Creating Characters (6 page)
Doesn't know the meaning of give and take.
Keeps his ideas to himself.
Works independently of everyone else, even when he is among them and they're engaged in the same thing.
Acts like people are going to steal his ideas.
Put him in a group and he'll try to do something better, faster, longer, etc. than everyone else.
Seems as if he's not happy unless he has a rival.
Incapable of surrendering one of his principles or desires for the benefit of a group.
Partnership is a word he does not understand or appreciate.
Related Traits:
Aristocratic, courtly, cultivated, cultured, delicate, dignified, elegant, finished, genteel, grand, graceful, punctilious, polished, refined, urbane, well-bred.
As Seen by Others:
There is an unmistakable aristocratic air about him, and yet it is not pretentious.
Appears to be well-educated or well-mannered.
His image suggests aristocracy, without his actually being an aristocrat.
There's a polish to him.
There is a special excellence about him that can be observed, if not explained.
Has displayed a keen appreciation of beauty.
Movements are graceful, even refined.
Possesses an unmistakable nobility that demands one's respect.
Knows the rules of etiquette and obeys them.
Absent from him is any sign of crudity or coarseness.
Related Traits:
Boorish, bourgeois, coarse, clownish, common, graceless, hickish, ill-behaved, ill-bred, ill-mannered, indelicate, inelegant, loutish, low-born, primitive, raw, rustic, uncouth, uncultivated, unpolished, untaught, untutored, vulgar.
As Seen by Others:
Manners are rough.
Dresses badly.
Language is coarse.
Reminds one of lumber that needs sanding.
Hasn't had the education that would fine-tune his mind.
Seems as ordinary as an unpainted picket fence.
Has none of the qualities that turns heads.
He's an outside toilet kind of person.
Knows almost nothing about a lot of things.
A raisin among strawberries.
Related Traits:
Accomplished, adept, competent, efficient, experienced, expert, gifted, handy, ingenious, inventive, masterly, practiced, professional, proficient, qualified, talented, trained, versatile, versed, well-trained.
As Seen by Others:
In a certain area, his ability is of such magnitude that little is left for him to master.
In his area of expertise, rarely makes a mistake—if ever.
God gave him a talent that you just can't just sit down and explain.
He's a jack-of-all-trades.
Give him a problem and he'll give you a solution.
Adept at using his hands to either build or repair something.
Practice and more practice have been always been his mistresses.
Exceptional at generating new ideas.
There's little he can't do, and he does it well.
He's among the best at what he does.
Related Traits:
Amateurish, deficient, green, incompetent, inefficient, inept, inexperienced, inexpert, neophytic, unable, unaccomplished, unpolished, unpracticed, unqualified, unschooled, unseasoned, untalented, untrained, untutored.
As Seen by Others:
Has little or no ability in a particular area.
Lacks the experience.
He could botch a cup of coffee.
Gives amateurs a bad name.
Regularly proves he is unable to do the job expected of him.
Mistakes roll off him like sweat.
Still a beginner, after all these years.
He practices and practices, but never gets any better.
Has no dexterity, no understanding of the thing.
Related Traits:
Absolute, arbitrary, authoritative, autocratic, bossy, commanding, controlling, despotic, dictatorial, dominant, domineering, dynamic, forceful, high-handed, high-powered, imperious, indestructible, influential, invincible, invulnerable, ironfisted, masterful, mighty, omnipotent, oppressive, overbearing, peremptory, ruling, strong, superior, supreme, totalitarian, tyrannical, unassailable, unconquerable.
As Seen by Others:
Has the upper hand (because of his wealth, position, influence, achievements, talent, knowledge, physical strength, or mental skill).
Has been challenged and has excelled.
Defies anyone or anything to restrict him.
Perhaps to amuse himself, he will suddenly use his strength in a capricious and unreasonable manner.
Uses power in a severe and suffocating way.
Sees himself as being above the law.
Won't let anyone do anything unless he sanctions it.
There is a spiritual forcefulness that radiates from him.
When ordering something to be done, he doesn't tolerate any refusal or excuse for inaction.
He can get others to take action by simply suggesting that it might be in their best interest to do
so.
Others are afraid of him.
Appears to be unconquerable.
Acts as if he were a god.
Will neither allow his decisions to be debated nor endure any opposition.
If he wants something done, it gets done.
Related Traits: Defenseless, disenfranchised, dominated, inferior, insignificant, powerless, subjugated, subordinate, weak.
As Seen by Others:
Has no ability to either make things happen or to get people to act.
Few, if any, pay any attention to his requests.
His judgment is questioned and challenged.
Has no discernible means of retaliation.
Deprived of any special privilege that would help lend weight to his decisions.
Totally at the mercy of someone's beck and call.
Lacks authority because of his official classification within a group or organization.
Few, if any, pay any attention to him.
Related Traits:
Individualistic, inner-directed, nonaligned, self-governing, self-reliant, self-sufficient, self-supporting, self-sustaining, sovereign, unallied, unattached, unconstrained.
As Seen by Others:
Relies upon no one but himself to make his way in the world.
Insists on doing things his way.
Forms his own opinions without having to wait to see what someone else says on the matter.
Openly resentful of other people telling him what he must or must not do.
Unhesitant about acting on his inner-instincts.
Does not solicit advice.
Never depends on anyone else.
Related Traits: Bloodsucking, controlled, dominated, freeloading, governed, leechlike, manipulated, mooching, parasitic, regulated, restrained, restricted, sponging.
As Seen by Others:
A follower rather than a leader.
Leans upon the friendship or kindness of others.
Gets all of his ideas from other people.
He's a clinging vine.
Never acts on his own.
A puppet on a string.
Attaches himself to the good will of another, to ensure he is provided with shelter, food, and other side benefits.
What he wants to do is always the handmaiden to what he is expected to do.
When he dies, the words "May I?" should be chiseled into his gravestone.
Related Traits:
Acclaimed, accomplished, affluent, blessed, celebrated, distinguished, decorated, eminent, esteemed, famous, flourishing, flush, fortunate, glorified, honored, illustrious, important, lionized, loaded, lucky, moneyed, notable, noteworthy, preeminent, privileged, prominent, prosperous, renowned, rich, thriving, triumphant, victorious, wealthy, well-fixed, well-heeled, well-known, well-off, well-to-do.
As Seen by Others:
His social status is high as a result of his wealth, position, fame, accomplishment—and others admire him.
No one gave him anything; he got to the top through his talent and hard work, or so it seems.
There's a lot more people who know
who
he is than those who don't.
He's been given awards for what he has done.
Stands at the top of his profession.
Has turned good luck into a lifelong friend.
Born into money and has multiplied it.
Success is based on a victory he has achieved.
Related Traits:
Anonymous, bankrupt, beaten, broke, defeated, deprived, destitute, disadvantaged, downtrodden, failed, hapless, ill-fated, ill-starred, impoverished, indigent, insignificant, insolvent, luckless, needy, nondescript, penniless, poverty-stricken, second-rate, unaccomplished, underprivileged, unfortunate, unimportant, unknown, unlucky, unrecognized.
As Seen by Others:
Has yet to achieve what he set out to do.
Hasn't lived up to his promise.
Lacks those things by which one measures success.
He was born poor and he'll die poor.
Always winds up being second-or third-best.
Has never risen above his original life's station.
Opportunity has passed him by again and again.
He simply can't get a break.
He's never been able to take advantage of a situation, because he's either too early or too late.
Seems to have a love affair with disappointment.
There is nothing about him that distinguishes him from the crowd.
Has never had the ability to make something of himself.
Related Traits:
Bookish, cerebral, educated, enlightened, erudite, highbrow, intellectual, knowledgeable, lettered, literary, literate, pedantic, professorial, scholarly, schooled, schoolmarmish, schoolmasterish, self-taught, studious, trained, tutored, versed, well-educated, well-read.
As Seen by Others:
Knows a lot about a great number of things.
Always got his nose in a book.
A bona fide expert.
Has spent most of his life trying to find out the who, what, where, why, and how of things.
Knows more about that subject than anyone else.
Has spent his life studying, and it shows.
Related Traits:
Ignorant, illiterate, incognizant, semi-literate, uneducated, unenlightened, uninformed, uninstructed, unintellectual, unlettered, unschooled, untrained, unversed.
As Seen by Others:
What he knows doesn't amount to very much.
Unable to read or write.
His knowledge is elementary—enough that he can get by.
Has probably never read a book from cover to cover.
His education has been the school of hard knocks.
Dropped out of school.
Doesn't know enough to realize that there are two sides to every question and answer.
Reads trash and thinks trash.
Related Traits:
Adulatory, bootlicking, congratulatory, extolling, fawning, flattering, glorifying, honeyed, laudatory, mealy-mouthed, obsequious, praising, smooth-spoken, sugary, sycophantic, uncritical, unctuous.
As Seen by Others:
For every praise he utters, he's got ten more in reserve.
Plays upon other people's vanity like they were violins.
Never finds fault with anyone.
Acts sweet enough to give you a toothache.
What he says to your face is probably a hundred miles away from what he's thinking.
Puffs up people's virtues that they didn't even know they had.
Never lets an opportunity pass when he can pet someone's feathers.
Related Traits:
Acrimonious, aspersive, backbiting, bitchy, belittling, bitter, calumnious, captious, carping, caustic, caviling, censorious, condemning, critical, cutting, defamatory, denigratory, denunciatory, deprecating, detractive, derisive, derogatory, discrediting, disparaging, hurtful, hypercritical, impugning, injurious, libelous, maligning, nagging, nasty, nit-picking, querulous, rancorous, ridiculing, scoffing, scornful, slanderous, uncomplimentary, unflattering, vilifying.
As Seen by Others:
He's never seen anyone's virtue that he has liked.
Would find fault with the tilt of an angel's wing.
What he says behind your back would melt your shirtfront.
If he can't say anything bad about you, he would rather not say anything at all.
Has standards that not even a saint could meet.
Always dropping little hints about someone's indiscretion.
Maintains a running complaint about some mistreatment he thinks he has suffered at the hands of another.
Openly attempts to reduce someone's worth in the eyes of others.
His complaints are as constant as air.
His "compliments" are carefully seeded with reservation or misgiving.
Attacks someone's character like it was a spider.
Related Traits:
Affecting, agitative, arousing, assuring, bolstering, commanding, compelling, convincing, eloquent, encouraging, enlightening, exciting, forceful, galvanizing, goading, impassioned, impressive, incendiary, incitive, inflammatory, influential, inspiring, instigative, logical, manipulative, motivating, moving, rabble-rousing, reassuring, seductive, sensible, stirring, supportive, uplifting.
As Seen by Others:
Able to make other people take action.
He can keep the fire boiling beneath your interest.
He can get others to believe something despite their initial doubts.
Using words, he can maneuver you into a corner.
He can make you believe in yourself.
He's able to elicit tears, cheers, and fears, when in fact none are warranted.
Could make you believe water is wine, and vice versa.
Knows how to inflame your interest or passion, by saying just the right thing.
Plays on your ear like a lover.
He can twist arguments around to where you forget which side you favor.
Has the ability to lead one astray.
Related Traits: Discouraging, dissuasive, illogical, inexpressive, tongue-tied, unaffecting, uncompelling, unconvincing, unimpressive, uninspiring, unprovocative.