Character

Scrivener Newcomer Central
1

how do i add my characters this is all new to me trying to learn how to use the program

2
  • Have you started going through the tutorial you find under the Help menu?
  • What template are you starting from?
  • Have you read any “How to use this template” or similar instruction document at the top of the template?

:slight_smile:
Mark

1 Like
3

You can use or update the Character Sheet in the Templates folder, and create documents from that Template for your characters using the green Plus-sign icon in the Main Toolbar.

4

I second AntoniDol’s suggestion of using the default Character Sketch you get with a new project.

You can also create your own Character List with your preferred structure or formatting by creating a new document in the Binder. Mine even has pictures of the characters for inspiration. You can refer back to it to help remind you of the spelling of names, specific character aspirations, preferences, etc., as these come up in the scenes that you write. It’s very easy to forget details as you work on a large project, and this helps you to maintain continuity.

Another useful feature to consider is the use of keywords. These are tags you can assign to any binder document (e.g. a scene or chapter you create). You can create keywords for a variety of things - anything you want to track - including your characters. This is great for tracking in which scenes or chapters particular characters appear, and avoids forgetting some characters along the way, prompting the reader to ask “So what happened to Joey?” or some such.

Forgive me if you already know all this but:

  • To create your own Character List (or Character Sketch), just create a document in the Binder by clicking the Add a new document button above the Binder (a green plus + sign). Press and hold if you want to create a folder or the default Character Sketch, though I prefer to make my own by just creating a standard document with the ‘New Text’ option (which creates a standard, empty, text document).
  • You can drag documents around the binder to impose whatever structure you like, including nested folders, which you can also create in the binder in the same way you create documents.
  • To create keywords, including some for your characters, select Project>Show Project Keywords. The resulting dialog lists any current keywords and enables you to create, edit or delete them. Add a keyword by clicking the plus + sign at the bottom left of the dialog, giving you a default name of ‘Untitled’ for the new keyword, which you can change by typing over it. Double click the colour if you don’t like the default one Scrivener assigns your new keyword.
  • To assign the keyword to a document, select the document to display it. By default, to the right of the document is a sidebar for all kinds of information about the document, including notes, bookmarks, metadata, snapshots, and comments. There’s a lot of good stuff here to play with, and in time, you will. For now, just click the metadata symbol (third from the left) above this sidebar. This reveals three new segments in the sidebar, one of them being Keywords. To assign an existing keyword to the document, click the plus + sign beside ‘Keywords’ in the sidebar. Typing in the keyword field will auto-select any matches. Alternatively click the elipsis 
 beside it to either choose one, or to display the project’s keywords.

Having created and assigned keywords you can search for them with the hourglass above the binder. Click and hold for search options, enabling you to search specifically for keywords. Only documents with that keyword will be shown (see this article for more). Great for finding the scenes where “Joey” appears and working out where he has become strangely absent (due to the writer’s absent-mindedness, like yours truly).

I hope this helps!

Cheers,
Jeremy W

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