Why you need a character sheet

Without a sheet, a character drifts. In the first scene they're snarky, in the second they're sweet, and by the fifth you can't remember whether they had a brother or a sister. AI works the same way: give it nothing to hold on to, and it'll mold itself to you and start agreeing with everything within an hour.

A sheet isn't a novel about your hero. It's a one-page cheat sheet. Its job is simple: whatever surprise a scene throws at the character, you should know what they'll do and how they'll say it.

The nine-line template

  1. Name and ageA name instantly sets the world and the era. Age sets experience and distance.
  2. What they doNot a job title, but the thing that eats their time: "fixes boats," "hosts a late-night radio show," "hunts monsters for cash."
  3. The trait you see right awayWhat shows in the first five minutes: blunt, loud, polite to the point of frosty.
  4. The trait you don't see right away