Character Sheets

Whether you’ve played D&D or not, I assume you’ve at least heard of it. If you’re unfamiliar with how it works, let me explain the connection to writing. In the game Dungeons and Dragons, players represent characters in an ongoing story built over time. To keep track of the details of each character, the players use a sheet with relevant info that they can refer to as they play. That technique seems to work well for them…and it will for you, too.

Trying to keep track of too many little details as you write can sometimes make the difference between a novel that works and one that doesn’t. The big issue is consistency. If one of your characters has blue eyes at the beginning of the book, but then later he has green eyes, the reader will be confused (as well he should). The Main Character isn’t usually the problem…it’s all those little guys that keep getting mixed up.

How Much Info is Needed?

The extent to which you collect and record info will depend on how long your piece is…and which characters you are documenting. If Flash Fiction (~100 words up to 1000), all you’ll have time for is the basic. For a Short Story (5000 to 10,000 words), you’ll need a bit more info. Novellas (10,000 to 40,000 words) and Novels (80,000 up to 100,000 or more depending on genre) will demand the greatest level of detail. Finally, if you are writing a series of stories, you’ll definitely need some way to keep track of more than just characters.

For central characters consider a full sheet of info, but for peripheral characters who just walk on, say their lines, and disappear, you may be able to have a half dozen on a single sheet. Let’s list a few of the items you’ll need:

• Flash Fiction
  • Name, age, height, weight, body type, hair colour and style, complexion
• Short Stories
  • All the above and…
  • Backstory, mannerisms (tics), identifying features (tattoos, scars, etc.)
• Novellas and Novels
  • All the above and…
  • Personality traits, needs, wants, family ties, interests and hobbies, favourites (food, colour, sayings), friend connections (people and animals), education, religion
  • Motivations, obstacles, conflict resolution techniques, prejudices, philosophy on life, family life
  • Timeline of life, covering major events
  • Descriptive summary (2 to 3 pgphs)
• Book Series
  • Along with complete details for most characters, you’ll also need to note down locations, culture and society, level of technology, and any elements specific to your story or genre

You’ll notice that minor things such as clothing are not listed. That’s because those items will change throughout the story (unless it’s a very short one). Styles of clothing may be listed to match that character’s personality, but nothing in particular

How Do I Keep It All Together?

Here is where a D&D type character sheet comes in handy. Although similar, character sheets for writing focus more on the information listed above, rather than gaming stats. A simple one would have the character’s name at the top, space for a picture (any picture found in a magazine that inspires you as you create the character), and relevant items listed on the rest of the sheet. Keep the sheets handy as you write, so when some aspect of a character comes up in the writing, you can quickly grab your sheets and make certain to use the correct characteristic.

Maintaining character sheets will get easier with time. Once you’ve made a few, and determined just what you need to help with your style of writing, you can create blank forms to use for future characters. Having a binder with all the sheets grouped by story will also allow you to take existing characters, copy their sheet, then modify them to save time when you need new characters in new stories. You can have a whole slew of extras just sitting around waiting to be called into play.

Sometimes just thinking about the lists above will bring up ideas that you hadn’t even considered before. That’s good, as it will help you define your characters. In fact, some authors intentionally create Character Sheets as a way to brainstorm new ideas about their characters. As you are going over the list, follow any ideas that come to you—dive down the rabbit hole with full abandon, possibly creating an entire scene from a character’s backstory.

Using the Character Sheet

In spite of taking all that time to assemble such a wealth of knowledge, remember that you will actually use very little of it in the story itself. Merely noting down these details will firm up who your characters are…in your mind. You’ll have an in-depth awareness of them, so you’ll know how they would react in any given situation…but you never need to share that info with the reader.

As an extension of the sheet, some folks recommend using a list personality profile questions to find out who your characters are. If you do that, be careful to not take it too far. Some of those lists have over 300 questions, but you certainly don’t need to answer them all to make your characters full and rounded. If you do decide to use a list of questions, don’t do it until you already have a pretty good idea of who your character is. Those questions can get into such detail, but if you don’t have the basics down first, you’ll just be adding skin to a non-existent skeleton.