Character Tool for Novelists

I originally built this guided notebook, Character Tool for Novelists, for my own use.

For years, I’ve used blank notebooks to brainstorm my novels as I’m writing, as as I’ve worked at the craft, I’ve become more and more attentive to the need to really flesh out my characters as part of my worldbuilding. When my characters are fully “alive” in my mind, the novel comes alive in my mind. And when the novel is alive in my mind, wonderful things start to happen 🙂

But there was a downside with using blank books, at least when it came to characters. As I documented them, I was spending a ton of time copying and re-copying the same template over and over. And things I’d “decided” about a character would tend to get lost inside my blank notebooks.

So I thought to myself: “hey. I know how to create and publish print books. Why not create a guided notebook that has space for a bunch of characters? I’d have a set, pre-printed template. All I’d need to do is fill it out for each character and voila.

And so I created Character Tool, and published it, and bought copies for my own use.

And I LOVE it.

And I really think other writers will love it, too, so now I’m doing a little promo here & there to let people know about it.

Character Tool for Novelists has space to help you imagine and document up to 12 three-dimensional characters, including:

• Names, nicknames, and aliases
• Family trees
• Major life milestones
• Physical features
• Dress/clothing styles
• Personality traits
• Skills, abilities, and talents
• Occupations and finances
• Possessions/properties
• Social identities
• Habits, tics, and pet peeves
• Interests and hobbies
• Conscious aspirations
• Unconscious needs
• Journeys
• Archetypes
• Thematic roles

It also includes workspaces to brainstorm and list all your novel’s character names, making it easy to keep track of your characters as you dream them up (and to avoid using names that are too similar!)

I am now using the tool for all my WIPs.

It gets my creative juices flowing. It helps me build rich characters.

It saves me time & hassle! Have you ever forgotten something about a character — eye color for example, or year of birth — and had to hunt through your manuscript to remind yourself? Or have you ever accidentally changed something about a character as you’re writing without realizing it? Whoops!

Now you will have a handy reference about every one of your characters. You can look up details to remind yourself about them. You can refer to it as you write.

What else…

I sized the the notebook at 5.5 x 8.5 inches, so it will fit into a purse or backpack.

I set the price as low as the ‘Zon allows, to make it comparable to a blank softbound notebook.

And have I mentioned how much I love it?

Thanks for checking it out 🙂