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WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Character Traits Thesaurus: Talented

Published: October 22, 2011 by ANGELA ACKERMAN

Definition: a marked innate ability

Characters in Literature: Peeta and Katniss, The Hunger Games (art/cake decorating and archery); Sam, The Lord of the Rings (gardening)

Common Portrayals: artists, musicians, athletes, fashion designers, chefs, dancers, authors, actors

Clichés to Avoid: the high school trifecta (talented, good-looking, and smart); the spoiled, entitled Talent; tortured artists; the Talent who is so into his gift, he’s completely out of touch with reality

Twists on the Traditional Talented Character: 

▪ Talent, by definition, is at least somewhat inborn. The grain of talent is there, but it is nurtured into fruition by hard work and dedication. How about the talent who really doesn’t have to work at it? This could provide some interesting conflict between him and his peers.

▪ Instead of talent being inborn, place your character in a society where talent can be chosen. See where that takes you.

▪ Talents are often strategically chosen to help a character achieve his goal. But what if a character’s talent is what makes success impossible? 

Build a worthy protagonist with a mix of unique strengths that will help him overcome obstacles and achieve meaningful goals.

This sample, along with the rest of the character trait entries, has been expanded into book form. Together, the bestselling NEGATIVE TRAIT THESAURUS: A WRITER’S GUIDE TO CHARACTER FLAWS and POSITIVE TRAIT THESAURUS: A WRITER’S GUIDE TO CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES contain over 200 traits for you to choose from when creating memorable, compelling 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 Positive 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

ANGELA ACKERMAN
ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

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Filed Under: Writing Help

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Christopher says

    March 6, 2013 at 4:08 am

    The part where you state”But what if a character’s talent is what makes success impossible?”

    That is my exact character’s problem and it is psychological. Without going into my story and what it is about. It all has to do with his past. Success actually is his greatest fear for a specific reason.

  2. Sophia Chang says

    November 3, 2011 at 5:32 am

    Your Thesaurus series is simply amazing. Thank you so much for this; I’m combing it now for NaNoWriMo 🙂

  3. Kelly Hashway says

    October 26, 2011 at 7:13 am

    Great post. Every character has a talent. I love when they discover one they didn’t know they had.

  4. Matthew MacNish says

    October 24, 2011 at 7:54 am

    I so love that you went with Samwise Gamgee’s gardening. I literally never would have thought of that.

  5. Angela Ackerman says

    October 23, 2011 at 11:03 am

    I think this one is my favorite so far–there’s so much that can be done with it. Great twists, Becca!

    Angelajavascript:void(0)

  6. Jemi Fraser says

    October 22, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    Great list! I think I need to add a talent of some kind to my male MC…

  7. Laura Pauling says

    October 22, 2011 at 4:33 pm

    What a terrific picture to show your point. When I think pure talent, I think Michael jackson! Thanks!

  8. The Golden Eagle says

    October 22, 2011 at 4:15 pm

    Imagine what would happen if a character “chose” the wrong talent–now that could end badly!

    Another interesting post. 🙂

  9. Carol Riggs says

    October 22, 2011 at 1:14 pm

    Good stuff! Nice reminders and descriptions. And thank you, now I have “Billy Jean, is not my lover…” going through my head. LOL

  10. Carrie Butler says

    October 22, 2011 at 1:02 pm

    Now this is a character trait I wouldn’t mind having! *grins*

  11. Martha Ramirez says

    October 22, 2011 at 12:50 pm

    Aw love this post! What a pefect pic to describe talented.
    I grew up on MJ 🙂

  12. Traci Kenworth says

    October 22, 2011 at 8:35 am

    Brilliant as always!! Love the Peeta,
    Katniss, Sam,references. I was trying to think if I I do have a talented
    character in my current wip and I do!!
    An artist. This will come in handy.

  13. Stina Lindenblatt says

    October 22, 2011 at 7:40 am

    Another great post, ladies!

    I’m going to start working on my characterizations soon. Now I have a great list of traits to work from. 😀

Trackbacks

  1. Character Traits Thesaurus Collection | Writers Helping Writers says:
    October 11, 2013 at 4:34 pm

    […] Talented […]

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