The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Flaws PDF

Ready to explore the dark side for your protagonist, antagonist, or someone in between? Flaws can hold your character back, cause friction in their relationships, keep them from achievement, and stunt their personal growth. They're a key part of your character's personality and will shape their choices, motivations, and behavior, as well as determining whether they succeed or fail in the story.

This thesaurus helps you:  

• Develop Realistic, Relatable Characters. No one is perfect, especially a protagonist. The 100+ flaws in this thesaurus will help you find negative traits for your character that provide depth and believability even as they cause friction with other characters.
• Write Character Actions, Choices, and Decisions with Authority. Each entry lists the behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, and skewed beliefs tied to a particular flaw, providing you with endless brainstorming material for what your character could do and say when their fears are activated.
• Use Flaws to Shape Character Arcs. Negative traits are a form of emotional shielding that hold your character back, even while seemingly providing protection. Learn how, if your character is to emerge victorious, they must look inward to see their flaws as destructive forces that need to be addressed.
  
• Make the Character's Weaknesses Push the Plot Forward. Reacting poorly in the moment usually doesn't end well, but failures and mistakes can generate moments of internal reflection about what to do next time for a better outcome. 

To plan strengths that offset your character's biggest flaws, grab a copy of The Positive Trait Thesaurus.

Read a sample.
Available in Print and as an eBook.