• 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
    • WHW 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
    • Find your Favorite Descriptive Thesaurus
    • Build Your Tookit
    • Grab A Free Show-Dont-Tell Pro Pack
  • WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Character Trait Entry: Independent

November 12, 2011 by ANGELA ACKERMAN

Definition: not requiring or relying on others

Characters in Literature: Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice), Laura Ingalls Wilder, Han Solo

Common Portrayals: women suffragettes, Civil rights leaders, inventors, explorers, geniuses

Clichés to Avoid: the independent, strong-willed, kick-butt woman who doesn’t need a man in her life; the loner who claims to need no one, but by the end of the story realizes his need for intimacy with others

Twists on the Traditional Independent Character: 

▪ Give your independent character the confidence to stand alone, but provide him with a core group of friends/allies whose support and feedback only strengthen him (think William Wallace).

▪ Rather than making a character independent by nature, what if independence is a trait he must choose in order to meet his goals?

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.

Share this:

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

Related

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kelly Polark says

    November 14, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    Ahhh, I love Han Solo.

    Great character trait to feature!

  2. Carrie Butler says

    November 14, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    Oo, I love the idea of independence being a trait the character must choose. Great job, Becca! 🙂

  3. Shannon O'Donnell says

    November 14, 2011 at 12:46 pm

    Great post, and Han Solo is perfect! Sometimes, I think it’s easy to forget about the negatives. I love that you included some–and they are spot on! 🙂

  4. renmbrock says

    November 14, 2011 at 11:32 am

    Oooh, I am LOVING this series. This is so resourceful. Thanks so much for providing these!

  5. BettyZade says

    November 12, 2011 at 7:26 pm

    This post was right on cue for me today, since my story character is an independent kick ass female. I just don’t want her to come off as cliche, so I’m trying to think of good twists for her personality. Oh, and thanks for the Han Solo pic. Made my day!

  6. Alex J. Cavanaugh says

    November 12, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    You just described the main character of my two books to a T!

  7. Becca Puglisi says

    November 12, 2011 at 5:13 pm

    So happy you found us, Lisa! And Susan, you’re absolutely right. That’s another solid cause for a person’s independence.

  8. Michael Offutt says

    November 12, 2011 at 4:07 pm

    Oh Harrison was so handsome and young in that photo. Age takes us all down…Cowboys and Aliens…meh.

    I love the breakdown here on independent characters. Great post.

  9. Sharon K. Mayhew says

    November 12, 2011 at 3:50 pm

    Fantastic description of an independent character/person. It really made me think.

  10. Tara Tyler says

    November 12, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    awesome complete definition & workup of this character trait! and han solo is the MAN!

  11. Lisa Alber says

    November 12, 2011 at 2:04 pm

    Becca, I just now discovered this site–love it! I still have “Bookstack” bookmarked on my blog, but I’ll bookmark this one, too–as soon as I can. Doing NaNo and it’s kicking my butt; hoping to get in a few blog posts this month, though, hopefully.

    Actually, this post is apt. I’m wrestling with an independent type of guy for my NaNo WIP. It is hard to get away from the cliches, isn’t it? Though, I did have him befriend a quirky teenage girl early on…:-)

    Happy Saturday, Lisa

  12. Susan Flett Swiderski says

    November 12, 2011 at 11:32 am

    A person can also be independent as a means of self-protection. If he doesn’t count on anyone else’s support, he won’t be disappointed when it doesn’t come.

  13. Traci Kenworth says

    November 12, 2011 at 7:53 am

    Oooh, love Han Solo. His character
    was so complex, so different from
    Luke(though my heart still belonged
    to Luke), Han intrigued me. I think
    it was all that sparring he did with
    Princess Leia and everyone else. Lol.
    But you knew, down deep, you could
    count on him to back his friends. Laura Ingalls Wilder is another favorite. I learned to be strong and
    independent from her and that I could face any storm. You’re right, it is best to put independents with a core group of characters, it brings out the heart in them.

Trackbacks

  1. Character Traits Thesaurus Collection | WRITERS HELPING WRITERSWRITERS HELPING WRITERS says:
    April 11, 2014 at 2:20 pm

    […] Independent […]

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.

Follow Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe to the Blog

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

Read by Category

Grab Our Button

Writers Helping Writers

Software that Will Change the Writing Game

One Stop for Writers

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS® · Copyright © 2022 · WEBSITE DESIGN BY LAUGH EAT LEARN

Cookies are delicious and ours help make your experience here better. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with our cookie use. Cookie settingsGOT IT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. More on our Privacy Policy here.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
 

Loading Comments...