Amazon.com: Customer reviews: The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes (Writers Helping Writers Series Book 3)

Top positive review

Excellent - from beginning to end!

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2019

Excellent reference - from beginning to end! Lists personality attributes, with attitudes, behaviors, thoughts, and emotions that a person with those attributes might display. I highly recommend this book. Please mark if you find my review helpful. Thank you so much!

44 people found this helpful

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Bruce Meyer

No page numbers

Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2017

This book has decent and useful information in it for writers. But one annoying fact is that there are no page numbers only location numbers and they are not the same as page numbers. I had to deduct two stars for this.

One person found this helpful

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From the United States

Excellent - from beginning to end!

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2019

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44 people found this helpful

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Bryn Jones

Great Writing Coaching Book!

Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2017

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I'm not a new writer. I've been published, both fiction and non-fiction. That's not to say I don't need reminders and coaching! I found this book, as well as the others in this series by Angela and Becca to be great "coaching" books. They're not breaking new ground, but they explain the method of "show" rather than "tell" better than anyone else I've read. While many writer's books will tell "what" good writing should look like, or "what" a strong character will be like, they break down how to do it.

Are there things that I already knew, or have done? Yes. But, having it in print, reminding me, and giving me a clear how-to was the coaching I needed.

23 people found this helpful

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ostarahw

MUST HAVE TOOL

Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2017

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I'm writing the same review for the book 'positive trait thesaurus' and 'negative trait thesaurus' as they are equal in quality and usefulness:
I don't believe there is any reason to write anything more until you have purchased these books!
Unless you have a masters in psychology maybe you won't need them. Even so, I believe it would be a good quick reference.
These books hand writers the tools they need to understand the complex nature of their characters psychology.
These books will give you a clear cause and effect to every personality trait your character has, giving you a more indepth understanding of your own character, which will in turn give your reader a more in depth understanding of your character and be more involved in your story.
Unless you enjoy torturing yourself and making life harder on yourself:
A must have.

11 people found this helpful

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Debra

EXCELLENT !!!

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2020

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This is the third book I have bought from seller. I also have the Emotional Thesaurus (second edition) which is a WONDERFUL tool for writers. I also have The Positive Trait thesaurus which is great too. As far as this book, I haven't used it yet, but skimmed through it and I think it will be just as helpful as the other two. I know some people say that some of the books are the same, which is why I read the description and looked inside preview and determined which one would be most helpful to me. Most of all, these books are simple to use and I love the layout which really makes it easy.

2 people found this helpful

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Busy Bee

Great resource for writers!

Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2016

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This book has been a wonderful resource to have on hand! I expected just a list of character traits and some info about each of them, but this book provides so much more. The first section covers all kinds of information you'll find helpful in creating your characters, including how needs and morals influence character strengths, how attributes develop, how to overcome the fatal flaw, how to choose the right attributes for your character, etc. Very useful stuff! Then you get to the traits themselves, and you have dozens to choose from. For each trait, they give you a definition; similar attributes; things that could have caused that trait to develop; behaviors, thoughts, and emotions associated with that trait; positive and negative aspects; examples from literature; traits in your supporting characters that could cause conflict (and we all know how important conflict is!); and scenarios that might be challenging for characters with that particular trait. I've already purchased "The Negative Trait Thesaurus" and find it just as helpful, and I hope to acquire the whole series at some point.

5 people found this helpful

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Lynn

ONLY 5 STARS BECAUSE AMAZON WON'T LET ME GIVE MORE ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2014

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Every writer needs both the Positive Trait Thesaurus and the Negative Trait Thesaurus. They go together. Add in the Emotion Thesaurus and the great downloads and extras these talented writers give you on their website (which add up to another fabulous book on their own) and you probably won't need too many other books on the craft of writing. A good dictionary and a Synonym finder and you are all set.

I have bought all three "Thesauruses" and loved them so much I bought all three for my Kindle too so I can have them on the move and when travelling. These Thesauruses are exceptionally well organised and contain huge amounts of information in a concise and practical format.

You could just leap in and pick a handful of traits to apply to your character(s) and they would still be better off than when you started. However, taking the time to read through the "users guide" chapters will add so much to your understanding of how to craft truly memorable characters that it is well worth the time invested to do this. Then use the listings to pick and choose traits and counter-traits and the ways in which they would possibly be exhibited to start building a team of people that will resonate with readers. Also use the listings to develop conflict between characters in a psychological way by giving each person traits that would "irritate" or "confuse" the other - much more subtle than the standard good guy VS bad guy.

I can't rate these books highly enough. I know I'm going to be buying them again every couple of years as they become tatty and worn out with daily use!

13 people found this helpful

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Donald HuntTop Contributor: Writing

Don't List, Describe.........

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2015

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A writers aid to character attributes, whether you are, plot driven, or a character driven
writer, the people in your stories must come across as real, or your readers will not not
relate to them.
It is difficult to like and root for, or dislike a character, that has nothing to them but their name.
Readers want to know, why and what, makes the bad guy like he is, and why is the heroine different.
90+ positive traits are covered, and discussed, covering almost everything you will need to make your
characters real as life.
You will find an, Achievement, Identity, Interactive and Moral breakdown chart, to help you create each of
the people in your stories.
Don't just list your characters traits, describe them.

9 people found this helpful

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Excellent for writers

Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2020

Verified Purchase

A colleague recommended another book in the series. When I went in to order, spotted this and two others. Ended up getting all four. Excellent for writers of any level. I’m a writer and media psychologist; I know having this information at my fingertips as I write helps enrich my characters. Even with my expertise I continually learn character traits and other psychological elements, which make a full, well rounded character. These books are written to help that process immensely. A good writer is continually learning how to write better characters and these books aid that process.

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Kathryn

This series is fundamental ressearch for your novel

Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2019

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This is where you start to build your characters. Each character need specific traits that you will build upon, and develop over time, as your characters interact with the other characters. You need to know which traits work well with other traits; which traits build upon other traits; which traits conflict with traits; and so on, so that you will be able to successfully build your characters so that they will drive your novel - of whatever subgenre, historial, romance, suspense, adventure, fantasy, crime - they will drive your novel to success.

One person found this helpful

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Hopkins

So much more than I ever thought it would be

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2022

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This book is so much more than I ever thought it would be. It said, "The Positive Trait Thesaurus," but in the beginning of the book it gives an in-depth explanation about the role that positive traits play in a story, the reasons behind these traits, etc. and the thesaurus section itself didn't just describe the different positive traits, but what might cause the trait and several other characteristics of the trait. A great book! I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who is just starting to write believable, realistic characters!

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