Greetings from Section X...
In the past, when I’ve written scripts, or even just scribbled down ideas for stories, I always seemed to struggle getting inside the head of a main character... until I found Boyd.
When we first meet Boyd at school, he is a fairly normal 15-year-old boy who has been raised by a strict father, without a mother, and doesn’t feel like he fits in anywhere. And he doesn’t care much about what people think of him, or so he says.
You might notice the fact that everyone just calls him by his last name, even his dad, his aunt and his teachers; it just seems to fit.
There’s something about calling someone by their first name that suggests fondness or familiarity, and Boyd doesn’t really have that with anyone.
His mother died when he was a baby and his father often works away, which means he spends a lot of time with his aunt, Aurora. She is an old hippy, and Boyd admires her for her free spirit and total disregard for life’s rules - she is probably the closest thing to a friend that Boyd has.
When his life starts to unravel, Boyd is forced to run, not sure who he can trust.
His first lesson is that running away doesn’t resolve anything - you have to stand your ground and work things out. But because of the way he has isolated himself, he finds that there’s not a long list of people who are willing to fight his corner.
And this is where his greatest challenge lies - learning to rely on other people. He also needs to help them in return - to build trust - something Boyd doesn’t do easily and you’ll see why when you take this journey with him.
Boyd is a typical teenager in every way; it’s just the circumstances he finds himself in are complex.
Like a lot of young adults, he battles grief, anger, pride and solitude every single day but he manages to keep it all just below the surface, and out of sight. If no one notices what he’s going through, he will never have to admit it; and he will never ask anyone for help.
The fact that he has to overcome these issues to save the world are just as important to me as how he responds when he’s chased by assassins on motorbikes or left hanging from a helicopter over London!
Boyd is someone I would have loved to have read about when I was younger; someone I would have recognised in myself and many of the people around me.
I’m glad I took the time to find him. I hope you are, too.
Until next time...
B
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