Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
This was such a fun and easy prompt to do.
The stock photo attached to this post made me think of all of the different emotions the same character may show in the same story.
1. Intelligent
They don’t have to be geniuses, but I do enjoy reading about how bright characters see the world.
2. Warm and Affectionate
There’s something about characters with this personality that make them irresistible to me. I can appreciate many different types of flaws in a character so long as they start from this base.
3. Active
I exercise regularly and enjoy spending time outdoors. It’s nice to read about characters who are also into staying active.
4. Cautious
There’s something to be said for thinking things through before rushing into a possibly dangerous situation.
5. Quirky
I was about to put the term strange here, but maybe quirky is a little bit more accurate. Characters who wander off the beaten path of life are alluring.
6. Easygoing
While I can and do also enjoy stories about people who can be high-strung, I generally prefer to read about folks who take a more relaxed approach to life.
7. Bashful
There aren’t enough books out there about folks who are quietly amazing but who will never be the life of the party. For example, I would have loved to read a chapter or two of Anne of Green Gables from Matthew Cuthbert’s perspective. He was honestly more interesting to me than Anne was because of how shy he was about sharing his feelings.
8. Innocent
Honestly, I’ve grown weary of reading about shady protagonists who may not be trustworthy. Retaining some innocence is a good thing no matter how old someone is.
9. Thrifty
That is, it’s nice when characters take care of what they own and are mindful of how they spend their money.
10. Creative
It doesn’t matter how that creativity is expressed. I’m always interested in reading about people who can take an ordinary moment in life and find the beauty in it somewhere.
What a thoughtful selection, I agree with many especially the bashful creative!!
Thanks a lot. 🙂
Great list! So many innocent characters are so underrated, and it’s a real shame. I don’t like it when characters are unbelievably naive, but I don’t think everyone needs to be jaded either.
I totally hear you there.
Great choices! I do like quirky characters too but sometimes I also feel like if it’s too much it just turns me off a character (or even a story when everyone is overly quirky)! Definitely love the warm/affectionate characters too though!
My TTT post
Yeah, that makes sense. Quirkiness has to be written carefully for sure. 🙂
Great choices! Warm characters are always lovely, they always stand out to me for whatever reason. I like quirky characters, up to a point. As long as we aren’t talking the special manic pixie girl trope lol
Heh, I was definitely not thinking of manic pixie dream girls there. 🙂
Good job! Bashful! That’s a nice one I didn’t even consider.
Thanks a lot.
I love intelligent characters, too! Quirky characters are also super fun. You’ve chosen a bunch of great traits, and I agree with all of them!
Thank you very much.
Great list! I hadn’t thought about it much, but I like my characters to have at least a touch of innocence, too.
Cool. That’s awesome.
Great list! I especially like cautious and creative. Painters, writer, artists always attract me; and I like a bit of caution, too many characters rush in headlong without even considering consequences.
Thanks. And I totally agree with you there.
Great choices Lydia. 🙂 WIth innocent, all I can think of is Cress of The Lunar Chronicles. I just love her. 🙂
I really need to read that series sometime. And thanks.
Quirky characters are the best kind.
Yes, exactly. 🙂
I liked your list! some really good choices, Innocent is one that I either love or I hate depending on how the book is written, along with Naive. And YES, for bashful, I think that’s what I like so much about Nancy from Every Heart A Doorway… She’s so quiet and reserved.
Thank you very much.
I’ll have to keep an eye out for Every Heart a Doorway. It sounds good.
Quirky is a great trait. I love a character who is a little offbeat.
I’m glad to hear that.
Smart characters FTW! And I agree, not every character needs to be super cunning and crafty…someone with a little innocence and faith is great to read about!
Absolutely! Thanks for chiming in.
I dig “quirky” characters, too. Didn’t think to add that to my list. Happy reading!
eli @ the (book) supplier
Thank you. I’m happy you agree there.
Wonderful list!
https://readingladies.com/2019/10/07/ttt-traits-that-help-me-fall-in-love-with-characters/
Thank you very much.
Hallo, Hallo Lydia,
You’ll have to forgive me for coming over to your blog a bit late from when you first visited with me today for TTT! I was working on my post overnight and I ended up crashing – needed to rest and then, promptly overslept! lol I happily responded to your beautiful note on my blog and I wanted to come over to see how you addressed the prompt!
The attributes we share in common are:
Warm and Affectionate;
a curiously intelligent mind with observational insights into their world;
quirky characters (who wouldn’t love them?),
innocence throughout life
and of course creatively living their lives.
There are others which speak to me as well but these were my top favourites from what you’ve focused on! I agree with you about how a lot of stories are turning too dearly dark for me – they eradicate out the innocence from characters or they focus on such gruelling brutal story-lines its hard to survive the stories!
I look forward to visiting with you further and thank you for being the first to comment on my TTT!!
Hello Jorie! You’re welcome.
Don’t worry. I’m glad you were able to come visit my post today no matter what time it was. We had a lot of answers in common this week. How lovely. 🙂
I like the innocent one actually! I didn’t even think about that.
Thanks. 🙂
I like quirky characters too. Funny that I forgot to list it. My TTT list
Heh, it’s easy to forget these things sometimes.
Awesome list you mentioned a lot that I hadn’t even thought about. Cautious is a trait that i want to see more of. It drives me crazy some of the stunts characters pull.
Yes, exactly! You’d think they’d think things through better.
I really do love when a character is intelligent. I also love quirky characters. <3
That’s awesome.
Intelligent characters are definitely a draw for me too, and I like easygoing characters as well I guess now that I think on it. Laid back can be good. 🙂
Glad to hear we agree on that.
Great list! I also like reading about Warm and Affectionate, and Active outdoorsy types too. 🙂
That’s cool. And thanks.
I really enjoy quirky characters too, as long as it isn’t over the top cartoonish. Great list!
Thank you very much.
Totally agree with quirky as a fun character trait–can’t believe it didn’t occur to me to add that one myself.
Heh, thanks. It’s always interesting to see what others thought of that we did not!
I think I actually have an adverse reaction to high strung characters. I think a lot of it is because in real life I really can’t deal with that personality type- drives me straight up a wall. (I mean no offense to anyone- I’m just the polar opposite, and I’m probably annoying to them too!)
Yeah, I feel the same way. (And also mean no offence to anyone reading this who is high strung!)
Great characteristics.
Thank you. 🙂
I enjoy a quirky character, too. I don’t want them to be overdone, though. I like when they’re just quirky enough to be believable.
Totally agreed there.
Nice list, Lydia! I’m partial to the quiet characters too.
Thank you, and I’m glad to hear it.
Do you ever feel sometimes like these days sometimes flawed and unlikeable has just sort of blocked warm and affectionate and now it’s not trendy enough to be warm and affectionate in a book?
Yes, absolutely!
You’ve got some great traits on here! I like both quirky and easygoing!
That’s great.
“Quirky” is a good one, although I would understand “strange” as well. I’m a bit strange myself, so I can relate to a character like that!
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
You’re welcome.
Your list is great. There are a lot of things that make us fall in love with a character and I love to discover them every time I start a new book. Thanks for visiting my blog.
You’re welcome. And thanks.
I definitely like quirky characters as well!
That’s cool.
I’d love to have all of these traits wrapped up into one character! I especially like bashful and innocent… we don’t see enough of that in characters!
So would I now that you mention it.
Innocence is always an endearing quality for a character to have. I like it when they’re intelligent too.
I hear you there.
Love #7! Matthew was my favorite character, too. I had an uncle that I always pictured in my mind when I read that book. Such a sweet soul but so reserved at the same time.
Aww, that’s awesome.
Creative is a good one that I wish I had thought of. I’m always drawn to artistic characters when I’m reading. I think it’s because I have no artistic ability and like to live vicariously through them, lol.
LOL, same here.
Ohhh I love Quicky characters!!
Great list! <3
Thank you very much.
Oh my gosh you have so many ones i have not even thought of! Great list.
Aww, thanks.
Great choices, I like smart characters who aren’t geniuses, and aren’t stuck up with it, but don’t try to hide their brains either. Warm and affectionate always good too 🙂
Thanks a lot. I’m glad you agree.
So many good qualities here! Love innocent, quirky, and creative. It’s always easier to read about characters (or at least understand them) when you can relate, and as a person who likes creative pursuits, I’m always interested to read about these types of characters. 🙂
Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland last week, Lydia.
You’re quite welcome. We seem to have similar tastes.