Organizing Characters

BrookeDi

Well-Known Member
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This thread came from a conversation I had with a friend. I have a ton of characters I've used at one time or another. I don't usually reuse characters, although if the right setting comes along, it might happen.

As many of you have, I've role played in several different places, and most of the characters (and their likes, dislikes, personality quirks, etc.) are in my head, and if I forget, then I forget.

So here are the questions:
1. Do you keep something other than a mental list of your characters?
2. If yes, how do you organize them? Google Doc? Word doc? Spreadsheet?

I'm thinking maybe I should start keeping track of my characters and their details and I'm looking for ideas.
 
I've actually rather recently started using Google Docs for the purposes of making character bios. However, most of them are on my phone's note app.
 
Actually, I've found this format works really well for me when character building

Name:
Age:
Gender:
Sexual Orientation: (optional)
Romantic Partner: (If applicable)
Family: (If applicable)
Personality:
Background:

I'm sure you could come up with more, but this is a basic bio. :)
 
I'm not concerned with making a character's bio, I'm just wondering how people keep their characters organized in terms of keeping track of all their different characters. I've got a bunch of different characters and their bios posted on interest checks and private messages and all kinds of places. Wasn't sure if people have a central location for keeping track of all their characters.
 
For me, I can usually find the bios for my characters in the the same place as the roleplay, or in the roleplay's OOC thread, but I actually have a document in the app where I store all the rest of my writing that I created specifically to keep track of them (I wound up making it around a year ago when I was trying to locate info on a character from a long-since-dead roleplay, and it took me a lot of digging through past PMs to find). As for format, I'll have the character's name, then below that, a short summary (generally around a few sentences to a paragraph) of who they are, the story they're part of, what my plans are for how they'll change over the course of the plot, and any random notes on them that I want to remember. It usually doesn't take more than five minutes to write so it isn't too time-consuming, and since each character just gets a short paragraph or so, not a full bio, the whole document is easier to sort through to find a specific one (if I really want to find the full bio, since I mention the roleplay the character's a part of in that paragraph, I'll know where to look). Oh, and I actually found that it helps me get a better understanding of the character as well since I have to know them well enough to write an accurate summary of them, so I'd highly recommend giving it a try.

As for where to store it, if you have a place where you keep the rest of your writing, sticking with that would be the best way to stay organized, but if not, it still works well to go with something that you already use for other stuff. For example, if you sync most things over iCloud, apps like Pages or Notability work well for that, especially since they're easy to use on mobile devices if you write a lot on your phone or tablet. Or if you're already familiar with Google Docs and have an account you already use a lot there, I've found that's a great option as well.
 
I started out using rprepository to keep my characters. Toyhou.se later came out, which I tried to use, but got kind of frustrated by and made a wordpress website for myself for my characters.

I host it on my own, but you can do free stuff at wordpress.com

My site is: http://art.khat.us
I started making it just for art references since I used to commission a lot of art. Then it kind of snowballed.
Although it really has been neglected as of late. xP

I try to reuse characters at every opportunity, so I don't really have as many OCs as most people I know.
But some other sites you could try are charahub and refsheet.net
 
For the most part, I'll put them into my notes (whether that's on my phone or laptop, doesn't matter to me.) and add bullet points for key parts of their personality. If they end up with a lot to them, eventually they'll have a whole bio which will still be in the notes.
 
Hey~!

So like I have the Word App on both my phone and tablet so like Yeah~yeah I keep them there.

And the nice thing is that they can both take the source from Online storage so I can write/edit/transfer on one thing and it's compatible to the other :]]]

Oh! And the best part is being able to repurpose your charrie and save it under a specific file name for a different RP ;D
 
If I get attached enough to a character they go in my rp book. I have some memorable lines, a description, numerical stats (if any), and heir basic plot. But I have so many characters that I couldn’t possibly do that for them all, you know?
 
I tend to keep all of my character sheets in google docs! I just find it an easy and super convenient way to stay organized and jot down idea's if I'm out and about with the app. If there's a character storage thread on a site that I use to RP on regularly I'll also transfer over a few of my favorites to see if I can find any partners who'd be interested in them. It's just how I've done things ever since I roleplayed on Gaia forever ago, lol.

As for character bio's themselves I keep things pretty simple so they have some space to blossom and don't have to stick to a certain genre of roleplay~
 
I put my characters in google docs or the notes app on my phone. I have most of them in categories. Like, was this OC made with a specific fandom in mind? But usually, I keep them by gender (M/F/Non-Bin).
 
If it's about my private storywriting, I keep my characters either in the story's scrivener file, or in my planning file in Campfire. For RPs, however, I don't really do anything to keep track, though I really should. The thing is, I usually use story characters in RPs to get to know them, so it feels silly to do something... But if I did, it'd really help somehow, I think... So I might start a doc for this concept when I get back into the swing of things.
 
Mental list is how I use to keep track of particular characters I enjoy using. Lately Ive taken the time to jot down a little about them. That pretty much started from keeping characters around I hadn't had a chance to use in stories that didn't get very far but knew I would like to give them a real try again.

Google Docs is actually pretty handy.
 
I have most of my characters set up on a search thread on my main rp site, ngl. I know a lot of people who use Google docs but I've always found it frustratingly laggy. I also have character sheets on Pages/Word just downloaded on my computer, mostly for my main characters that I use on my own writing projects that I can access offline, and that's always worked very well for me. It lets me have long, detailed sheets that don't lag out constantly. If I want it online I use Word and store each character on a separate document, and I find that lags less than Google docs and is also more user-friendly when I want to put in pictures, fancy formatting, etc.
 
I use Pinterest boards to really craft their aesthetic and then everything I write is saved in separate folders on Google Drive so that I have access to them easily and anywhere I am at. I am very much motivated by organization, so everything is very meticulously labeled and sorted. Especially since I have at least 10 characters rotating at any given time.
 
I keep my characters organized in a document by what type of story they belong to, if its a fandom rp its by what fandom theyre in. I like to have a profile photo for each and to make sure each has a detailed enough set of information to help me use the character. Sometimes i make 5 versons of the same character and keep them in separate docs in a folder on my desk top.
I also keep notes in notebooks at my desk for quick refs.
 
I use Google Docs for the most part. While I will also submit them to whatever respective RP they are from, I like having a back up when possible. Sometimes I make mood boards if I really like them.
 
Doc programs seem to be the best way to keep track of characters you're RPing/writing for. Google Docs at least is helpful with the cloud feature in case a computer crash or loss.
 
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