NEGATIVE TRAIT THESAURUS

WORKAHOLIC



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:
Someone who works compulsively, sacrificing other interests and responsibilities

POSSIBLE CAUSES:
Desiring to avoid problems at home
Believing that one's value is based on productivity or success
Needing to be the best; wanting to prove oneself
Being raised by caregivers with unrealistic expectations
Desiring status, recognition, success, or wealth
Unresolved conflict from one's past; working to avoid dealing with negative memories
The need to control
Being forced at an early age into a caregiver's role

ASSOCIATED BEHAVIORS AND ATTITUDES:
Valuing work over other pursuits in one's life
Thinking excessively about work
Experiencing short-lived satisfaction at reaching milestones
Feeling like there's always more to do, that one can never catch up
Easily becoming restless or bored
Difficulty relaxing
Having broken or strained relationships due to one's obsession with work
Constant multi-tasking
Competitiveness
Perfectionism
Doing everything quickly (walking, talking, eating, etc.)
Micromanaging others; having difficulty delegating
Difficulty saying "No"
Expressing annoyance when one's work is interrupted
Demanding that others live up to one's high work standards
...

ASSOCIATED THOUGHTS:
...

ASSOCIATED EMOTIONS:
...

POSITIVE ASPECTS:
...

NEGATIVE ASPECTS:
...

EXAMPLE FROM FILM:
...

OVERCOMING THIS TRAIT AS A MAJOR FLAW:
...

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