Free character relationship chart maker

A relationship chart is only useful where there is pressure. Draw the lines that create tension and leave out the ones that only record a fact.

Use this template free Free, no account, opens in your browser.

Main focusCharacter relationship chartBranchThe castThoughtHow they are connectedBranchWho knows whatThoughtSides and groups

Built from the same cards and connections you edit inside HeadTidy.

What’s included

A cast table with role, want and secret for each character
A connections table recording the relationship and the tension inside it
A who knows what table for secrets, who holds them and where they come out
An arcs table from who a character starts as to who they end up as
A short set of rules for drawing a chart that stays readable

Put the character everyone reacts to in the middle

The centre of a relationship chart is not the protagonist, it is whoever generates the most reaction. Once that character is placed, most of the other positions become obvious, and the chart stops being a circle of names with lines crossing it.

Label the line with the feeling

Brother is a fact. Owes him and resents it is a relationship. The connections table has a separate column for the tension precisely because the relationship type on its own rarely tells you what a scene between those two characters would do.

Track the secrets separately

Who knows what is a different map from who is related to whom, and it is the one that controls suspense. Keeping the secret, who holds it and where it surfaces in one table makes it obvious when a reveal has been sitting unused for two hundred pages.

Worked example

An ensemble cast of nine has twenty-six lines between them and reads as noise. Removing every line with no tension leaves eleven. Two characters turn out to have no connection to the plot at all, and merging them fixes a subplot the writer had been trying to rescue for months.

How to use this template

Start
List the cast with what each one wants and what each one is hiding.
Sort
Connect only the pairs with real tension, and name the tension.
Move
Track the secrets and where each one comes out.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make a character relationship chart?

Start with the character who generates the most reaction, place the others around them, and connect only the pairs where there is tension. Label each connection with the feeling rather than the family relationship.

Is this character chart maker free?

Yes. It opens as an editable map in your browser with no account required, and you can export it as an image, a PDF or a text outline.

Can I use it for fan fiction or an original character cast?

Yes. The cast, connections, secrets and arcs tables do not assume a genre or a source, and they work the same for an ensemble of original characters as for an existing one.