Buying Options

Kindle Price:	$6.99
	includes tax, if applicable

Redeem a promotion code or gift card

Share <Embed>

The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Flaws (Writers Helping Writers Series Book 2) by [Angela Ackerman, Becca Puglisi]

Follow the Authors

Angela Ackerman

Becca Puglisi

The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Flaws (Writers Helping Writers Series Book 2) Kindle Edition

by Angela Ackerman (Author), Becca Puglisi (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

889 ratings

See all formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Amazon Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$6.99

—

Paperback

"Please retry"

$39.47

$27.12

—

Crafting likable, interesting characters is a balancing act, and finding that perfect mix of strengths and weaknesses can be difficult. Not only does a well-drawn protagonist need positive attributes to help him succeed, he must also have flaws that humanize him and give him something to overcome. The same is true of villains and the rest of the story’s supporting cast. So how can writers figure out which flaws best fit their characters? Which negative traits will create personality clashes and conflict while making success difficult?

TAKE CHARACTER CREATION TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL

Nothing adds complexity like character flaws. Inside the Negative Trait Thesaurus you’ll find:
*A vast collection of flaws to explore when building a character’s personality.
*Each entry includes possible causes, attitudes, behaviors, thoughts, and related emotions
*Real examples from literature, film, or television to show how each flaw can create life challenges and relational friction
*Advice on building layered and memorable characters from the ground up
*An in-depth look at backstory, emotional wounds, and how pain twists a character’s view of himself and his world, influencing behavior and decision making
*A flaw-centric exploration of character arc, relationships, motivation, and basic needs
*Tips on how to best show a character’s flaws to readers while avoiding common pitfalls
*Downloadable tools to aid writers in character creation

The Negative Trait Thesaurus sheds light on your character’s dark side. Written in list format and fully indexed, this brainstorming resource is perfect for creating deep, flawed characters readers will relate to.

Length: 272 pages	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled	Page Flip: Enabled
Language: English

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Angela Ackerman
763
Kindle Edition
$7.99
Becca Puglisi
771
Kindle Edition
$7.99
Becca Puglisi
1,179
Kindle Edition
$8.30
Angela Ackerman
439
Kindle Edition
$7.99
Becca Puglisi
274
Kindle Edition
$8.62
Angela Ackerman
467
Kindle Edition
$7.99

Product description

About the Author

Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are bestselling authors, writing coaches, and international speakers. Their books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. Angela and Becca also co-founded their popular Writers Helping Writers site, a hub where authors can hone their craft, as well as One Stop for Writers, an innovative online library built to help writers elevate their storytelling. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN : B00FVZDZ6K
Publisher : JADD Publishing (13 October 2013)
Language : English
File size : 3021 KB
Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Not Enabled
Print length : 272 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 95,019 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 42 in Words & Language Reference
- 76 in Words, Language & Grammar Reference
- 198 in Fiction Writing Reference

Customer Reviews:
889 ratings

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Angela Ackerman
583
Kindle Edition
$3.99
Becca Puglisi
771
Kindle Edition
$7.99
Becca Puglisi
1,179
Kindle Edition
$8.30
Angela Ackerman
763
Kindle Edition
$7.99
Angela Ackerman
467
Kindle Edition
$7.99
Becca Puglisi
274
Kindle Edition
$8.62

Customer reviews

5 star		86%
4 star		10%
3 star		2%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

How are ratings calculated?

Review this product

Write a customer review

Top reviews from Australia

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Belinda Missen

No Negativo

Reviewed in Australia on 25 June 2019

Verified Purchase

Let's face it, our characters have to have negative traits if they're going to be realistic. This book will help you achieve that in a realistic manner. Full of great hints and tips, you'll want this as part of your writing collection.

Helpful

Nathan

Insightful, not just a reference list.

Reviewed in Australia on 4 April 2020

Verified Purchase

35 Pages At The start describes how these traits and feelings play out in scenes of conflict between different kinds of characters. I was only expecting a thesaurus, but the intro was worth a whole book.
The positive/negative impact, redemption paths and film/tv/novel example characters, great.
(If all you want is one word list - thesaurus, I recommend one look online thesaurus)

Helpful

Sharyn Nilsen

An awesome resource for fiction writers at all levels especially newbies.

Reviewed in Australia on 17 July 2016

Verified Purchase

Great resource for developing your characters. Logically set out and easy to find what you're looking for. If I have one criticism, it's that I now have too many ideas.

Helpful

Every writer needs this book

Reviewed in Australia on 15 March 2019

Verified Purchase

Great self help book for writers, so many helpful tips.

Helpful

Cathie

Great book 👍

Reviewed in Australia on 24 December 2020

Verified Purchase

Awesome 👍

Helpful

jimjack

... with so much detail that will prove to be useful.

Reviewed in Australia on 14 March 2015

Verified Purchase

A really neat concept with so much detail that will prove to be useful.

Helpful

mikey

Five Stars

Reviewed in Australia on 12 January 2015

Verified Purchase

clear and informative, a must have for a writer or even a manager trying to understand their people

Helpful

Zikomo

Five Stars

Reviewed in Australia on 15 August 2014

Verified Purchase

I've said it before, Angela Ackerman is a genius.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Wendy Jones

Outstanding

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 January 2014

Verified Purchase

This is the second in a trio of books which are, I feel, an essential part of any publishers toolkit. Like the Positive Trait Thesaurus the first few chapters cover the negative traits which will help the writer to develop a realistic character. It discusses how, characters, no matter how good or evil they are, need to display opposite traits which make the seem believable. There is an overview of the types of characters which are so deplorable that no one can identify with them and how these can be changed by the way ins which they are portrayed.

Following helpful and useful introductory chapters, the book becomes even more useful when the Thesaurus is used. This is more than your average Thesaurus, providing an in depth exploration of a word and its use in writing fiction. It provides a definition of the word, similar flaws, possible causes, associated behaviours and attitudes, associated thoughts, associated emotions, positive aspects, negative aspects, examples from film, overcoming this trait as a major flaw, and traits in supporting characters that cause conflict.

As a tool for writers this book cannot be faulted, and is in fact outstanding. This is a not to be missed book for all writers, whether new or established. Buy it now you will not regret it.

20 people found this helpful

Amanda George

It's good, but...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 October 2018

Verified Purchase

This is a really short book that has very few negative traits in it. Useful if you really can't think of any negative traits, but there are only a few and it's all back to front with most of it telling your granny how to suck eggs and very little useful information unfortunately.

The table of contents is at the back again and I went straight there this time and there were only maybe 3 or 4 pages of negative traits at the back and a load of padding over the first three quarters.

It's good to have it in one place, but there are more negative emotions than are in this book. The positive traits book had several pages of emotion compared to the handful in this one.

Useful at a stretch, but could be a lot better and more useful to writers if there was more negative trait names and less fluff at the start... would be good if the table of contents was in the right place too!

Sorry.

John

I like it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 October 2017

Verified Purchase

The information provided before the actual traits is good, this is up to around page 38 on the kindle. The listed traits I think will be useful as a starting point because, as the authors themselves pointed out, there are many more traits than those listed, so you won't find every possible negative trait listed here.

From how I see each negative trait listed, it looks like enough to get enough understanding of what you need to consider overall for a negative trait, even if you happen to choose a negative trait that is not listed here.

One person found this helpful

J.R. Barker

A great guide that helps you steer away from using the ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 August 2014

Verified Purchase

A great guide that helps you steer away from using the same tired old phrases over and over again.
It lists all the negative traits with an explanation of internal and external reactions, the types of people that may exhibit these reactions, the downfalls of these traits and gives examples of films in which those types of characters have been portrayed successfully.

5 people found this helpful

Doyler

Great book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 February 2014

Verified Purchase

Highly recommend this book. Insightful. Gives you gritty options to create realistic characters. Like the other two in the series, the opening chapters delve into the numerous negative aspects of human nature and potential causes. Great food for thought giving the writer interesting choices.
It is well worth reading the website, Writers helping Writers, the book muse. A great aid for all writers.
Can't thank the Authors enough.

5 people found this helpful

See all reviews

Buying Options

Follow the Authors

Similar authors to follow

Similar authors to follow

The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Flaws (Writers Helping Writers Series Book 2) Kindle Edition

Customers who bought this item also bought

Product description

About the Author

Product details

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Customer reviews

Review this product

Top reviews from Australia

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries