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Character Trait: Glamorous

Published: July 7, 2012 by ANGELA ACKERMAN

Definition: having an aura of allure and fascination; a showy attractiveness

Characters in Literature and Pop Culture: Scarlett O’Hara (Gone with the Wind), Jay Gatsby (The Great Gatsby), Audrey Hepburn, Princess Grace

Common Portrayals: actors, models, royalty, the wealthy, rock stars, beauty queens

Clichés to Avoid: the criminally bored young heir or heiress; the glamorous character who takes pity on a hopeless cause and makes her over into someone fabulous; the washed-up actress or model who clings to her glamor via plastic surgery and inappropriate clothing 

Twists on the Traditional Glamorous Character: 

  • Glamorous characters are almost always wealthy. But what about a poor or working class character who achieves glamor through little means? (Pretty in Pink style) 
  • Or, to twist the cliché the other direction, create a wealthy character with absolutely no style or fashion whatsoever. 
  • People usually work so hard at being glamorous because of their need to live up to others’ expectations, being driven to keep up with the Joneses, or a desire to appear more “together” than they really are. Try changing the motivation to put a twist on the glamorous character. 

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. Jemi Fraser says

    July 10, 2012 at 7:56 pm

    GReat post! Glamourous characters haven’t shown up in my stories yet, but they would be fun to write 🙂

  2. Cynthia Chapman Willis says

    July 10, 2012 at 5:41 pm

    Perfect photo for glamourous! I’ve never written a a glamourous character, but it might be fun. Great post, as always!

  3. Leslie S. Rose says

    July 10, 2012 at 12:05 am

    I live so close to Hollywood, you can smell the glamour fumes.

  4. Jay Noel says

    July 9, 2012 at 2:35 pm

    Why does Fergie suddenly pop into my head after reading this post???

  5. Trisha says

    July 9, 2012 at 12:54 am

    I only recently saw my first Audrey Hepburn movies – Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Sabrina. Fun 🙂

    Your posts on character traits are invaluable!

  6. cleemckenzie says

    July 8, 2012 at 10:58 am

    I’m always intrigued by people who can carry off glamour. That would not be me, but I aspire to a touch of it. Loved the post.

  7. Old Kitty says

    July 8, 2012 at 8:19 am

    I aspire to be glamorous but never quite make the cut as real life always intrudes! LOL!! Audrey Hepburn is total glam though! Take care
    x

  8. Miranda Hardy says

    July 7, 2012 at 7:39 pm

    Such a great trait!

  9. The Golden Eagle says

    July 7, 2012 at 6:44 pm

    I’ve never really thought about writing a glamorous character before. Interesting post!

  10. Diane Carlisle says

    July 7, 2012 at 4:36 pm

    Audrey Hepburn is perfectly glamorous in Breakfast at Tiffany’s! Love that movie. 🙂

    Great character trait.

  11. Becca Puglisi says

    July 7, 2012 at 3:15 pm

    Ahh, Tracy. Gotta love the postal service ;). And Linda, I couldn’t agree more. I watch those Fashion Police shows, and the people I think they’re going to crucify are the ones they’re all gooey-eyed over. I just don’t get it.

  12. Linda O'Connell says

    July 7, 2012 at 3:13 pm

    ahhh, glamour is in the eye of the beholder 🙂

  13. Becca Puglisi says

    July 7, 2012 at 3:12 pm

    Um, you’ve seen me on Skype. Sooooo not glamorous, lol.

  14. Angela Ackerman says

    July 7, 2012 at 10:32 am

    *sitting here typing in a bathrobe*

    Yeah, good thing Becca tackled this one…I am so not glamorous! LOL

  15. Traci Kenworth says

    July 7, 2012 at 10:14 am

    Good one.

  16. tracycampbellwriter says

    July 7, 2012 at 7:21 am

    I enjoy reading your posts.
    Still patiently waiting for my copy of the Emotion Thesaurus to arrive. Sigh.

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