How do I manage characters in my book?

The Characters panel lets you keep track of the people in your story directly inside the editor — their details, status, and how they relate to one another. You can open it from the left sidebar of the editor.

Viewing your characters

The Characters panel lists every character you've added, showing their name and age at a glance. If a character has been marked as deceased, a DEAD label appears next to their name.

Adding a character

To add a new character:

1. Open the Characters panel.
2. Click + Add.
3. Enter the character's name.
4. Add a description or short bio.
5. Toggle Is Dead? if the character has died.
6. Fill in any of the optional detail fields, such as:
7. • Age
   • Race
   • Species
   • Gender
   • Personality traits
   • Origin
   • Role
   • Physical appearance
7. Click + Add more fields if you want to track additional custom details, up to 10 fields in total.
8. Click Create character.

You don't need to fill in every field — add as much or as little detail as is useful for your story.

Adding relations between characters

Still inside the Add character window, you can define how a character relates to others in your story:

1. Click + Add relation.
2. Choose the character and the type of relationship (for example: partner, lover, friend, sister, cousin, colleague, enemy).
3. Repeat for any other relationships.

You can add relations when creating a character or edit them later.

Viewing the character tree

Click View tree at the top of the Characters panel to see a visual map of your cast. The tree shows:

• Each character as a node, with an edit icon to update their details directly from the tree
• Lines connecting related characters, labelled with the relationship type (for example: partner, lover, friend, sister, cousin, colleague, enemy, "who knows")
• The DEAD label on any character marked as deceased

The character tree is especially useful for stories with a larger cast, where it can help you spot inconsistencies or gaps in how your characters connect to one another.

Editing or removing a character

Click the ⋮ icon next to a character in the list to edit their details. You can update any field, add or remove relations, or mark them as deceased at any time as your story develops.

Related articles

• How does PubliWrite’s collaborative editor work?
• How do I start writing a new book on PubliWrite?
• Can I import a manuscript I wrote elsewhere?
• What are the manuscript and interior file requirements?
• What are the cover requirements for publishing a book?
• How do I publish my book on PubliWrite?

Updated on: 05/08/2026