You need a character sheet. Every writer does. Yes, even if you're writing fanfiction and yes, even if you don't have any OCs.
Hi! My name is Lidia and I have been writing fanfiction for that past 15 years. That's a long time lol. I am currently working on a 500k words Supernatural saga (that is five books if I can stop writing like I'm running out of time).
What even is a character sheet?
A character sheet is a document, piece of paper, excel file, wall full of post-its, whatevert you want, where you record everything about a fictional character. You can write down surface-level details like their eye color (you can also write that they have blue orbs if you fuck like that), the number of freckles on their face (hello, Dean Winchester fans), to the deep psychological stuff, like their misbeliefs about the world, their greatest fear, the childhood event that shaped who they became.
And YES!!!! you need to do it even if it's not an original character. Let me explain myself.
Take you favourite blorbo. You know them, you love them and you are barking at them. When you write fanfiction, you need to have clear and in front of you the things take make your blorbo the character you love and adore so much.
You need this because it acts as a reference you can consult any time you need to check a detail mid-writing. It keeps you consistent and hopefully not go OOC (unless you want to).
It's not a form to fill out, but a conversation you have with your character to get to know them better.
Having a character sheet handy allows you write better and save time during editing and revision. If you follow what you write on the sheet, you don't need to go back through chapters and hunt for that detail about how their house looks like or "what did they say their favourite color is?", "how did they meet X? was it that time in canon or did I change it?"
Did I convince you? I hope so.
Where do I get one?
Now, there's a lot of character sheet templates out there. And if you want to go hunting down for the best one, the most comprehensive one, the one you like them most you are free to do so, I will not be offended, I'm just glad I could teach you why character sheets are important. HOWEVER :) I am not only a fanfiction writer (that doesn't pay my bills unfortunately), I am also a developer!
So, seeing how much I needed a character sheet that covered all the stuff I care about, I build one! So, let me introduce to you...
The Dialogue Thing!
It's a privacy first, AI free, completely free platform where you can build your character sheet (along other cool features ;) )
You don't need an account, there are not limits and your data is not collected. Plus, you can export your character sheet to whatever you want. Notion, Google Docs or PDFs.
I built it by pulling together the best parts from multiple character sheet templates I found on the internet and putting them all together in something more than a PDF or document: it's interactive, it can be filled with as many (or as little) details as possible.
Still want a printable? No problem. Just export the sheet without filling it and print it!
The sections
The character sheet is organized into sections, each focused on a different side of your character. Here's an overview:
- Identity and demographics: the basics of your character: who they are how they look, where they live and what's their basic character and role in the story
- Current situation: where are they in their life? Working? Unemployed? Killing monsters for a living? Owners of a coffee shop where they will meet the love of their life?
- Physical Appearance
- Voice and communication: diction, speech patterns, accent, languages, pacing, pitch, gestures, and what they say when they're nervous or excited.
- Background and History
- Skills and Abilities
- Health, Strengths, and Weaknesses
- Psychology and Personality: this is one of the most important ones because it include misbeliefs and internal conflict
- Desires, Motivations, and Values
- Favorites and Interests
- Relationships plus a Relationship Deep Dive to really dig down into that ship you care about so much.
- Character Growth and Arc: here you can structure the arc if you're planning one from internal conflict to the aha moment and the transformation at the end.
- Character Goals
- Optional Sections: Magic and Tech in case you're writing fantasy or sci-fi
Are you ready?
Go write your character sheet!! Make your blorbo realistic so we can ALL bark at it.
→ Open the free Character Sheet Builder on The Dialogue Thing
The Dialogue Thing is a suite of free writing tools built for fiction writers. Explore the full toolkit at editingthing.com.