Characters

The Characters page is the heart of Penpoint, where you create and manage your cast of characters.

Whether you're tracking a sprawling ensemble or a tight-knit group, this page gives you complete control over how you organize and view your characters.

What You Can Do

On the Characters page, you can:

• Create new characters with importance levels (such as Primary, Secondary, or Background)
• View your characters in three display modes: Standard (full detail), Compact (names and key info), or Cards (visual summary cards)
• Switch between View mode and Edit mode (View mode is for reading; Edit mode is for making changes)
• Sort and organize your character list
• Pin important characters to the top of the list: right-click a character and choose "Pin to top" to keep your protagonist or key characters always visible above the rest, separated by a divider from the main list
• Track character details using customizable sections (like text fields, trait lists, and relationships)
• Collapse and expand individual sections by clicking their header to keep your sheet tidy
• Expand or collapse the character list on the left to focus on what matters
• Right-click for quick access to common actions: add or delete characters, pin or unpin characters, change sort order, switch view modes, toggle edit mode, change importance, swap profile pictures, or jump to the Relationship Map

Customizable Character Layout

Every character in Penpoint uses a flexible section-based layout. You can add sections for text fields, traits, relationships, items, locations, events, and more. The layout you create applies to all characters in your book, but each character's details are their own.

To customize your character layout, visit Character Sheet Setup. You can add, remove, reorder, and configure sections to match exactly how you think about your characters.

An Events section tracks the key moments a character is part of. The same event also appears on the items and locations involved. See Events to learn how they work.