The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes

by Angela Ackerman, Becca Puglisi

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.

“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 in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference, Research, Crafts, Psychology, Adult

241 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2013

About the author

ANGELA ACKERMAN is a writing coach, international speaker, and co-author of 11 bestselling books for writers, including The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression. Her books are available in 10 languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. Her home country is Canada.

Angela is also the co-founder of the popular site Writers Helping Writers®, as well as One Stop for Writers®, a portal to powerful tools and resources that help you think like a writing expert so you become a stronger storyteller. A strong believer in writers helping and supporting other writers, she tries to pay-it-forward however she is able to.

http://writershelpingwriters.net
http://onestopforwriters.com

Reviews

[K.M. Weiland · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Erin Bronn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where has this book been all my life? I practically inhaled it while simultaneously scribbling down notes and pausing to beam a crazed smile at whoever was nearest to me, because I just got so much out of this book. It takes everything you need to know about writing positive character traits and lays it out in a way that is easy to understand and that is brimming with easily-applicable tips. If you're a writer, definitely give this book a try!

[Jami · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Angela and Becca’s The Emotion Thesaurus, so I had high hopes for their new Trait books but didn't see how they could live up to the ET. I’m happy to say I was wrong. These two additions are fantastic resources for writers.

The Positive Trait Thesaurus leads off with helpful tips on writing characters worth rooting for and then dives into the psychological background on how positive traits develop and how we can use them in a character arc. A section even shares how villains can have positive traits too. The appendices include bonus character development tools for making a well-rounded character.

That doesn't even count the trait entries themselves, with details on possible causes, associated behaviors, thoughts, and emotions for each, along with the good and bad aspects of that trait. Each trait also includes examples and suggestions on conflict. It's ALL here.

We can use these books during character creation, drafting, and revisions. If you want to see how to use this book, check out the tips co-author Becca shared with me.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come. Immensely helpful, and definitely a great companion read to "The Negative Trait Thesaurus."

[Laura L. Weller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of the Emotional Thesaurus and was impressed with the additional books and the approach to character building, although I puzzled over the two volumes. After reading them both, I underestand there the distinct philosophies of character biographies. It's more than just the flip of a pancake between pro and con behaviors. I'm starting a new YA (two, actually) and easily tried out the suggestions and didn't use every exercise, but the approach shortened my laboratory frankensstein moments and improved my process. There is an expplanation of helpful suggestions and the usual detailed descriptions of characteristics, which I love. Because that's my job, isn't it? To craft stories populated with dimensional relationship readers want to care about and feel are worth knowing about. I had fun using this process to help me sculpt and layer on the character onion skins and the result was a main POV character with history, depth, motive, background - not to mention true emotional vulnerability and pain. This book and it's companion are tools worth having.

[Elle LaMarca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great follow up to THE EMOTIONAL THESAURUS.

[Roger Alderman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book always remains close by as I work on my own fiction titles.

[Ronel Janse van Vuuren · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s all about the good traits your character can have to make up for their flaws (as discussed in the Negative Trait Thesaurus).

[Tracey Pedersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book series! The detail inside is worth a lot more than I paid for this book. I don't buy paperbacks anymore but I bought the whole series of these and had them shipped to Australia. Well thought out, well-ordered and easy to flick through and find what you want. Any writer looking for a way to improve their words should check out these books! If I could give them 6 stars, I would!

[Lia Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a writer but this is is absolutely a reference that I could use it to create my own fantasy or fiction characters in my fashion collection. Also it helped me out to find out more about who I want to be and able to observe people around me.

[Barack Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

507-A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes-Angela Ackerman- Novel Writing-2013

Barack
2024/02/18

"A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes", first published in 2013. It explores the wide range of attribute choices when building a personality profile. Each item lists possible reasons for the trait, as well as associated attitudes, behaviors, thoughts, and emotions. It provides examples of real people from literature, film, or television, showing how attributes drive actions and decisions, influence goals, and guide relationships. It examines advice on how to leverage positive traits to instantly engage readers while avoiding common character pitfalls.

Angela Ackerman, author of several best-selling resource books in multiple languages, loves sharing her passion for the craft of writing. She is a writing coach, an international speaker, and a firm believer that writers succeed when they work together. The desire to help writers in new, innovative ways gave rise to One Stop for Writers ®, a unique website originally co-founded by Becca Puglisi and Lee Powell (creators of Scrivener for Windows and Linux). This creative portal contains game-changing tools and resources that empower writers to create powerful novels.

Table of Contents
Adaptable
Adventurous
Affectionate
Alert
Ambitious
Analytical
Appreciative
Bold
Calm
Cautious
Centered
Charming
Confident
Cooperative
Courageous
Courteous
Creative
Curious
Decisive
Diplomatic
Disciplined
Discreet
Easygoing
Efficient
Empathetic
Enthusiastic
Extroverted
Flamboyant
Flirtatious
Focused
Friendly
Funny
Generous
Gentle
Happy
Honest
Honorable
Hospitable
Humble
Idealistic
Imaginative
Independent
Industrious
Innocent
Inspirational
Intelligent
Introverted
Just
Kind
Loyal
Mature
Merciful
Meticulous
Nature-Focused
Nurturing
Obedient
Objective
Observant
Optimistic
Organized
Passionate
Patient
Patriotic
Pensive
Perceptive
Persistent
Persuasive
Philosophical
Playful
Private
Proactive
Professional
Proper
Protective
Quirky
Resourceful
Responsible
Sensible
Sensual
Sentimental
Simple
Socially Aware
Sophisticated
Spiritual
Spontaneous
Spunky
Studious
Supportive
Talented
Thrifty
Tolerant
Traditional
Trusting
Uninhibited
Unselfish
Whimsical
Wholesome
Wise
Witty

A compelling story often relies on charismatic characters. In an excellent work, there is often more than one outstanding character. It can be relatively easy for an author to create a character that matches their true personality. However, if multiple characters with different personalities are involved, this will greatly test the author's ability. The challenges are manifold. First, the author needs to try to understand, in a specific environment, how a person with a specific personality reacts in a specific situation. Only by understanding this can we further explore how to express these reactions. For example, an adaptable character may have a flexible style and be able to adjust his or her behavior according to the actual situation. When a character's actions and words are more consistent with his or her personality, the more real it feels, thereby enhancing the reader's sense of involvement. That’s why it’s important to delve into character development. This toolkit discusses primarily positive character traits, but these traits apply not only to protagonists but to villains as well. Three-dimensional villains can also greatly enrich the charm of the story.

There is a genre of novels called "Shuangwen", which often spawns "Shuangfan" in the form of anime. The core feature of this type of work is to give the protagonist advantages beyond ordinary people's imagination, such as handsome appearance, extraordinary abilities, widespread popularity, etc. Although the tone of such stories is clear and obvious, how to write such stories vividly to attract readers' interest is still a question worth exploring. Therefore, the setting of the role is crucial. The author needs to carefully consider the personality traits of the protagonist and those around him. For example, are they adventurous or cautious? The good shaping of the story makes various settings appear natural. Whether it is a hero saving a beauty, acting bravely for justice, or resisting a powerful enemy, even if it is a masterpiece with millions of words, the core plots are ultimately similar. The key lies in how the author creates. Therefore, the author needs to delve into different personality traits and how these affect the character's inner world and outer behavior. If I were to become a writer in the future, I would probably tend to write cool articles.

My current research topic at school is about Interactive Fiction Games. I chose this research direction because I have played quite a few of these games over the past decade and have been fascinated by some of the exquisitely crafted pieces. Compared with traditional books, a major feature of interactive novel games is that they allow players to influence the ending of the story, making the story no longer single and fixed. Compared with traditional video games, interactive fiction games place more emphasis on storytelling and how to tell a good story. Looking back at video games before 2000, their popular selling points were mostly action or adventure, with relatively little emphasis on the story itself. However, in the last 20 years, we can see more and more classic games with complete worldviews and fascinating narratives. When creating a story, it's important to understand how people with different personality traits behave and speak in specific situations. This in-depth understanding can help us avoid the problem of stereotyped characters and lack of personalization in our creations. I always believe that going from text to pictures to videos is a gradual process. First, there needs to be a good-written story, and then there can be a picture story based on it. Once you have a great picture story, the next step is to consider converting it into video content, the animation we see. As the production process progresses backward, the cost becomes higher and higher. If you invest a lot of time and effort into creating a video story without market validation, the losses may be huge if it fails. Therefore, it may be a safer strategy to first conduct quick trial and error through text stories. If the text stories are successful, then consider making pictures and finally making videos.

There is often a one-to-many mapping relationship between a person's personality traits and his or her external words and deeds. For example, the relevant words and deeds displayed by an ambitious person in real life will not be limited to one or two aspects. Therefore, if the author hopes to create a character with this personality trait, he should try to substantiate this from multiple aspects. In real life, we judge whether a person is brave not just by his direct words such as "I am brave" or "I am not brave", but by observing his behavior in a variety of situations, including those that are not directly mentioned. and brave statements and expressions on topics not directly related to bravery. In novel creation, in addition to the two dimensions of external words and deeds, there is also a third dimension that can be displayed, that is, the inner activities of the characters. This is difficult for us to detect in real life. One of the joys of reading novels is that readers usually read from God's perspective and can directly penetrate into the characters' hearts. Therefore, the appropriate use of this ability is crucial to character development. When creating a character, the author should consider it comprehensively and combine external behavior, speech, and inner activities, so as to make the character more three-dimensional and full.

In my conversations with the school psychologist, she had me try a range of practices. Recent assignments require me to try to identify other people’s emotions and the needs behind them on a daily basis. Even further, I need to think about how my actions affect the emotions of others. In my childhood, I grew up in an environment where watching people's emotions and acting according to the situation were often implicitly devalued, and people who were too flexible and fickle were easily criticized. However, as I grew up, I discovered that being able to recognize other people's emotions and adjust your behavior to meet that person's emotional needs is actually a very useful ability. So-called empathy and the ability to provide emotional value fall into this category. It is precisely because as I grew up I realized that some of the concepts I accepted in my childhood were not only inconsistent with the actual needs of life but even wrong, which made me deeply confused. I can't help but wonder, do educators simply not believe in the values they teach children? Or do they themselves simply not understand the true meaning of these concepts?

I have always maintained that everyone has some unique gifts and talents. However, there may be 99% of people who have never had the opportunity to discover and make full use of these talents, and get them properly cultivated and developed. Instead, they can only work in their own ordinary fields to make a living. These people can only become more productive by working harder, rather than relying on innate inspiration and talent. In a similar vein, I also believe that people are gifted with many character traits. For example, some people are naturally decisive and able to make decisions quickly, while others talents may lie in their agreeableness, which allows them to blend easily into groups and win the affection of others. These innate personality traits not only affect people's way of thinking and behavioral performance but also further affect people's decision-making process, ultimately shaping their life trajectory. In the process of writing novels, we actually follow the principle of "from the inside out", that is, starting from the inner characteristics of the characters and showing their external behaviors and life trajectories.

Since the end of 2022, when ChatGPT under OpenAI attracted widespread attention, in the past year or so, we have witnessed a series of major technological breakthroughs and the launch of new features again and again. Now, we can use ChatGPT to generate text quickly and efficiently, DALL·E to generate pictures efficiently, and Sora to generate videos efficiently. This prompts us to re-examine the core value provided by creators. I don’t think these three roles of author, painter, and director will disappear, but I believe that the form of their work and the competencies and core skills they emphasize are likely to change. Just as today's novel authors and novel authors 1,000 years ago are both engaged in writing, their creative forms have undergone significant changes. Nowadays, authors no longer need to have superb handwriting skills, nor do they need to remember all the story details. There are even reference books on how to describe the words and deeds of a character. For authors 1,000 years ago, these changes were undoubtedly a dimensionality reduction blow, but for contemporary creators, these are tools that everyone can take advantage of. So whoever makes better use of these tools is likely to stand out. I think the core of it, whether it’s a novel, a comic, or a video, is telling a story. The most efficient way to tell a good story is through words. Once a story is successful in text form, you can then consider converting it into picture or video form, and modern AI tools have undoubtedly greatly improved the technical cost efficiency of these creative forms. So, what is the core competitiveness of creation? How to use existing technical tools to enhance this ability and make stories more vivid and attractive is a question that every creator needs to think about.

[Mothman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great guide from Angela and Becca! I recommend reading this along with The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Flaws or right after each other.

Includes: writing advice from the authors, positive traits list (possible causes; associated behaviors, thoughts, and emotions; positive and negative aspects of the trait; examples from literature; traits in supporting characters that may cause conflict; challenging scenarios for the character), a character profile questionnaire, a character attribute target tool, category breakdown, and easy to use index.

[Carolee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent reference book for writing realistic characters.

There is 27 pages of essays--ranging from writing a believable villain to understanding what motivates your character and how that builds a story. Then, the thesaurus part showing traits, what they look like, how they may have come to be, how that plays out against other characters, etc. In the back are handy appendices: questionnaire, worksheet, and the categories each trait falls into.

I highly recommend this book. I own all three of the Writers Helping Writers reference books--this was the last one I bought, but after reading the first two I know it would be worthwhile. It is.

[Laura Kreitzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

These two authors continue to hit it out of the park with their wonderful writing ideas. They've helped me develop well-rounded characters with complex story lines, introduced me to new ways of writing, and have inspired me in so many ways. I hope they continue to publish more writing books--I'll buy every single one of them!

[Mary McCoy-Dressel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book filled with great information for writers. A book to be read and studied over and over again. An excellent tool.

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good resource, but of more use in conjunction with Ackerman & Puglisi's other writing help book, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus.

I've experienced some disconnect due to the book'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 Negative-classified trait or the negative use of Positive-classified trait.

A good reference, but not a must-have due to its limitations and confusions.

[Space · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great reference book. It is by no means an exhaustive list but it hits a really varied selection of traits. There is also an index at the back of the book which has more traits listed; if you're thinking of a trait that isn't in the table of contents, it is almost sure to be in the index. Choosing one of the index's traits will take you to the closest equivalent.

For each trait, the authors':
-define the trait
-list its category of personality, similar attributes, possible causes
-list associated behaviours, thoughts, and emotions
-explain positive and negative aspects
-provide examples from popular media, with one being detailed in one paragraph
-provide traits in supporting characters that may cause conflict
-suggest challenging scenarios for the character

The book precedes the traits with explanations and guidance on crafting and using positive traits for characters, and there are a few appendices that have worksheets or activities to help developing a character. That said, I think there are better books out there for that sort of content. This book is better at jumpstarting your creativity and/or using traits for narrative shorthand.

[The_Tuck · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is just a series of bullet point lists about generic character traits with headings, such as "similar attributes", "associated behaviors", and other paint by numbers character information. I didn't find my time with it useful. I suppose it is meant to be thumbed through when you are stuck. In other words, a light reference book. They divide up these traits into a series of five books so, you're out like $75 if you plunge into all of these. I picked two of them up because the goodreads's score were high and I couldn't peruse them before reading. The score seems artificially high to read about character traits such as "Nature-focused".

This book also provides some examples of each trait pulled from film, books and popular culture. These were the most amusing part. Often, they are wrong and sometimes they are just goofy. Under "Professional", which they defined as "exhibiting specialized knowledge and applying it with courtesy and good judgment", they listed, as an example, "Donald Trump".

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book - a long with all the other books in the writer helping writer series - is probebly the best investment I have made when it comes to my career in story telling.

A strong character makes a book. In fact - if your plot is nothing more than a delivery driver delivering a TV to someone's house and you have a proteagenist with depth and a well throughout supporting character or two, I would read the absolute shit out of your book.

I would highly recommend these series to any writer who's serious about writing for publication. :)

I hope the author is writing more for us, and if so, I cannot wait to read it.

A billion stars. :)

[Willow Woodford · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Positive Trait Thesaurus talks 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 haven’t used these as thoroughly as I should, mostly because when I bought them I was in the middle of writing something I’d already developed characters for, but I’m in the beginning of a new project and I intend to make full use of it.

[Chris Lofts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have three in this series; this one along with the Guide to Character Flaws 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 the sections themselves ideas around the kind of attributes in characters that may cause conflict between protagonist and antagonist, provides much food for thought. Great companion books which have a well-deserved place on my desk where I write so they're nice and handy.

[alexander shay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A handy partner to the Negative Trait Thesaurus, though it is set up a little bit differently, with four areas they recommend characters should have strengths in to better balance them. There's a couple blurbs at the front about villains and positive traits to make them more believable, and as with its companion volume, the PTT includes both the positive and negative aspects of each trait. It's a detailed list and a good starting point for making characters who are well rounded and realistic.

[Ellie T · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first time I tried to make a character, guess what? I didn’t look at the front where it listed the different categories of personality! But the categories are really useful. The categories really help to blend a character’s personality. For example, without the categories, I made an ‘uhhh.... what?’ character. But with the categories, I was able to blend together a mature, introverted character that’s going to be changed by SOME WILD EXTROVERTS! You heard it, there’s an s at the end! It’s even worse than not plural!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid entry in a useful series. I always like finding references that are concrete and immediately useful rather than being abstract and theoretical, and this series definitely fits that criterion. It's good for both fleshing out characters you've already created and as a source of ideas for new ones. I'd say pretty much the same about its counterpart related to negative traits. Recommended for writers of any kind of fiction.

[M.A. Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series of books. They're great desk references for authors wanting inspiration for their writing. It helps spur new ideas and helps your writing from becoming stagnant and repetitive (just like having a regular thesaurus does for your word choice). I would highly recommend these books for anyone looking to improve their craft.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a super helpful reference book for when you're feeling kind of stale with ideas and need help exploring the possibilities for what a character's motivations and desires or reasons might be, and what traits they might have. I think leaned upon too heavily it could make one's writing prosaic but as an occasional tool or just a little bit of a prompt to use when you're stuck it's great.

[Kirsten McNeill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book from cover to cover, but not all in one go. Being a reference guide for creating characters, I wanted to take my time. Read a few pages here and there to really process the information. It is a great resource for building heroes in your stories with individual entries for different traits and explanations and tips on how to build a balanced character.

[Oscar Cecena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best reference books I've found to deepen a character. I started reading each one of the traits and immediately identified the ones my characters had.

Each entry has positive and negative aspects, as well as examples of characters in literature or film/TV.

I think I'll be using this book for the rest of my life

[Amy Whitcomb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased both the POS and NEG Trait Thes and love them both! Pooling various traits REALLY helps figure out who your character is. It allows you determine how they would act in certain situations. Love, love, love these 2 books!

[Jane Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a brilliant resource for authors who are stumbling with writer's block - all of this series are a great brainstorming exercise done for you - now it's time for you to make the magic on the page with all these juicy tidbits.