The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes (Writers Helping Writers Series)

Great way to advance your writing skills

I love this series and this book is great too!

Every writer needs both the Positive Trait Thesaurus and the Negative Trait Thesaurus. They go together. Add in the Emotion Thesaurus and the great downloads and extras these talented writers give you on their website (which add up to another fabulous book on their own) and you probably won't need too many other books on the craft of writing. A good dictionary and a Synonym finder and you are all set.I have bought all three "Thesauruses" and loved them so much I bought all three for my Kindle too so I can have them on the move and when travelling. These Thesauruses are exceptionally well organised and contain huge amounts of information in a concise and practical format.You could just leap in and pick a handful of traits to apply to your character(s) and they would still be better off than when you started. However, taking the time to read through the "users guide" chapters will add so much to your understanding of how to craft truly memorable characters that it is well worth the time invested to do this. Then use the listings to pick and choose traits and counter-traits and the ways in which they would possibly be exhibited to start building a team of people that will resonate with readers. Also use the listings to develop conflict between characters in a psychological way by giving each person traits that would "irritate" or "confuse" the other - much more subtle than the standard good guy VS bad guy.I can't rate these books highly enough. I know I'm going to be buying them again every couple of years as they become tatty and worn out with daily use!

I can't say enough good things about the three books in this set. They are absolutely amazing and insightful, and I will keep them for years to come.This one focuses on building a well rounded character. It gives a good understanding of the villain in a novel, and how despite people wanting there to be no redeeming qualities within them, even their actions can be based on something positive within their character. I use these three books more than any in my library, and keep them near at hand whenever I sit down to write. I love how they give lists of characteristics that could rub the wrong way with each positive trait, so you can build truly complex characters. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to become an author, or is one already.

This book has been a wonderful resource to have on hand! I expected just a list of character traits and some info about each of them, but this book provides so much more. The first section covers all kinds of information you'll find helpful in creating your characters, including how needs and morals influence character strengths, how attributes develop, how to overcome the fatal flaw, how to choose the right attributes for your character, etc. Very useful stuff! Then you get to the traits themselves, and you have dozens to choose from. For each trait, they give you a definition; similar attributes; things that could have caused that trait to develop; behaviors, thoughts, and emotions associated with that trait; positive and negative aspects; examples from literature; traits in your supporting characters that could cause conflict (and we all know how important conflict is!); and scenarios that might be challenging for characters with that particular trait. I've already purchased "The Negative Trait Thesaurus" and find it just as helpful, and I hope to acquire the whole series at some point.

Order this used and wasn't sure how it would came but it came like it was brand new. I really wanted this book to help make my oc.

I also have the negative trait thesaurus. These have both been very handy, especially recently. Sometimes my characters start unintentionally bleeding into each other and I find my brash hot-head doing or reacting to things in a way that better fits the calm manipulator. The thesauruses let me create a "guide of acceptable behaviors" for each character to keep them on track. The added benefit is that intentional deviations can have more impact than they would if the characters were deviating all over the place.

This is the third book I have bought from seller. I also have the Emotional Thesaurus (second edition) which is a WONDERFUL tool for writers. I also have The Positive Trait thesaurus which is great too. As far as this book, I haven't used it yet, but skimmed through it and I think it will be just as helpful as the other two. I know some people say that some of the books are the same, which is why I read the description and looked inside preview and determined which one would be most helpful to me. Most of all, these books are simple to use and I love the layout which really makes it easy.

Excellent resource tool

Très bon livre pour développer les qualités des personnages, avec des bonnes analyses et des pistes pour aller plus loin. Dommage qu'il n'y ait pas d'équivalent (ou alors je ne l'ai pas encore trouvé!)

Another great addition to the series by Ackerman & Puglisi. I think I've got just about all of these in eBook format. I think it's time to get them in paperback as well. They've all been brilliant resources to help my writing.

Good book

I use this thing all the time. I had so much trouble building characters before I got this and the negative trait thesaurus (which needs to be bought with this). Sometimes there are certain traits that a difficult to find or pin point, but for the most part it's great. Sometimes I just peruse through, write down a few traits I like, and see if they work with my characters. The first section, before the thesaurus, is also extremely helpful, but also a very technical way of looking at building a character. I took a lot of ideas from that section, but I don't always apply it 100% with extreme precision.