How to Make a Comprehensive Fantasy Character Sheet (with FREE printable!)

  As an author who primarily works in the fantasy genre (and has for many years), I can't tell you how much I have STRUGGLED finding a character sheet that works for EPIC FANTASY characters! It's like they pretty much don't exist, and any that do, I have never found really worked for me. So...in my entrepreneurial way, I decided to create my own character sheet, one that I still use today! And if you're in the same boat looking for the most comprehensive character sheet tailored specifically for fantasy characters, then read on my friend - and don't forget to claim the FREE PRINTABLE at the bottom of the page! 

  I'll be using a secondary character from my fantasy series, The War of the Three Crowns, as my example today. Friends, get ready to meet Hadia Arsheesha!

  STEP #1: PICK A CHARACTER

Obviously the first thing we need to do is get a character in mind to craft our character sheet. Whether it's your hero, your villain, the random villager that dies on page 22, no character is too big or too small to write about! I personally divide the characters in The War of the Three Crowns into three categories: Primary/POV, Secondary, and Outlying. 

  PRIMARY/POV CHARACTERS are the main figures of my story. They are the ones upon whom the plot centers, the viewpoint characters who share their lives with readers straight through their eyes.

  SECONDARY CHARACTERS are people who heavily influence the main cast and feature prominently in the story, but aren't the titular heroes or villains. Their importance cannot be understated, but not everyone is cut out to be a main character! 

  OUTLYING CHARACTERS are those who are mentioned on multiple occasions, and may even have a significant part to play, but they do not directly correlate to the main cast to the extent of the secondary characters, nor do we see anything from their POV. 

  Once you've chosen a character to flesh out with your comprehensive worksheet, it's time to move on...

STEP #2: PICK A FACECLAIM

  Most people will simply search Google or Pinterest for a face that fits a basic description of hair and eye color, which is cool and all, but you are generally only able to find one single image of your character that way, with no real way of knowing where that face came from. What I prefer to do is use the faces of ACTORS as my faceclaim for characters. Why do I prefer this? A few reasons: 

• you get a wealth of images of the same person, with multiple different expressions, looks, and outfits. 
• the images circulating of public figures are generally free for public use. 
• you can imagine casting them in the book-to-film adaption of your story. ;)

  The faceclaim I've picked for Hadia is actress Golshifteh Farahani. I felt as soon as I saw her that she perfectly embodied my vision of Hadia. 

STEP #3: INFO-DUMPING YOUR CHARACTER'S HISTORY

  Info-dumping is usually touted as a GRIEVOUS SIN for writers, particularly writers of fantasy who are more prone to such things. But guess what, friend? Info-dumping is PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE IN YOUR CHARACTER SHEET! In fact, I would ENCOURAGE you to info-dump, tell us every single unimportant, irrelevant detail about this character. Act like you are creating an auto-biography of their entire life!

  Why should you be info-dumping you ask? The answer is simple. Because if you do your info-dumping HERE, you won't be tempted to do it in your NOVEL. 

  Just think, the primary reason for info-dumping is because you, the author, hasn't worked everything out quite yet, and when you start writing, you start discovering more and more about these people and places. And that's awesome! But sometimes we can get a little carried away. The golden rule of good writing is SHOW, DON'T TELL, and that becomes so much easier when we have already figured out the whole picture for ourselves. This way, when we go to write, we know exactly what details to include, what points to make, and how to show our character as a real person, instead of telling the reader about them. 

  So talk about your character! From birth to death or end of the story (whichever comes first!) and make sure you know them inside and out!

STEP #4: CHARACTER DETAILS

  Now it's time to delve into the juicy details of your character. This includes their physical description, personality, genealogy, names and epithets, and quotes from/about them. This information will all be incredibly handy to go back to while you're writing, the more you know, the more you show!

Physical description/personality description are pretty straightforward. Simply write and describe - more info-dumping FTW!

A Genealogy of your character can be written out OR, as I like to do, you can create a cool family tree image to make everything easier to see. I use Windows Paint to do this, as it's a pretty easy process. 

Make sure you record the various Names and Epithets your character might go by during their life in your book. Fantasy characters often have long, windy titles or perhaps aliases aside from their given name, and it's a good idea to keep record of those. 

I find it useful to record Quotes From/About my character. Often fantasy stories have prophecies or pronouncements, and sometimes your character might recite some epic speech that you'd like to immortalize on their page. Go for it!

STEP #5: CREATE THE INTRO PAGE

  I like to save this step for last, so you can use all the steps above to make your intro page as EPIC AS POSSIBLE. Following the layout screen-shotted below, craft a catchy paragraph-length overview of your character. This will be your basic info about them, and will be able to refresh you quickly on who they are. Don't forget your face-claim, the character's name emblazoned as the title, and to fill out a list of basic facts to reference while writing!

THE EPIC FANTASY CHARACTER SHEET TEMPLATE

If you're totally pumped and ready to get cracking at crafting epic fantasy characters, then follow THIS LINK to get the PDF of my template and get started!

LET'S TALK. 

  Do you have a particular method when it comes to creating a character sheet? Do you even use character sheets, or do you keep track of everyone in your head like some crazy person? If you give the template a try, let me know how you like it!