Creating Characters
Page 2
Sees possibilities within the realm of impossibility.
Envisions bold departures from the norm.
UNIMAGINATIVE
Related Traits: Barren, dull, imitative, practical-minded, pragmatic, prosaic, realistic, unfanciful, uninspired, uninventive, unromantic.
Character Possibilities:
Not only unable to produce mental abstractions but cannot improvise, innovate, or see anything that is not already in existence. Copies what has already been proven to work. Dislikes theory and speculation. Measures the value of something by the extent to which others use it. His thoughts dance with the commonplace. Lacks the skill to court fresh images. If he owned a horse, he would not understand the coming of the automobile; if he owned a radio, he would scoff at the idea of television; if he owned a typewriter, he would be unable to see the promise of the computer age.
Tied to what works and does not entertain any thoughts about what might work better. Takes pride in having both feet anchored solidly to the ground.
CURIOUS
Related Traits:
Absorbed, engaged, enthusiastic, examining, fascinated, immersed, inquiring, inquisitive, interested, interrogative, intrigued, investigative, involved, meddlesome, nosy, open-eared, preoccupied, probing, prying, questioning, quizzical, searching, snoopy.
Character Possibilities:
Always searching to learn more about something or someone.
Eagerly follows the scent of information, whether it is narrow or broad in scope and whether it has any redeeming value or not.
His mind is greatly occupied with the who, what, where, or why of something. Enthusiastic, if his interest becomes a burning passion. Has become irresistibly and unexplainably attracted to find out more about someone or a particular thing. Titillated by, and subsequently pursues, information that concerns the privacy of others and which is frankly none of his business. His ears are consistently cocked to find out something he didn't know before. His mind grows questions.
INCURIOUS
Related Traits:
Aloof, apathetic, blasé, bored, detached, disconnected, disengaged, disinterested, indifferent, jaded, nonchalant, uncaring, unconcerned, uninterested, uninvolved, unmindful, unmoved.
Character Possibilities: The possibility of learning more about a particular subject or some individual does not intrigue him. Has almost no interest in something because he sees it as being unimportant. His interest regarding a matter has diminished, if not exhausted, since his original curiosity has produced no results.
Tends to let things slip by without noticing them.
Hardened by experience, he no longer has the exuberance that paves the way for curiosity. Tends to think «So what?" rather than «Why?" Because something does not immediately affect him personally, has virtually no interest in its implications.
Views matters in a most casual way.
OBSERVANT
Related Traits: Alert, astute, attentive, aware, heedful, keen, mindful, open-eyed, perceptive, ready, thoughtful, vigilant, wary, watchful.
Character Possibilities:
Without being spurred by curiosity, he is habitually attentive to almost all things that happen. A symphony of eyes and ears. Tries not to be caught off guard. Constantly prepared for an emergency. Poised to stop the intrusion of peril or to welcome the advance of opportunity. By paying close attention to the words and actions of people, attempts to determine their motives.
UNOBSERVANT
Related Traits: Disregardful, heedless, inattentive, neglectful, oblivious, unalert, unaware, unconscious, undiscerning, unmindful, unperceptive, unvigilant, unwary.
Character Possibilities:
Tends not to see that which may be clearly obvious to almost everyone else. Ignores that which he deems not worthy of serious attention. His attention span is always narrowly focused; thus, he will fail to take note of something if he is immersed in something else. Will allow a crisis to develop because he will overlook the elements that contributed to it. Matters slip by him as if he sat blindfolded on the double yellow line of a busy highway. Finds it hard to see what is obviously staring him in the face.
OPTIMISTIC
Related Traits:
Anticipative, blithe, bullish, buoyant, cheerful, confident, encouraged, enthusiastic, forward-looking, heartened, hopeful, jaunty, light-hearted, reassured, rosy, sanguine, sunny, upbeat.
Character Possibilities:
Believes that everything happens for the best and that something good must eventually follow that which is bad.
Fully expects something pleasurable is going to happen.
His hope is accompanied by certainty.
Entirely focused upon the future and is far more interested in where he's going than where he's been.
Even in the worst of situations, he clings to the expectation that things will soon get better.
His expectation is as light as a feather in the wind.
Looks at the future with an incurable sprightliness.
PESSIMISTIC
Related Traits:
Apprehensive, captious, cynical, defeated, dejected, despairing, despondent, disconsolate, discouraged, disheartened, dispirited, downhearted, funereal, gloomy, glum, low-spirited, lugubrious, misanthropic, solemn, spiritless.
Character Possibilities:
Looks at the future through dark-colored glasses.
Finds no justification in romancing hope.
Has abandoned all expectations that things will get better.
Believes that the possibility of a better world is a complete fantasy.
Convinced that everything man touches becomes corrupted.
His sense of hopelessness has crippled his desire to do something positive. Distrusts all signs of virtue and is skeptical of the apparent superior motives of others. His courage to withstand all that is mean and destructive in the world has become threadbare. Defeated, he now sits immovable, wrapped tightly in a gray shroud.
REFLECTIVE
Related Traits: Contemplative, deliberative, meditative, museful, pensive, ponderous, ruminative, speculative, thoughtful.
Character Possibilities:
Thinks before acting.
Ponders the future or past in a constructive manner, to either circumvent potential problems or to gain wisdom.
Takes considerable care in examining his options before deciding upon what to do.
Prone to weigh something in his mind for a long time.
Mulls things over like a cow chewing its cud.
Looks at things from all sides before making up his mind.
IMPULSIVE
Related Traits:
Eager, hasty, heedless, impetuous, imprudent, incautious, precipitate, rash, spontaneous, thoughtless, undeliberative, unreflective.
Character Possibilities:
Even when presented with a situation that does not demand immediate attention, has a tendency to initiate action rather than examine the matter closely.
Rarely weighs the pros and cons.
There are no stop signs or caution lights in his mind.
To him, consequence is a foreign language.
IMPASSIONED
Related Traits:
Amorous, ardent, bold, carnal, careless, concupiscent, daring, debauched, eager, emotional, enthusiastic, fervent, fevered, fiery, hasty, hearty, horny, hot-blooded, intense, lascivious, lecherous, licentious, lustful, profligate, prurient, salacious, sensual, spirited, temperamental, undisciplined, warm-blooded, wholehearted, zealous.
Character Possibilities:
His emotions simmer over a low fire, with first one and then another bubbling hot to the surface. Has a propensity to fall in love quickly. Once he becomes interested in something or someone, that thing or that person can consume him.
His appetite for sex is beyond the norm.
His enthusiasm for a cause can become overly enflamed.
Possesses a gluttonous desire for sensual pleasure, which in turn corrupts those thoughts unrelated to i
t.
Rare is the thought that lies cool in his mind.
His attraction to vice is underwritten by recklessness.
RESTRAINED
Related Traits:
Abstinent, ascetic, bridled, circumspect, composed, controlled, discreet, dispassionate, frigid, guarded, inhibited, judicious, moderate, monkish, nonindulgent, repressed, reserved, reticent, self-controlled, self-denying, self-disciplined, self-governing, self-regulating, stolid, temperate, tethered, undemonstrative, unemotional, unimpassioned, unsexual, virginal.
Character Possibilities:
Emotions are imprisoned behind a cold demeanor.
Guards his thoughts and feelings as though he did not trust them.
Maintains calm over all his emotions and does not allow any to become agitated.
Has a low sexual urge.
Intimidated by his own sexual desires and, thus, suppresses them.
Only adopts an extreme view when there is nothing left to satisfy him, but refuses to become its mouthpiece. It is impossible for him to generate any no-holds-barred enthusiasm for something or someone. Never allows passion to get the better of him.
CALM
Related Traits:
Collected, composed, cool, coolheaded, equable, even-tempered, impassive, imperturbable, level-headed, pacific, peaceful, placid, poised, relaxed, sedate, self-possessed, serene, staid, tranquil, undisturbed, unflappable, unruffled.
Character Possibilities:
The candle within the core of his soul does not flicker.
Faces the challenges of adversity with a steady eye and refuses to be intimidated by them. Subdues his feelings of excitement and prepares to do the job that needs to be done. Usually resigns himself to doing battle and is willing to accept the consequences that follow.
Free of anxiety.
Not nibbled to his wishbone by life's incessant disturbances.
In the presence ofdanger, brings all thoughts and feelings under his strict command.
Feels superior to the storms that gather to rage upon him.
Sits above the fray like a bored monarch.
TURBULENT
Related Traits:
Aggravated, agitated, aroused, choleric, confused, disquieted, distraught, disturbed, excitable, flustered, fuming, high-strung, inflamed, nervous, perturbed, quick-tempered, stormy, tense, troubled, unstable, upset.
Character Possibilities:
Consistently buffeted by life's ill winds, some of which may be of his own making. In the grip of a restlessness or uneasiness that he is unable to identify. Feels his emotions being pulled in different directions. His mind seems halved and then quartered by conflicting obligations. His burdens bump into one another, each demanding more of his attention than he knows how to allow.
He is at the vortex of all things gone wrong.
His temper has a hair-trigger.
SENTIMENTAL
Related Traits: Connected, emotional, homesick, longing, nostalgic, romantic, wistful, yearning.
Character Possibilities: Harbors an affectionate image of something or someone that may, in fact, be far from what is true. Aches for another time, e.g. the "good ol' days," and perhaps another place, such as the neighborhood in which he grew up. Prone to romanticize about something and, in turn, possibly give it far more value than it deserves. As time provides distance between him and that which he remembers fondly, his idealization becomes crisper, stronger, and more unrealistic. His collection of things that remind him of the past are the roads that let him travel backwards through time.
UNSENTIMENTAL
Related Traits: Disconnected, indifferent, realistic, unemotional, unromantic.
Character Possibilities:
Finds no value in romanticizing the past.
Exclusively interested in what the future holds rather than what has been lost within years that are irretrievable.
Prone to remember people and things as they were rather than idealize them over time.
Refrains from raising things to the level where they suck the tears out of one's affections.
AFFECTIONATE
Related Traits:
Attached, caring, cherishing, compassionate, constant, cordial, dedicated, devoted, doting, enamored, faithful, fond, loyal, lovelorn loving, maternal, nurturing, paternal, protective, regardful, sheltering, solicitous, tender, treasuring, true, true-blue, warm.
Character Possibilities: Feels a soft, delicate connection with someone or something. Desires to shield another from harm. Wraps his thoughts around another as if they were a snowsuit. Smiles at the music which another soul makes. A massager of hearts, and would wag his tail if he could.
UNAFFECTIONATE
Related Traits:
Angry, antagonistic, averse, begrudging, choleric, cold, cool, distant, enraged, fuming, furious, hate-filled, hostile, ill-disposed, incensed, indignant, inflamed, infuriated, inimical, irate, irritated, mad, opposed, removed, sore, uncaring, unfeeling, unfriendly, uninterested, unprotective, venomous, vindictive, virulent, wrathful.
Character Possibilities:
Feels a deep antagonism toward at least one person.
His aversion to another has deep roots.
Stands opposed, the reason being clear or unclear to him.
Dislikes someone because that person has something that he wishes belonged to him.
His negative attitude toward another is sharp and is born out of some real or imagined injustice he believes he has suffered at the hands of that person some time ago.
Does not want to be anywhere near a particular individual.
Feels extreme hostility toward someone, and he would like to harm that person if he could do it without anyone finding out.
Takes the view that someone's actions are contrary to what he sees as the socially correct thing to do.
Cannot let go of a painful memory.
Has an ongoing desire to consistently annoy and exasperate someone.
Houses an anger that is not only long-lasting but is also moments away from erupting. His animosity is such that he feels no pity for a certain individual when he learns of his or her misfortune; indeed, he is pleased. Unable to feel any warmth toward a certain individual, possibly because there is nothing about that person that really interests him.
HAPPY
Related Traits:
Appeased, blissful, buoyant, carefree, cheerful, chipper, comfortable, complacent, contented, delighted, entranced, ecstatic, elated, exhilarated, exultant, gay, glad, gleeful, gratified, high-spirited, jaunty, jolly, joyful, jubilant, lighthearted, lightsome, merry, mirthful, mollified, overjoyed, pacified, placated, pleased, relaxed, relieved, rewarded, sanguine, satisfied, self-satisfied, serene, smug, sunny, transported, triumphant, unconcerned, untroubled, vindicated.
Character Possibilities:
Relatively free of worry and troubles.
His desires have been realized and life's prospects seem to give him reason to be optimistic. Has the insight to appreciate and enjoy practically everything that he encounters. Has suddenly, and possibly unexpectedly, become the recipient of prosperity's blessing. Has gained peace of mind because someone has either granted concessions or given in to his demands.
Has been freed of suffering.
His spirit has been uplifted by a feeling of joy and hope.
Pleased with himself and does not ponder the possibility that there may be room for improvement. Satisfied with the way things are and has no anxieties to nag him. Has received the apology or payments that he believes is due him. His spirit seems to have wings. Has been cleared of all accusations, and others wait for his forgiveness. His anger has been attended to by others, and they have erased it through their words or action.
All his concerns, which have laid heavy upon him, have slipped away like a school of fish.
Carried away on the shoulders of blind delight.
UNHAPPY
Related Traits:
Abashed, agitated, anguished, annoyed, anxious, apprehensi
ve, bewildered, bored, bothered, careworn, concerned, confounded, confused, crushed, daunted, defeated, dejected, depressed, desolate, despairing, despondent, disaffected, disappointed, discomposed, discontented, discouraged, disheartened, disgusted, displeased, disquieted, dissatisfied, doleful, dour, downcast, embarrassed, exasperated, fearful, fretful, frustrated, gloomy, glum, grief-stricken, heart-broken, heavy-hearted, humiliated, hurt, insecure, irritated, low-spirited, melancholic, miserable, mortified, morose, mortified, mournful, offended, restless, sad, shamed, somber, sorrowful, staid, subdued, sulky, sullen, tormented, troubled, uncomfortable, vexed, worried, wretched.
Character Possibilities: Has reached a point where his life is missing one or more key elements, thus darkening his spirit and possibly crippling his will. Unhappiness arises out of a sense of inferiority, as a result of comparing himself with those who seemingly have more.
Feels surrounded by dilemmas, which poke at him.
Pained by what he has said or done.
Has seen an unfortunate part of his nature suddenly exposed, which he is not proud of and would rather have kept hidden. His thoughts are in a turbulent state, with perhaps two or more of them colliding.
Something in the past endlessly eats away at him.
Someone keeps doing something, or something continues to occur, which in turn bites deeply into his nerves. Cannot help but speculate about what tomorrow might bring, and the prospects make him fearful rather than hopeful. The monotony makes him feel as though his life is a road too often traveled.
Shoulders a great weight of worries and troubles, unable to cast any aside.
Has reached a point where losing seems to be his destiny.