Keeping track the bloody character roster

[Terrate]

Customary comment about the brain being able to store lots of information. So just keep using the brain, silly.

 

[Forgotten_Fox]

Can I introduce your to our lord and savior Obsidian?

 

[Zagaroth]

While I am using a simple doc to keep track, it's not *just* a document. It's my running Glossary, complete with dividing up into sections.

First section: Divinities.

Second Section: Mortals.
This is then divided up into sub sections such as main cast, secondary cast, , X's family, Y's family, kitsune clan members, royal family, etc., including an "others" section for those who do not fit neatly into a larger grouping. This also has a list of species names and antagonists.

The third section is Locations

At the end of every book/volume, I copy that information and use it as a chapter in the story. I then save-as the file and create a new one for the next one (so there is a "Glossary, Book 1" and a "Glossary, Book 2", etc.) I find needing to keep it organized in a way that is readable for others helps me a lot.

Here's a section from my current glossary. Spoiling for size and because of content.

Spoiler

Main Cast:
Mordecai; ancient nexus core, husband to Kazue and Moriko, priest of Ozuran
--- Shenlong; a dragon eidolon

Moriko; elf-blooded monk, wife of Kazue and Mordecai, follower of Sakiya
--- Thunder and Lightning; the two heads of a dragon hatchling familiar (Also called 'Sparks' when addressed as a single entity)

Kazue; former kitsune, reborn nexus core, wife of Moriko and Mordecai, former shrine maiden of Mericume
--- "Raimi Darlington", her pen name
--- Carnelian Flame; a felinesque dragon hatchling familiar with six legs

Secondary Cast:
Bellona; orc champion of Amirume
Fuyuko; a young luponi specialized in skirmishing styles

Moriko’s Family:
Mother: Kaoru
Father: Jhaeros

Moriko(37)
Ayred, Brother(33)
Kameko, Sister(31)
Shoko, Sister(26)
Hainako, Sister(22)
Galan, Brother(15)

Kazue’s Family:
Akahana; seven-tailed kitsune druid, mother
---Casey; cassowary animal companion
Ricardo; human merchant, father

It feels nice to have everything laid out so neatly.

I've tried obsidian, but the web of connections got a little big and complicated. But that might be a user issue too.

 

[Alfir]

I also finally come to a simple conclusion of not generating names for one off characters. This is something I still fail but I try with just *job title* *common surname such as Smith or Lee*

This is so relatable. Ever had the feeling of pity for the one-off characters you give them a name? If not that, you'll think calling them man, young man, old man, she, he, etc. feels uncomfortable, so you give them a name. It's like, you are giving a life to this character and not giving them a name, just irks you.

 

[Deleted member 166465]

Word docs to me kind of suck.

I am not into World Anvil or whatever service that is asking for a fee even if now it is free.

How are you authors keeping tracks of the people inside your work?

I can't even keep track of the people in my workspace.

A few things I learned:
1) It is a bad sign if you cant remember character you plan reutilize. What do I mean, some character are on scene deal, they are made to be forgoten, no relevancy at all, they are just there to justify somehting. That is easy to forget and they must be forgoten. Now if got a character that did something important, Is related to the main character, or is an important part of the plot; It means that the story is either boring or has no impact, that is bad, really bad.
2) if your work has less than 30 characters and you cant remember them all, it means you got a real memery issue, or your story has been over extended, you could be writing a 200k words story that should be top 50k.
3)If you story has close or over 100 characters, it is normal to be lost. You need a characters glossary to keep up not only with the name characters, but their "personality" and background.
If none of this is usefull for ya... Well, I tried.

 

[Clo]

I use a combination of Dabble's character cards, my brain's stupidly high recall capacity, and my Book's recap chapters where I list pretty much every character in the story (it's getting big)

 

[Deleted member 206441]

Whiteboard + post it notes like a cereal killa conspiracy theorist.

 

[l8rose]

Generally, I can keep most characters separate in my head (some even go off on their own little adventures) but for the more complicated details, I use Plottr.

It makes it a lot more convenient for my notes even if I don't use all of the functionality. Mostly just the characters and notes sections because my excel files get way too messy (and I end up wanting to make them too fancy with add-ons and end up getting distracted from the original purpose).

 

[NotaNuffian]

Obsidian.md is your best friend - but if you're on the phone, try google sheets - its free

Would try, but run into same issue as word.

I am using it to keep track of MC BS. If I am to use it to keep track of MC enemies and friends as well... yeah, fine.


Ps. Using Obsidian now.

Slight issue of I have no idea on how to work on its function and now I googling.