NEGATIVE TRAIT THESAURUS

GOSSIPY



Never struggle with Show-and-Tell again. Activate your free trial or subscribe to view the Negative Trait Thesaurus in its entirety, or visit the Table of Contents to explore unlocked entries.

CHOOSE MY PLAN

HELPFUL TIP:

Characters with this flaw will be extra sensitive to certain emotions, so think about how events in your story might specifically trigger these feelings to generate compelling tension and conflict. Another idea is to give a supporting character a positive attribute that is an opposite of this flaw, which will get under the skin of both characters and cause friction in their relationship.
DEFINITION:
Reveling in the sharing of sensational news about others

SIMILAR FLAWS:
Blabby

POSSIBLE CAUSES:
Growing up in an environment where everything was everyone's business
Having a dramatic personality
Nosiness
A desire to elevate oneself by bringing others low
A desire for attention
Envy
Self-esteem issues
Vindictiveness; the desire to slander or harm others
A skewed sense of responsibility when it comes to the sharing of information
Feeling unfulfilled; needing a reprieve from boredom

ASSOCIATED BEHAVIORS AND ATTITUDES:
Having a high sense of self-importance
Needing to be in the know
Feeling an adrenaline rush at obtaining power via information and secrets
Giddiness
Being determined to ferret out secrets
Manipulation
Stretching the truth to make stories more interesting
Adding observations to tie events together (often incorrectly) in order to create drama
Spreading rumors
Exhibiting strong listening skills
Being two-faced
Speculating about people's motives
Questioning someone's character
...

ASSOCIATED THOUGHTS:
...

ASSOCIATED EMOTIONS:
...

POSITIVE ASPECTS:
...

NEGATIVE ASPECTS:
...

EXAMPLES FROM LITERATURE:
...

OVERCOMING THIS TRAIT AS A MAJOR FLAW:
...

TRAITS IN SUPPORTING CHARACTERS THAT MAY CAUSE CONFLICT:
...