The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes Author: Angela Ackerman | Language: English | ISBN:
B00FVZDVS2 | Format: EPUB
The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes Description
It’s a writer’s job to create compelling characters who can withstand life’s fallout without giving up. But building authentic, memorable heroes is no easy task. To forge realistic characters, we must hobble them with flaws that set them back while giving them positive attributes to help them achieve their goals. So how do writers choose the right blend of strengths for their characters—attributes that will render them admirable and worth rooting for—without making it too easy for them to succeed?
UNEARTH YOUR CHARACTER’S UNIQUE PERSONALITY
Character creation can be hard, but it’s about to get a lot easier. Inside The Positive Trait Thesaurus, you’ll find:
*A large selection of attributes to choose from when building a personality profile. Each entry lists possible causes for why a trait might emerge, along with associated attitudes, behaviors, thoughts, and emotions
*Real character examples from literature, film, or television to show how an attribute drives actions and decisions, influences goals, and steers relationships
*Advice on using positive traits to immediately hook readers while avoiding common personality pitfalls
*Insight on human needs and morality, and how each determines the strengths that emerge in heroes and villains alike
*Information on the key role positive attributes play within the character arc, and how they’re vital to overcoming fatal flaws and achieving success
*Downloadable tools for organizing a character’s attributes and providing a deeper understanding of his past, his needs, and the emotional wounds he must overcome
If you find character creation difficult or worry that your cast members all seem the same, The Positive Trait Thesaurus is brimming with ideas to help you develop one-of-a-kind, dynamic characters that readers will love. Extensively indexed, with entries written in a user-friendly list format, this brainstorming resource is perfect for any character creation project.
- File Size: 750 KB
- Print Length: 254 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0989772519
- Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
- Publisher: JADD Publishing (October 13, 2013)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00FVZDVS2
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,118 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #4
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Education & Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Reference - #14
in Books > Education & Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Reference - #46
in Books > Education & Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Writing > Fiction
- #4
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Education & Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Reference - #14
in Books > Education & Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Reference - #46
in Books > Education & Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Writing > Fiction
At its heart, this is, of course, a reference manual. Ninety-five percent of the book offers an incredibly detailed list of possible positive attributes for writers to consider and assign to their characters. But this is so much more than just a list. The authors have analyzed, categorized, contrasted, and brainstormed a tremendous resource for authors to use in not just slapping traits onto their characters, but in considering the story-wide ramifications of those choices.
The fantastic resource material aside, the front matter chapters, in which the authors discuss pertinent aspects of character personality and arc, are worth the price of admission all by themselves. I've ready many books on crafting characters, but these few chapters have packed in more pertinent info than half a dozen of those books.
This book is a companion to The Negative Trait Thesaurus. If I had to choose just one of the books, I would probably go with the Negative Traits one, just because its info is slightly less intuitive. But, really, these books are two halves of a whole and belong side by side on every writer's shelf.
By K.M. Weiland, Author of Historical and Speculative Fiction
Authors, you need this book. As a writing coach who reads and critiques 200 manuscripts a year, I can't speak highly enough about this book and the companion book, the Negative Trait book. I have a bookcase full of writing craft books that I draw on in my teaching and recommend to my clients, but I can easily say these books by Ackerman and Puglisi are at the top. It is so vital for writers to understand how to create believable characters, and that can't be done by randomly assigning traits and flaws with no regard for the background and history of the character. Just as in real life, characters need to act based on their true core personalities, which have been formed by events in the past and their upbringing. The authors of these books help writers see how to create rich, complex characters that will jump off the page. And the thesaurus style of these books makes for easy access to look up traits, flaws, and emotions (I'm including their Emotion Thesaurus in here too). Get all three. Your writing will greatly benefit!
By Susanne Lakin
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