detective story go much deeper. The modern detective novel is a version of the ancient tradition on Earth - a mythical tale about the wanderings of a hero-warrior.

When I say "myth" or "mythological features", I mean that the detective contains mythological elements and is a retelling of ancient legends modern language. The hero of ancient legends killed dragons (monsters that the then society was afraid of) and saved beauties. The hero of a modern detective novel catches murderers (monsters that modern society) and saves beauties. Many qualities of the heroes of ancient legends and characters modern detectives coincide: they are brave, devoted, strive to punish evil, are ready to make sacrifices for the sake of the ideal, etc.

Choose which era the action will take place in. It could be any time from ancient egypt to the far future, and even a fictional planet in a new galaxy.

• Do a little research about what happened in a particular country - murders, mysterious cases. If the crime was never solved, you can come up with any denouement.

Create an image of a detective. He can be a tough guy, an intellectual, a victim of circumstance, or even a source of trouble in your story. It is not necessary to answer all of the questions below. However, being careful at this stage will help you write believable story with a lively and complex central character.

• Think of the most basic. Is this a man or a woman? Name? Age? Appearance (color of skin, eyes, hair)? Where is he or she from? Where does the hero live at the beginning of the story? How did he get involved in it? Should he become a victim? Is he the cause of what is happening?
• Think of a family for the hero. Parents? Brothers and sisters? Significant other? Children? Other relationships? Social groups? Someone who has mysteriously disappeared... Make the circumstances as real or as unusual as you wish.
• What kind of life does the hero lead? Is he a celebrity or just a newbie? Does he have an exceptional mind? What crimes does he solve - murders, thefts, kidnappings?
• Think about what your character likes. What is his favorite phrase? Favorite color, place, drink, book, movie, music, dish? What is he afraid of? How practical is it? Does she use perfume, and which one is strong, weak, pleasant or not so much?
• Think about religion. Is your main character religious? If so, what faith does he belong to? Perhaps he invented it himself or chose from different religions what suits him personally? How do beliefs influence his actions? Is he superstitious?
• Decide how the character behaves in the relationship. Does he have many friends? Whether there is a best friend? Is he a romantic by nature? What first impression does he make? Does he love children? Does he read a lot? How about smoking?
• How does the hero dress? If it's a woman, does she wear make-up or dye her hair? What about piercings or tattoos? Is your character attractive, and how attractive does he consider himself to be? Is there anything he would like to change, or something he is particularly happy with? How much time does he spend on his appearance?
• It may seem that for short story this is too much, but it is necessary to work out the image of the main character as deeply and in detail as possible for a good story.