Uncover The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide To Character Flaws Articulated By Angela Ackerman Available In Physical Edition
turn to Ackerman and Puglisi's Emotion Thesaurus regularly when needing inspiration for character reactions and action beats, Their new additions to the series are shaping up to be just as valuable, if not more so, In the introductory material to this volume, they state that they view this book as a "brainstorming tool, " This is spoton.
As they explain in their insightful opening chapters, character flaws drive character arcs, Without a solid understanding of what major problem is at the crux of our character's personal dilemma, we will never have the knowledge to shape a powerful transformation over the course of our story.
But more than just power, we also want originality, and this is where the Negative Trait Thesaurus should prove especially helpful, Just in browsing a few entries, my imagination was immediately spurred to look beyond obvious, firstglance choices toward bigger and more unique possibilities, I look forward to using this wonderful tool complete with some of the best "bonus goodies" I've ever seen in the appendices in shaping my characters in my next workinprogress.
The team of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi reference book for all levels of writers sits on my desk, It has become a valuable tool during my revision process, Thank you both for this fantastic addition to my writing shelf, This is an excellent book for writers who need help brainstorming ideas for conflict and character flaws, I can't wait to really buckle down and use this for my WIPs, :
Includes: writing advice from the authors, a list of flaws how they tend to develop associated behaviors, thoughts, and emotions positive and negative aspects of flaws examples from film ways to overcome the flaw and traits in other characters that could
cause conflict, Needs and Lies List, Reverse Backstory Tool, and Character Pyramid Tool.
an index for even faster searching of traits Excellent reference book for writers, It helped me sort out a very serious case of writer's block, The tips on how to weave flaws into the characters, what to look out for to make sure that your flawed character doesn't turn into someone completely unlikeable and many others.
It's a musthave in any writer's arsenal of reference books, You don't really read this book as you would a novel or some of the other craft books I've been through recently but I think I've been through enough of the traits to mark this one as read.
It is an amazing tool to use when thinking about characters, I picked it up after reading K, M Weiland's creating character Arcs and the two work very well together, Not really a beginners book but a very good weapon to add to the arsenal for writers looking to improve and deepen their characters, Ah! An excellent resource for a problem I struggle with,
There are helpful essays in the beginning full of writing tips, The reference itself gives a great overview of negative traits from "abrasive" to "worry wart, "
I love the Appendix items, too:
Needs and Lies Chart
Reverse Backstory Tool
The Character Pyramid
So useful, The Negative Trait Thesaurus is a solid desktop reference book for any fiction author's professional library, I'm very glad I got this book, though I was hesitant at first,
This book will not only help authors while brainstorming ideas for character weaknesses, but it also: provides insights into the kinds of background events that might cause such flaws how the flaw impacts their view of the events around them and solid ideas for what it takes to resolve those flaws at the character arc conclusion.
I have three in this series this one along with the Guide to Character attributes and the writers guide to character expression, Not a book to read end to end, in the same way you wouldn't read any thesaurus, The introduction provides some great insights and in sections themselves, provide much food for thought, Great companion books which have a welldeserved place on my desk where I write so they're nice and handy, The Positive and Negative Trait Thesauruss talk about using traits to deepen your characterization to help your reader become emotionally invested in them, They use a similar format as the Emotion Thesaurus by defining the characteristic, listing similar attributes, possible causes and associated behaviors, I havent used these as thoroughly as I should, mostly because when I bought them I was in the middle of writing something Id already developed characters for, but Im in the beginning of a new project and I intend to make full use of it.
Buy them both A good resource, but of more use in conjunction with Ackerman amp Puglisi's other writing help book, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus,
I've experienced some disconnect due to the The Negative Trait Thesaurus's definition of some traits don't always match my understanding/association of the trait/name, which can make it frustrating to find what you're looking for at times, especially if led there from the Wound Thesaurus.
Of course there's a limit to how many traits can be included in one book, but several times I've been unable to find a trait I'm looking for and the 'close' traits included just don't seem close enough.
There's also some debate to whether certain traits should be in Positive or Negative Thesaurus, especially when the authors spin all traits in both books into both positive and negative uses/outcomes.
Maybe a single Trait Thesaurus would have been best, so readers don't have to search two different books to wonder if they want the positive use of a Negativeclassified trait or the negative use of Positiveclassified trait.
A good reference, but not a musthave due to its limitations and confusions, Crafting likable, interesting characters is a balancing act, and finding that perfect mix of strengths and weaknesses can be difficult, But the task has become easier thanks to The Negative Trait Thesaurus,
Through its flawcentric exploration of character arc, motivation, emotional wounds, and basic needs, writers will learn which flaws make the most sense for their heroes, villains, and other members of the storys cast.
This books vast collection of flaws will help writers to explore the possible causes, attitudes, behaviors, thoughts, and related emotions behind their characters weaknesses so they can be written effectively and realistically.
Common characterization pitfalls and methods to avoid them are also included, along with invaluable downloadable tools to aid in character creation,
Written in list format and fully indexed, this brainstorming resource is perfect for creating deep, flawed characters that readers will relate to,
“In these brilliantly conceived, superbly organized and astonishingly thorough volumes, Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have created an invaluable resource for writers and storytellers, Whether you are searching for new and unique ways to add and define characters, or brainstorming methods for revealing those characters without resorting to clichés, it is hard to imagine two more powerful tools for adding depth and dimension to your screenplays, novels or plays.
”
Michael Hauge, Hollywood script consultant and story expert, author of Writing Screenplays That Sell and Selling Your Story inSeconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read This book, and it's two mates, "Emotion Thesaurus", and "Positive Trait Thesaurus," also written by Ackerman, are extremely helpful to anyone whom wants to be a writer.
It's pretty easy to create flat, boring characters, This book helps writers craft rounded, interesting ones instead, The first part of the book contains insights on human nature and the creation of flawed characters, while the othercontains a thesaurus of character flaws, I recommend it to everyone, My only problem with the book is that it is mostly a thesaurus, So, the writer needs to know the trait he/she is giving a character in order to find it, The only other option is too read the other, I have a lot of thoughts about this book, First, it was super useful to me and its going to stay on my desk as reference for a long time it lays out whatever trait and gives a laundry list of associated behaviors, possible causes, and example characters to look at.
In such a simplistic format, its really easy to browse and get inspiration or find what youre looking for, It covers a lot of grounddiscrete traits, if I counted right, and each one contains a small list of conflicting traits that guarantee drama when you put characters that exhibit them together in a scene.
Now, the bad, Theres no discussion of theme or Doylist readings of content in the entry for a trait, there is no critical analysis of whether it is truly “positive” or “negative” or whether such a thing exists, no words on the messages that your characters and the way you portray them send to your readers.
If youre hoping for wisdom on exactly how to develop or redeem a character, especially one whos “evil” or “violent,” youre going to be disappointed, I would question the choice of many of the examples, as well it would be nice if any of them were from media made in the last two decades, and not just from things I as a twentysomething only know from being referenced on the Simpsons.
A final critique: much of the content in this book is ablist as hell, Thats pretty standard in a society that produces “Me Before You” and “Million Dollar Baby,” but that doesnt make it any less disappointing, “Mental disorders” quote are used as possible causes for traits, characters that are outdated stereotypes froms movies are used as examples, and a number of associated behaviors for traits are offensive tropes for disabled and chronically ill people for example, “Health issues irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, nausea, etc” under “worrywart”.
There is an overall impression that should a trait be because of mental illness or neurodivergence, this can be solved through a character arc like any other “flaw, ”
This is troubling for me because this isnt just some ablist novel, its a guide for writers, Its supposed to teach aspiring authors how to sculpt characters, how to develop threedimensional characters and develop them into better people, and it has no differentiation between traits like “evil” and “verbose,” or “promiscuous” and “manipulative.
” When you list autism as a possible explanation for a character being “humorless,” you are not only alienating all of your autistic and disabled readers, youre teaching other writers that this is acceptable.
When you include the phrase “mental deficiency” in any context, regardless of intent, you are saying that there are people who are less person than others, which is a slope that very quickly leads into eugenics.
Obviously this wasnt intended, but it doesnt matter writers always send messages that they dont plan to, and when those messages are prejudiced they cause real harm,
Im frustrated because this book has been very helpful to me in visualizing behaviors and character arcs, and Im going to continue to reference it for the foreseeable future.
But Im also going to cringe whenever I turn a page and see ”mental handicaps” as a reason for a character to be “unintelligent, ”
Hope this wasnt too “oversensitive” of me, After all, Im autistic.
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