Successful stories are driven by authentic and interesting characters, so it’s important to craft them carefully. But characters don’t usually exist in a vacuum; throughout the course of your story, they’ll live, work, play, and fight with other cast members. Some of those relationships are positive and supportive, pushing the protagonist to positive growth and helping them achieve their goals. Other relationships do exactly the opposite, derailing your character’s confidence and self-worth or they cause friction and conflict that leads to fallout and disruption. Many relationships hover somewhere in the middle. A balanced story will require a mix of these dynamics.
The purpose of this thesaurus is to encourage you to explore the kinds of relationships that might be good for your story and figure out what each might look like. Think about what a character needs (good and bad), and build a network of connections for him or her that will challenge them, showcase their innermost qualities, and bind readers to their relationship trials and triumphs.
The following is just a sample of the content available for this relationship. To see it in its entirety (along with 45+ additional relationship entries), check out our Description Thesaurus Collection at One Stop For Writers.
Acquaintances
Description: Acquaintances are the people that your character knows, but just a little: the friend of a friend, the barista at the coffee shop, the guy who always sits across the aisle on the bus. These relationships are typically pretty surface ones, but even an acquaintance can be used to teach a lesson, be a cautionary tale, act as a contrast, inject humor, or provide necessary conflict.
Relationship Dynamics:
Below are a wide range of dynamics that may accompany this relationship. Use the ideas that suit your story and work best for your characters to bring about and/or resolve the necessary conflict.
A relationship typified by surface politeness (the two people acknowledging one another, always saying “hello,” etc .)
Looking for common ground
Empathizing deeply with the acquaintance’s circumstance even though the character doesn’t know the person particularly well
Picking up on the other person’s cues (recognizing when they’re uncomfortable or want to exit the conversation, etc.)
Clashing Personality Trait Combinations: Abrasive and Oversensitive, Cynical and Optimistic, Mischievous and Humorless, Gossipy and Private, Irrational and Sensible
Negative Outcomes of Friction
Losing out on a relationship that could have deepened into a meaningful one
Losing a possible ally
Awkwardness in social situations where the character and acquaintance will both be
Ways This Relationship May Lead to Positive Growth
The character treating the acquaintance differently than they treat close friends and recognizing a flaw that needs to be addressed
The character realizing the tendency to open up with strangers but not with friends, and seeing a need to change this pattern
Themes and Symbols That Can Be Explored through This Relationship
A Fall from Grace, Alienation, Beginnings, Health, Hope, Illness, Perseverance, Pride, Religion, Stagnation, Suffering, Superstitions: Bad Luck, Superstitions: Good Luck
Other Relationship Thesaurus entries can be found here.
Need More Descriptive Help?
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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.