• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
    • About WHW
    • Press Kit
    • Resident Writing Coaches
    • Contact Us
    • Podcasts & Interviews
    • Master Storytelling Newsletter
    • Guest Post Guidelines
    • Privacy Policy
    • Charities & Support
  • Bookstore
    • Bookstore
    • Foreign Editions
    • Book Reviews
    • Free Thesaurus Sampler
  • Blog
  • Software
  • Workshops
  • Resources
    • List of Resources
    • Recommended Writing Books
    • WHW Descriptive Thesaurus Collection
    • Free Tools & Worksheets
    • Free Show-Dont-Tell Pro Pack
  • WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Character Trait Entry: Impulsive

Published: August 20, 2011 by BECCA PUGLISI

Definition: acting on desires, whims or inclination without forethought

Characters in Literature: Romeo (Romeo & Juliet); Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gabels); Fred & George Weasley (Harry Potter)

Common Portrayals: Dare-devils & adrenaline junkies; people with ADD or ADHD; kids labeled with ‘behavior problems’; Artists, Actors & creative types; Hoarders; Shoplifters; Shop-a-holics; People prone to violence; Mobsters & criminals; Celebrities; Teenagers

Clichés to Avoid: The troublemaker student; impulsive sex leading to pregnancy; the ‘single impulsive choice resulting in terrible consequences‘ as a plot device (especially when impulsive behavior is not a character trait); pairing impulsiveness with stupidity; the ‘straight-laced girl who acts impulsive to fit in‘ plot device

Twists on the Traditional Impulsive:

  • Impulsives whose actions end in a good result instead of a bad result, and this causes unforeseen conflict. Think about it–usually bad things have to happen to get our characters into trouble. Wouldn’t it be great to see the opposite? A challenge yes, but being able to offer something new to readers? Oh so worth it!
  • Characters who are both impulsive and intelligent. Because Impulsiveness is often paired with doing something stupid, wouldn’t it be great to see a character’s inner conflict because of his or her’s opposing traits?
  • An organized, thoughtful character who must embrace impulsiveness for the greater good. So, rather than a personal gain, the character’s impulsiveness is the key to something bigger. This would create a lot of inner turmoil, embracing a trait so unsuited to one’s personality.

GOOD NEWS!

This sample, along with the rest of the character trait entries, has been expanded into book form! Together, THE NEGATIVE TRAIT THESAURUS: A WRITER’S GUIDE TO CHARACTER FLAWS and THE POSITIVE TRAIT THESAURUS: A WRITER’S GUIDE TO CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES contain over 200 traits for you to choose from when creating unique, memorable characters. Each entry contains possible causes for the trait, as well as positive and negative aspects, traits in supporting characters that may cause conflict, and associated behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, and emotions. For more information on this bestselling book and where it can be found, please visit our bookstore.

Love working online and having your favorite description resources in one place? We’ve got you covered. The entries from the Negative Trait Thesaurus book have been integrated into our online library at One Stop For Writers. Now you can search and cross-reference between all our thesaurus collections quickly and easily. Interested in viewing a free sample? Register at One Stop and see all that this intuitive library for writers has to offer.

Thesaurus Pair

BECCA PUGLISI
BECCA PUGLISI

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Related

Filed Under: Writing Help

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Auyan says

    October 17, 2016 at 9:04 pm

    So many of my characters could be described as intelligent and impulsive. Their intelligence gives them so many interesting ways to make bad decisions. ‘

  2. Leah Banicki says

    March 13, 2012 at 10:57 am

    Would Sherlock Holmes be considered impulsive? He was extremely good at defending his every action with some personal logic he had.
    Gonna play around with a variation on an impulsive character, thanks for the information. Good brain candy

  3. Gail Shepherd says

    August 25, 2011 at 5:41 pm

    I definitely warm up to impulsive characters the most. I think a lot of us love to see characters who are super free, even if it gets them in trouble, because as humans in society, we are expected to control ourselves constantly. There’s a fascinating article in NYT magazine — maybe last week? About how having a lot of choices, and decisions, to make, erodes our self control and will power.

  4. Cynthia Chapman Willis says

    August 24, 2011 at 1:12 pm

    Fred and George were such lovable impulsive characters. I’m so glad you used them as examples. This helped me to see that being impulsive is not always a negative trait.

  5. Carol Riggs says

    August 23, 2011 at 2:43 pm

    Fred and George, yaaaay! Definitely Anne Shirley, too. Another great entry for character traits…will have to consider impulsiveness for my characters. I have to make sure they’re not all the same (rational, logical, think-before-you-act kind of people). 🙂

  6. Rachna Chhabria says

    August 23, 2011 at 8:14 am

    Loved this post. The main character in my book is extremely impulsive. You have given me plenty of great ideas. Thanks for this awesome post.

  7. Beth says

    August 22, 2011 at 8:30 pm

    I love these posts! Who doesn’t adore Anne Shirley? You’ve given us some great ideas, as always.

  8. Stina Lindenblatt says

    August 22, 2011 at 3:04 pm

    LOL This is totally me. 😀

  9. Clarissa Draper says

    August 22, 2011 at 2:25 pm

    Another great post.

    My editor is on my about my always smiling characters so I’m going to have to go through your blog and look for better ways to express a smile.
    Thanks!

  10. Debbie Maxwell Allen says

    August 22, 2011 at 10:59 am

    This was a good one. I think it’s been a while since I’ve made a character impulsive. It’s a great reminder!

    ~Debbie

  11. Bish Denham says

    August 22, 2011 at 9:19 am

    Most excellent Angela. (Am I the only one who got thoroughly irritated by Anne?)

  12. Jeff King says

    August 21, 2011 at 3:59 pm

    ohhh— i love this one!

  13. tracikenworth says

    August 21, 2011 at 7:15 am

    A hard character to wrestle into doing what their supposed to in a story. They tend to get carried away with things. Sometimes, it leads to a better story though. Great character trait as always!!

  14. Susanne Drazic says

    August 21, 2011 at 6:01 am

    Great post. I think I’m going to try and add a few impulsive characters to my current writing project. Will probably help to liven it up.

  15. LynNerd says

    August 21, 2011 at 2:13 am

    Adding a twist to traditional impulsive characters sounds intriguing. And quite challenging!

  16. Matthew MacNish says

    August 20, 2011 at 8:30 pm

    I love how impulsive characters can walk a fine line between inspiring and annoying. Sometimes managing both at once.

    Not Fred and George though. They were never annoying. Loved ’em!

  17. Lisa Gail Green says

    August 20, 2011 at 6:06 pm

    One of my MC’s is extremely impulsive, and boy was he fun to write!! 😀

  18. Carrie Butler says

    August 20, 2011 at 2:24 pm

    I love writing impulsive characters–especially those who scramble to mentally justify their actions afterward. 😀 Great post!

  19. The Golden Eagle says

    August 20, 2011 at 2:23 pm

    I love the idea of forcing an organized character to be impulsive; that would be an interesting challenge!

  20. Silent Pages says

    August 20, 2011 at 2:02 pm

    I love impulsive characters. ^^ And I can think of a few in my own writing when I read this post…

    My ambassador who can’t keep his mouth shut, my completely INSANE character whom I love to pieces… XD

    This’ll be good to look at again when I’m trying to develop their personalities. ^^ So, thank you! Your posts are always great.

  21. Deb Marshall says

    August 20, 2011 at 12:48 pm

    Anne is my all time fave character. Packing like a mad woman right now and wanted ti say thanks for this post. Going to delve into it on my write day next.week.!

  22. Heather says

    August 20, 2011 at 11:40 am

    This is a fun one! And I love the twists on the traditional. Fred and George are such a perfect example of impulsive done right, great choice of pictures!

  23. Angela Ackerman says

    August 20, 2011 at 11:11 am

    Loved Anne of Green Gabels. Her heart was always in the right place, wasn’t it? And Calvin–that’s a great example! Thanks, both of you. 🙂

  24. Rene Peterson says

    August 20, 2011 at 10:56 am

    One of my favorite book characters when I was growing up was Katie John – who was impulsive in the extreme. I loved living vicariously through her exploits. Fred and George Weasley are now two of my son’s favorite book characters. He also loves Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. All impulsive characters living life on the edge.

  25. Laura Marcella says

    August 20, 2011 at 10:26 am

    Great post! Anne Shirley is one of my favorite literary characters. She was impulsive resulting in plenty of hilarious disasters, but she never made the same mistake twice!

Trackbacks

  1. Resources For Describing Characters | Stephanie Tillman says:
    August 6, 2019 at 4:32 pm

    […] Impulsive […]

Primary Sidebar


Welcome!

Writing is hard. Angela & Becca make it easier. Get ready to level up your fiction with game-changing tools, resources, and advice.

Subscribe to the Blog

Check your inbox to confirm! If gremlins tried to eat it, you might have to check your spam folder.

Find it Fast

Read by Category

Grab Our Button

Writers Helping Writers

Software that Will Change the Writing Game

One Stop for Writers

Join our Writers Helping Writers Newsletter

NO AI TRAINING: Any use of this content to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The legal copyright holder, Writers Helping Writers®, reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models. WRITERS HELPING WRITERS® · Copyright © 2025 · WEBSITE DESIGN BY LAUGH EAT LEARN

 

Loading Comments...