Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #384730 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 332 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Stereotypes exist for a reason. Usually, because there's an element of truth to them. With The Writer's Guide to Character Traits, psychologist and professor Linda Edelstein has created a basic guide for Writers. Her goal? "To create a friendly reference" for writers who want "to create believable characters and need accurate information about personality and behaviour." Sure, disparage it if you like. But wouldn't you like to know which of your protagonist's offspring is most predisposed to warming up to their new stepfather? What kind of criminal is likely to have a religious mother? The traits of people who commit suicide? Edelstein has included over 400 lists: of traits associated with child development, psychological disorders, criminal styles, sexual styles, love and marriage, life-changing events, physical problems, career, and the like. "Even when a writer's imagination soars to places more fascinating than reality," says Edelstein, "characters must possess an internal cohesiveness: they must make sense." And let's face it: "People," she adds, "are more consistent than not." (The book includes real-life character anecdotes from Edelstein's own work and a huge character-trait cross-referencing index at the end.) --Jane Steinberg

Synopsis
From serial killers to business tycoons and politicians, The Writer's Guide to Character Traits profiles the mental, emotional, and physical qualities of dozens of different personality types. With this book's highly accessible format, writers can mix and match the traits of specific personality types to create original, complex characters. Unique personality styles and types are profiled, including psychopaths, cult members, overachievers, addicts, amnesia victims, social climbers, career criminals and philanthropists. In addition, this guide includes sections on the personality types of children, physical disorders that influence personality, and outlines of typical and atypical human development.

Customer Reviews

Completely pointless
This book is so awful I felt compelled to write a review. There is nothing of worth in here unless you are completely lacking in imagination and insight into even the slightest variance of human nature.

I would recommend researching the 16 personality types as defined by the Myers-Briggs test - Google this and you will find a lot of useful info on personality types, which will help you write convincing characters with believable motives far better than this book ever could.

This isn't even a good 'writers' book for inspiring or informing writers! The examples of each personality type (written as typical life histories) are patronising and pointless. I've read quite a few writers books (the Elements of Writing Fiction and Writer's Digest guides are really good) but this has to be the worst I've ever read.

Save your money.

Useful reference on human nature
This is a big book crammed with a wide range of information about human nature and character traits. It's all based on recent psychological and psychiatric research, so is as trustworthy as any writing on human nature can ever be.

The fact that it's research-based is also its biggest problem. It contains heaps of information on the sort of things psychologists research, and nothing on what they don't. This makes the material biased towards extreme and unusual behaviour rather than what normal people do. (Of course, you probably know enough normal people to do your own research into what they do.)

As an editor, I also have a quibble with the standard of editing. The various sections are thrown together with no overall style, and even the layout and type style fall down in places. This is annoying to read, but doesn't damage the information itself.

All in all, I'm glad I have this book on my shelf. If I need a handy guide to (for instance) childhood development, the effects of divorce, stages of mourning, or types of personality disturbance, this is the first place I'd look. By all means follow it up by talking to real live people if you can, but this is a good place to start.

conceptually flawed?
The idea that people in certain roles have common charateristics is beyond doubt, the whole of business recruitment is based on that fact. The problem with the book is it tells us that we can write convincing characters who are tycoons, artists, addicts and hooligans just by reading the book. Does the writer ever need to go out and meet these people and observe them for themselves? Do they ever need to form fresh insights? Or is recycling psychological data enough?

I think that writers should stick to writing what they know, rather than trying to take other people's opinions to extend into unknown territory. You want to write a football hooligan? Go out and meet one.