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WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Character Skills and Talents: Organization

November 29, 2014 by ANGELA ACKERMAN

As writers, we want to make our characters as unique and interesting as possible. One way to do this is to give your character a special skill or talent that sets him apart from other people. This might be something small, like having a green thumb or being good with animals, to a larger and more competitive talent like stock car racing or being an award-winning film producer. 

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When choosing a talent or skill, think about the personality of your character, his range of experiences and who his role models might have been. Some talents might be genetically imparted while others are created through exposure (such as a character talented at fixing watches from growing up in his father’s watch shop) or grow out of interest (archery, wakeboarding, or magic). Don’t be afraid to be creative and make sure the skill or talent is something that works with the scope of the story. 

ORGANIZATION

Description: The ability to discern what is needed for a particular project or event, and then to prepare and collect any people, resources or information into a state of readiness so that everything moves forward efficiently.

Beneficial Strengths or Abilities: A good organizer can look at what must be done and immediately formulate a plan of action that is effective and insightful, taking into consideration any factors that might create challenges so that they can be prevented or minimized. Having foresight of what the path ahead may look like, being educated and…

Character Traits Suited for this Skill or Talent: efficient, orderly, articulate, friendly, inspiring, tenacious, analytical…

Required Resources and Training: A strong organizer usually has checklists and time management tools to keep both herself and others on task, ensuring all pieces of the project are in place each step of the way. Experience can also be gained by volunteering under the leadership of a mentor will expose them to the many different factors that goes into organizing a project or event. Understanding a particular subject, industry or set of…

Scenarios Where this Skill Might be Useful:

  • Tactical organization, when one must plan a single attack, prepare for war or defend one’s home and resources
  • Planning an escape, when success depends on minimizing as much danger as possible
  • Preparing one’s resources for survival (understanding how many pounds of meat is needed to survive the winter, or being prepared to take advantage of opportunities such as collecting rainfall, harvesting grain or vegetables at an optimal time) and then storing it effectively…

Resources for Further Information:

10 Ways to Be and Effective Organizer

10 Habits of Highly Organized People

Talents and skills not only make our characters stand out, they often help them attain their goals. So choosing them strategically can greatly enhance both the character and the story.

If this is something you’d like to learn more about, you can find the entries in their entirety at One Stop For Writers, where all our thesauruses are cross-referenced and linked for easy navigation. If you’re interested in seeing a free sampling of the Talent and Skill Thesaurus and our other descriptive collections, head on over and register at One Stop!

Image: PublicDomainPictures @ Pixabay
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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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. :Donna Marie says

    November 29, 2014 at 8:21 pm

    Oh, man, Angela, this is me ALL over. Well, except punctuality. I can falter on that one *sigh* Always trying to fit too much in and miscalculating how long something will take to do, though it’s typically ’cause I get everything done and then unexpected, unavoidable things come up just as I’m about to leave! lol

    • ANGELA ACKERMAN says

      November 30, 2014 at 2:46 pm

      I have a weird sort of organization, lol. It would probably horrify most people, but, I am always punctual. 🙂

  2. Traci Kenworth says

    November 29, 2014 at 3:59 pm

    Something I wish I was more of: a good organizer.

    • ANGELA ACKERMAN says

      November 29, 2014 at 4:01 pm

      haha, you and me both. Thankfully, I have Becca, and dang is she organized!

    • Ann Cassowary says

      November 30, 2014 at 1:35 am

      If only we could create our own character traits as easily as we can create our fictional characters, huh?

      Nice post!

      • ANGELA ACKERMAN says

        November 30, 2014 at 2:45 pm

        I know! But it is interesting, thinking about “why” a trait presents itself in our characters…the lessons of what made them that way can be applied to us as well. 🙂

  3. Robyn Campbell says

    November 29, 2014 at 12:47 pm

    Bookmarked. I have a character who is as organized as they come. Thank you, thank you!!

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