Free Creating Characters by Howard Lauther Page B

of one fluid motion.
AWKWARD
    Related Traits:
    Blundering, bumbling, bungling, clumsy, fumbling, graceless, heavy-footed, heavy-handed, inept, inflexible, klutzy, left-handed, lumbering, maladroit, plodding, rigid, stiff, unathletic, ungainly, unhandy.
    As Seen by Others:
    When he walks, his arms, legs, and torso seem to contradict one another.
    Everything about him is out of sync.
    Accident-prone.
    Liable to fall over his own feet.
    Movements lack elasticity, almost as if someone had shellacked his clothes.
    Tends to bobble and drop things.
    Prone to bump into things that are stationary.
    Uses tools as if each weighed fifty pounds and lacked grip handles.
    If something is heard crashing, he comes quickly to mind.
PERSEVERING
    Related Traits:
    Assiduous, constant, dedicated, determined, dogged, doughty, fixated, fixed, focused, indefatigable, persistent, purposeful, relentless, resolute, sedulous, steady, strong-willed, tenacious, tireless, unchanging, undeviating, unfailing, unfaltering, unflagging, unremitting, unshakable, unswerving, untiring, unwavering, unyielding.
    As Seen by Others:
    If he sets his sight on a specific goal, he'll keep at it until he gets there.
    He's never demoralized by failure.
    Danger will probably make him cautious, but it probably won't stop him.
    At the core of his persistence springs an innate obstinacy.
    He'll be there long after everyone else has given up.
    He just keeps hammering away at you.
    Tends to forget what his dedication might be doing to others around him because he is so focused.
    Never allows his determination to be rechanneled in another direction.
VACILLATING
    Related Traits:
    Aimless, capricious, changeable, desultory, erratic, faint-hearted, faltering, fickle, flexible, fluctuating, frivolous, hesitant, irresolute, irresponsible, mercurial, purposeless, uncertain, undecided, undirected, unfixed, unstable, wavering.
    As Seen by Others:
    He might start out with an objective, but he'll wander from the path more than once.
    He is consistently plagued by doubt and gnawed by fear.
    Tends to takes advice from everyone and to believe everyone is right.
    His commitment swings to and fro like a pendulum on a clock.
    Making him stay the course is like trying to nail fog to a wall.
    He'll suddenly come up with a new plan, then abandon it.
    If he was an arrow he would have two heads and be bent in the middle.
    With all his hesitation, back-stepping, side-stepping, and flip-flopping, in his wake he leaves the footsteps of a staggering drunk.
DARING
    Related Traits:
    Adventurous, audacious, bold, brash, brave, brazen, careless, chance-taking, chivalrous, courageous, dauntless, devil-may-care, fearless, foolhardy, gritty, gutsy, hardy, hasty, heedless, heroic, impatient, impetuous, improvident, imprudent, impulsive, injudicious, intrepid, lionhearted, neglectful, plucky, quixotic, rash, reckless, risk-taking, speculative, spunky, stalwart, stouthearted, undaunted, undismayed, unflinching, unhesitant, unthinking, valiant, valorous, venturesome, venturous.
    As Seen by Others:
    Tends to do things that leave people gasping.
    Acts on the spur of the moment when the challenge is inviting.
    He'd rather jump headlong into the unknown than cozy up to the status quo.
    Purposely pursues danger, as if it were a narcotic.
    Inexplicably, he will endanger himself to protect others.
    Will never heed the warnings of others.
    Likes using money dangerously.
    Inclined to act hastily and not take into consideration what he will need in the future.
    Takes the path least traveled—and it does indeed make all the difference to him, and sometimes to others as well.
    In the presence of trouble, quickly makes up his mind about what to do and then does it.
    Prone to ride after that unreachable star.
    Dislikes talking endlessly about alternate options.
    Becomes impatient with those who are patient.
CAREFUL
    Related Traits:
    Afraid, alert, apprehensive, cagey, cautious, chicken-hearted, circumspect, conscientious,