---
title: Character Knowledge
category: Characters
tags: characters, knowledge, secrets, reveals, continuity
contextKey: characters.knowledge
micro: Track what this character learns, knows, suspects or misunderstands.
quickTitle: What is Character Knowledge?
quickSummary: Character Knowledge helps you separate what the writer knows from what a character knows, believes, discovers or misunderstands.
screenshot:
---

# Overview

Knowledge entries record what a character knows, believes, discovers, suspects or misunderstands as the story unfolds. This is vital for mysteries, secrets, betrayals, investigations and any plot where information arrives unevenly.

Use this section before writing decisions, confrontations, reveals or deductions. It helps prevent impossible knowledge, where a character acts on information they have not yet learned.

# How To Use It

Review knowledge in story order and open linked scenes when you need to check how the information was gained. Pay attention to whether the entry is about story truth, character belief or reader understanding.

# Understanding the Fields

| Field | What it means | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Knowledge state | How the character relates to the information. | Knows, suspects, believes incorrectly, discovers. |
| Source scene | Where the character gains, changes or reveals the knowledge. | Beth finds the letter in Chapter 12. |
| Linked asset or thread | The object, clue, secret or plot thread the knowledge concerns. | A missing ring, a murder clue, a family secret. |
| Description | The practical writer-facing note about what the character can now think or do. | "Beth knows the letter exists but not who wrote it." |

# Example

Maggie may know that a letter exists before she knows who wrote it. Those are different knowledge states and can drive different choices.

# Writer Tip

Readers forgive mystery. They notice impossible knowledge. Track the difference between author truth, character belief and reader awareness carefully.

# Common Mistakes

- Letting a character act on information they have not learned.
- Recording author-only secrets as character knowledge.
- Forgetting suspicion, partial knowledge or false belief.
- Treating all characters as if they know the same reveal at the same time.

# Related Guides

- [Character Details](/Help/Article/characters.details)
- [Story Assets](/Help/Article/storyAssets.overview)
- [Plot Threads](/Help/Article/plotThreads.overview)
