Strong Lorebook entries give the AI clear instructions, not just descriptions. This guide shows five types of entries worth writing — corrections, side characters, relationship dynamics, key facts, and world rules — with a bad and good example of each, plus a checklist to use before you save an entry.
A good Lorebook does more than store information. It helps your Character stay consistent, follow the rules of their world, and remember the details that matter when they come up in chat.
Bad entries tell the AI what exists. Good entries tell the AI what to do. The strongest entries don't just describe a person, place, relationship, or rule — they explain how that detail should affect the next response.
1. Start with what the AI gets wrong
The most useful entries are often corrections. If the AI keeps getting the same thing wrong — changing a Character's age, forgetting how a power works, inventing family members — write an entry that fixes that exact mistake.
Ask: what does the AI consistently get wrong in this Character or world? That's probably one of your highest-value entries.
❌ Bad — vague, the AI may still get it wrong
Title: Ira's age
Keywords: age, old, young
Content: Ira is very old but looks young.
✅ Good — specific, imperative, and corrects the exact mistake
Title: Ira's age — do not change
Keywords: age, years old, how old, birthday, born
Content: Ira is exactly 142 years old. She appears to be in her mid-20s and never looks older than 30. If asked her age, she answers with dry humor before giving the number clearly. Do not describe Ira as an ordinary young woman without the weight of those years behind her.
The rule
Descriptions tell the AI what exists. Constraints tell the AI what to generate.
2. Give side characters their own entries
Users naturally mention side characters by name, which makes names easy keywords — and a strong entry keeps that character consistent across chats.
Define every important side character with their relationship to the main Character, their role and personality, how they usually behave in scenes, and what they know, want, or avoid. Use their name, nicknames, title, or role as keywords.
❌ Bad — introduces the side character but gives the AI nothing to work with
Title: Julia
Keywords: Julia
Content: Julia is Viktor's former fiancée. Their engagement ended years ago.
✅ Good — relationship, personality, role, and what they do in scenes
Title: Julia — Viktor's former fiancée
Keywords: Julia, fiancée, ex-fiancée, engagement, society columns
Content: Julia is Viktor's former fiancée. Their engagement ended years ago, but society still treats the story as unfinished. She is polished, observant, and difficult to surprise. Julia never discusses the breakup directly in public. When she appears, the room becomes more careful: people watch what they say, and every polite remark carries history underneath it.
The rule
Biographical facts are useful, but behavioral patterns are stronger. The more behavioral the entry, the more it can guide the scene.
3. Define dynamics, not just relationships
Labels like "complicated," "tense," or "in love" leave too much room for the AI to guess. A stronger entry explains the dynamic underneath: who holds power, who owes whom, what's unsaid, what each side avoids, and what happens when the relationship is tested.
This works for rivalries, romance, family conflict, factions, hierarchies, and social worlds.
❌ Bad — states the relationship but not the dynamic
Title: The Patron Circle
Keywords: Patron Circle, society
Content: The Patron Circle is an exclusive group of wealthy and powerful people. Viktor knows them well.
✅ Good — defines the power structure and how it shows up in conversation
Title: The Patron Circle — influence without invitations
Keywords: Patron Circle, elite, society, invitation, reputation, gala
Content: The Patron Circle is an unofficial network of executives, philanthropists, and socialites. Nobody applies to join; people are quietly included or excluded. Invitations are power signals. Reputation is currency, and romance, scandal, and business are all treated as connected. Around the Patron Circle, people rarely say what they want directly unless they have already won.
The rule
Labels tell the AI the relationship category. Dynamics tell the AI how the relationship should behave.
4. Use factual anchors for details the AI might invent
Some details are easy for the AI to change or invent if they aren't pinned clearly: ages, appearance, titles, species, family relationships, important objects, locations, names and aliases.
Use one entry per important fact the AI is likely to get wrong.
❌ Bad — describes appearance but leaves room to invent
Title: Ira's appearance
Keywords: looks, appearance, hair, eyes
Content: Ira is pale and beautiful with white hair and red eyes.
✅ Good — specific enough to anchor the detail, with keywords users might actually type
Title: Ira — physical description
Keywords: hair, eyes, white hair, red eyes, black streak, appearance, looks like, what does she look like
Content: Ira has white hair cut bluntly at the jaw, with a single black streak that marks her exile. Her skin is pale as moonlight, and her eyes are deep red and unsettling up close. She wears a sleeveless purple dress torn at the hem, black boots, and a small scratched silver crest from the Court she abandoned. Never give Ira ordinary human coloring.
The rule
Specific details leave the AI nothing to invent. Keyword breadth helps the entry activate when users naturally ask about the detail.
5. Write world rules as operating constraints
Lore explains what exists. Rules explain what must happen — essential for magic systems, technology, protocols, hierarchies, and physical limits.
A strong rule entry is short, clear, and enforceable: what can happen, what can't, what it costs, and what should always (or never) follow.
❌ Bad — reads like lore, not a rule
Title: Vampires in the Night Court
Keywords: vampire, blood, sun
Content: Vampires in the Night Court are powerful and nearly immortal. Sunlight is dangerous to them.
✅ Good — written as a constraint the AI can follow
Title: RULE — Nightborn limits
Keywords: vampire, nightborn, sunlight
Content: Nightborn vampires are fast, strong, and ageless, but their power always has limits. Direct sunlight weakens them within minutes. Healing serious wounds creates immediate hunger. Blood is not optional; without it, control and strength degrade. Do not use vampiric power as a clean solution to a scene. When a Nightborn uses supernatural strength, speed, or healing, show the cost soon after.
The rule
Lore language describes the world. Instructional language tells the AI how to handle the world.
Lorebook checklist
Before saving an entry, ask:
- Why does it matter in chat? It should affect the scene, stakes, tone, or Character behavior.
- What should the AI do when it appears? Remember a fact, enforce a rule, show a cost, preserve a relationship, or maintain atmosphere.
- Are the keywords natural and specific? Use names, titles, places, and phrases users are likely to type. Avoid words that appear everywhere.
- Can this entry stand alone? If it triggers by itself, it should give the AI enough context to use it well.
A strong Lorebook doesn't need to be huge. Start with the recurring people, places, rules, and facts that make your world feel consistent. Test them in chat, then add more as you discover what your Character needs help remembering.