Complementary Character Traits
I know you are not back for a few days. But I’ll just leave this here. Could you please write up a list of character traits that compliment each other? Like for romantic relationships? Thank you.
Hey Nony! Before I start, thanks so much for your patience with me. I was out for about a week longer than I initially said and I really appreciate it.
So these are definitely a bit of a challenge to come up with someimtes; it’s hard to figure out which ones would go well together without creating too much conflict between your characters.
The dictionary defines complementary as “combining in such a way as to enhance or emphasize the qualities of each other or another”, so that’s how I’m interpreting this. The qualities on the left side of the list were taken from The Positive Trait Thesarus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi (but that doesn’t mean that those on the right are definitively positive or negative).
You’ll find some tips for incorporating these qualities into your characters beneath the cut. But without further ado! Behold, the big ol’ list of complementary character traits:
Affectionate vs. Withdrawn
Ambitious vs. Unmotivated
Appreciative vs. Ungrateful
Centered vs. Scatterbrained
Cooperative vs. Independent
Creative vs. Unimaginative
Extroverted vs. Introverted
Innocent vs. Dirty-minded
Optimistic vs. Pessimistic
Passionate vs. Indifferent
Philosophical vs. Shallow
Responsible vs. Irresponsible
Sentimental vs. Pragmatic
Sophisticated vs. Unrefined
Spontaneous vs. Deliberate
So, that’s a pretty long list of traits to choose from. As you’ve probably guessed, though, there are any more to choose from; what’s above is just a fraction of all the possibilities. But if there are so many, how do we know which ones to choose?
If you’re just starting off, choose two or three pairs to work with. Create your characters and develop these traits, building off the ways that would separate them. Then, find some traits that they would have in common, traits that would actually give them a reason to stay together. Maybe Character A is more perceptive while Character B is a bit more on the ignorant side, but they’re both extremely creative and loyal. In this case the reasons for these characters to stay together outweighs their differences, so that would be a good goal to start with.
A general guideline that’s worked well in the past for me has been to choose differences that you know can be balanced out by shared traits. I don’t want the characters in my pairing to have six complementary traits and only two shared ones; that could create a lot of conflict and would make the relationship more work than necessary. You want them to complement each other, but don’t overdo it.
Creating “Complementary Characters”
Well, my first response is this: You shouldn’t create a character based off of the traits of another. If you do this, there’s an extremely high chance that your readers will be able to tell. Another thing you’ll probably want to avoid is adding these traits into a character you’ve already created. If that character has already been rounded off, throwing more traits into the mix might mess with the balance.
Instead, I would advise choosing your traits and developing a character around them. If we’re using the character example from above, I know that I want A to be perceptive, creative, and loyal. These aren’t the only three traits they might have, but those are the three I want to start with. The same goes for B; they’re a little ignorant, really creative, and loyal, but those aren’t their only three traits. I find it easiest to start with things like these and develop the characters more from there, letting things evolve naturally to create the characters I want.
Something to Remember: These traits don’t all follow the same path, based on the character’s entire personality. Keep this in mind; chance are it’ll help you vary your characters’ personalities during development to really make them stand out.
Something to Remember 2.0: The above list and tips don’t apply only to romantic relationships! Complementary traits will play a huge role in (probably) every single one of your character’s releationships!
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