How to Create a Character Timeline You’ll Actually Use

When writing stories, it’s good to have an understanding of exactly who your characters are and what makes them important. Why is the main character the main character? What made the villain a villain? 

This is where a character timeline comes in handy. Timelines can also help keep track of when all events, big or small, are happening in the story so you don’t lose track of where your characters are. They help you stay organized.

What Makes Up a Character Timeline?

Like most other things in writing, there are many ways to create a timeline for your characters, and many options to include. Personally, I like to draw an actual timeline in my notebook; one for each main character, including protagonists, antagonists, and any other major players in the story. 

You can also create a digital timeline or physical timeline with sticky notes or a dry erase board. After the basic timeline is created, having a more in-depth character chart can also be useful.

In your character timelines, make sure to include these 3 key components:

Major events that shape the character, before and during the story. Major events include anything that’s important enough to greatly impact or change the character’s arc. This doesn’t necessarily mean that every single event has to be on the timeline because that might get overwhelming; however, it does mean that anything that changes the character’s life or outlook should be on the timeline. 

Character origin, or where they came from. When you think about “origins” you might be thinking specifically about location. While this can be important, the piece that’s important to the character timeline is their relationship to the other characters -where they came from and how long their relationship has been going on with the protagonist or antagonist. In some genres, location is much more important, but for timeline purposes, you want to think about each character, how they progress, and how that progression is related to the others in the book.  

Character end goal, or where they end up. Although it’s likely you won’t know the exact ending until it arrives, you should have some idea where you want each character to end up. You can include info about the actual ending, or some ideas about how you want their arc to end. Where do you want this character to be by the end of the book?

Why is a Character Timeline Important?

As exciting as it is to start thinking about and writing a new story, it can also be overwhelming. I’ve found that a good place to start is taking time to flesh out the main characters. 

Character timelines can identify plot holes so we can fill them, build in foreshadowing as we’re writing, and help us create more intriguing characters in general.  

Character timelines can identify plot holes so we can fill them, build in foreshadowing as we’re writing, and help us create more intriguing characters in general.  

For instance, in my most recent WIP, I started with 3 timelines. I knew who the main character was, who the love interest would be, and who the antagonist would be. I started their timelines to figure out where they would intersect. 

As I was creating the timelines, I was able to determine what drove my main character toward the others. This piece helps me build in foreshadowing about major events and make sure nothing big is missing from the story as a whole. I also learned exactly what happened in each character’s past made them who they are, which allows me to weave in interesting details throughout - including special interactions between characters and even humor!

How to Build a Character Timeline

When putting together a character timeline, start with where your story begins. Think about these questions: 

• Who are the characters we should care about right away? 

• How do they relate to the main character? 

• Is there a specific event the story opens on? 

For example, in my WIP, the main character starts as a 14 year old. There were obviously events that led to this point, but for now, the important things are why the story starts here and  what event marks the beginning of the story? This is the beginning of your timeline. 

Once you determine a starting point (remember, this can always change later on!), think about what brought them to this point. Pay close attention to: 

• Traumatic events

• Joyful events

• Key people they’ve met & interacted with

• Actions they took

• Anything that could be defining for them throughout the story

When you’ve determined more about where the character came from, you can start looking ahead to their future! Where do you want or see them ending up as of right now. One of the most beautiful (and sometimes frustrating) things about writing is how much it can adapt as we’re doing the writing. 

That being said, your story has to go somewhere! So it’s good to have a working idea of where each character is headed so you can help them get there. It doesn’t have to be a fairytale ending, or a gruesome ending for that matter. You might also find that, as you write, your characters decide their own fate, which is great! For now, just give it your best educated guess.

The final step in the character timeline is to fill in the steps that will get your character to their end goal. As you’re thinking about these steps, consider: 

• Major milestones

• Major and minor events that define the character’s experience

• When important relationships begin and end 

• New people they meet

• Major shifts in their mindset and/or beliefs

All of these pieces, especially other people, can be critical for the character and how they develop.

Character timelines are a great way to enhance your writing, not to mention they can be a lot of fun! I love creating timelines for my characters because it really helps me get to know each character better. Ultimately, it also helps readers love my characters, too, because I can incorporate all the pieces and details from the timeline into the story. 

When readers can see and feel back stories, strengths, and weaknesses from the characters, it helps them connect.  It makes everything more real. Connecting to readers in these ways are super important for writers!

My challenge to you is to create a character timeline for your current story. 

Have you used character timelines before? Did you find it helpful? What’s your favorite part about creating a character? I’d love to hear about your experiences and recommendations! Find me on social media or drop a comment below.

Let’s chat because you, my friend, are on your way to great writing.