If you keep hitting dead ends in your National Novel Writing Month manuscript, maybe you don’t understand your characters very well. Use the handy Character Chart for Fiction Writers to get to know your characters better.

Here’s more about the chart: “If you’re a fiction writer — whether you’re working on a novel, short story, screenplay, television series, play, web series, webserial, or blog-based fiction — your characters should come alive for your reader or audience. The highly detailed chart below will help writers develop fictional characters who are believable, captivating, and unique. Print this page to complete the form for each main character you create. IMPORTANT: Note that all fields are optional and should be used simply as a guide; character charts should inspire you to think about your character in new ways, rather than constrain your writing.”

This is our eighteenth NaNoWriMo Tip of the Day. As writers around the country join the writing marathon this month, we will share one piece of advice or writing tool to help you cope with this daunting project. (Via NaperWriMo)