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I was halfway through writing my new novel, Key Largo Blues, when I realized that Jessie, the 24-year-old granddaughter of Frieda, didn’t have any flaws. I had to find some quick, and that’s how I discovered a fantastic tool for writers.
If you check out the TOC of the Negative Trait Thesaurus, you’ll see there’s a long list of traits your characters might have. I went down the list thinking “Nope. Nope. Yes. Maybe. No,” until I had a half dozen possible traits Jessie might possess. I also noted the page numbers where the individual traits were explained / expanded upon.
Table of Contents for The Negative Trait Thesaurus
Then I went to the chapter that more fully described each trait, reading about them in detail. For example, here are the two pages relative to the trait “Flaky.” (Sorry they aren’t clearer. I couldn’t reproduce the pages very well here, but that’s no reflection on the book, which is very nicely done.)
I thought of Jessie being naive but gifted, so some of the “Possible Causes” fit right in with her personality.
More interesting information about a flaky person.
I decided flaky wasn’t exactly right for Jessie, but did select gullible, know-it-all, and melodramatic (hey, she’s 24). Now Jessie is a more well-rounded, if flawed character, and I didn’t have to spend all day trying to think of different characteristics. Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi did it for me.
They also published a couple of sister books, The Positive Trait Thesaurus, and The Emotion Thesaurus. I bought all three, because I’ll welcome any help I can get, and I recommend them to any writer who’s serious about getting something done in this lifetime.
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Lynne – Regarding my comment – I did not proofread and made an error. The title of the sessions at the Cathedral Center is: Writing Great Stories (not Sories).
Bob
Lynne – As a fellow member of PSWG, I have subscribed to & followed your posts for some time, as a result of attending your informative lectures, and listening to your conversations with other writers at some meetings. Today, I read your post about The Negative Trait Thesaurus… And, I looked at the pages on Amazon. You are so CORRECT! What a wonderful source. I’ll be purchasing it soon.
I request your permission to occasionally use your posted information (anyshinything.com) in the monthly sessions I conduct (Writing Great Sories) at the local non-profit facility – Cathedral Center. The sessions are free, but I do not use copyrighted information without the approval of the authors. When used, I identify the author and recommend following posts & purchasing their writings, if appropriate.
Thank you for anyshinything.
Bob, I’m honored and would like to help in any way possible. In fact, your comment gives me reason to continue and increase the posts about writing. I didn’t realize you were reading. Thanks for the attagirl.
Nanci, that’s an interesting way to look at it. Some of my followers are writers, but the majority aren’t. So it was taking a chance to put this topic out there. In addition to wanting to be helpful, I hoped it might be interesting to non-writers as well. So thanks!
I’m not a writer, per se, but find this fascinating…. Maybe a way to understand ourselves and others. Fun resource!
I love this idea. Thanks for the great tips. <3
Colleen, I felt like a genius! Instead of sitting around wracking my brain for traits, I cracked open this book and voila. Too rewarding a find not to pass on. Thanks for stopping by.