Keeping track of all your characters can be tough to do sometimes. I’m talking everything from main characters to the clerk at the grocery store kind of character. So I created a more organized way for me to keep track of my characters.
I used to just write them down in a notebook and keep a list but sometimes, said list would be difficult to read (all in how and what notes I wrote down). So I tried to think of a better way. I enjoy changing the way I do something in order to be more productive if it’s something I can improve on. This just so happened to be one of those moments.
Much like my timeline table, I made a character table. Where I wrote down some key information to help me keep track of all characters. The last thing I wanted to have happen was for someone to be reading my novel and say ‘I thought Susie was the only cashier who worked on Thursdays or at least that’s what she said earlier in the book.’ Just an example but I didn’t want any mix up to occur with my characters.
So in my character table I laid it out in the following way…
- At the top is the title of the novel/date (year) I started writing it and that it’s for characters.
- Then I have 6 columns…
- Name
- Age
- Looks
- Personality
- Relationship to MC
- Chapters/pages of description
Obviously the first two columns are pretty self explanatory, however I do add their occupation and birth date in the same block as their name.
The looks column is for their character description…what do they look like? Are there any features that stand out? Hair color/style/length, eye color, height, etc.
Personality; what are their likes or dislikes? Are they Shy? What are some important details you want to remember to readdress later on in your story? For example, a character has a temper but most of the time hides it well, however you don’t want the reader to forget that detail.
The relationship to the MC (Main Character) is important. I want to remember who they are at all times and how they relate to my main characters. All the main ones I remember of course right off the top of my head but I never want to mix up the other characters with the smaller roles that are still essential to the storyline.
Then finally of course the Chapters/Pages of Description. Meaning the point in the novel where I wrote their character description. That way if I ever need to go back and read at length everything I said when I introduced the character to the readers, then I can very easily.
*If you would like to see the actual table that I use. Check out my YouTube Channel, the link will be at the bottom of this post. Then stay tuned for next weeks video where I will expand on this topic.*
Of course that is what works best for me. There are some, whom it may not work for but a few minutes of your time creating an Excel worksheet and setting up your character table, is worth the hours you save in backtracking through your novel. The best part is that all you need to do is make it once, then print however many sheets you need for however many characters, then save the file to reuse for each new novel you write.
In the time it takes us Authors to scroll through our social media accounts, you could make something that could organize the way you write. Which also saves you time in the future. Because ultimately a persons biggest obstacle is time. There never seems to be enough time in the day.
Thank you for reading my blog…Until Next Time…JUST KEEP WRITING.
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Tiffany’s Writing Journey 