In this post we will be talking about the flaws and failures of your character and why they are an important part of their creation.
Once again the creation and acknowledgement of a characters flaws and failures are important to their full development as three dimensional beings. In life as in writing there is no one hundred percent good or evil person (though one or two may come close to the latter). So it stands to reason that your good guy or MC would have flaws such as a bad temper, or just be downright mean and your bad guy or protagonist should have a redeeming quality (alongside their truly awful nature). Maybe the bad guy likes to feed the birds in the park, or likes to donate in secret to a charity or school in secret. Maybe they like playing chess undercover in the park with the older generation, doing puzzles in an old folks home?
In my own writing I have a half demon who against her demon half's admonishments recues and adopts a hellhound, a runt of it's litter from being decimated by it's older brothers and sisters. This little dog proves advantageous to her later on.
Then there is the deo - witch (demon witch), who upon stopping a demon lord from killing his minion, raises her to a higher position within her new kingdom. The demons whom she has freed hold her to high esteem, she is well known in the underworld and while she doesn't want the position and has handed it over, they have swore fealty to her. Which has impressed both queens of hell.
We then have my truly evil being Reigh, who as a child adored her mother, until a prophecy said that a hand of blood would end her reign and ability to become a goddess. She then goes about destroying her family, and anyone who might be that hand.
My Vampires sire was enamoured of her when he met her, he lusted after her, and would do anything for her including turning her children when he turned her so that she would not be alone. It wasn't until she found the stone of Urth, a mystical stone and touched it, that she realised what had been done. This put a spanner in the works between them and she set about cancelling his cabal.
Here is a list of some flaws that either good guy or bad guy could have to help you out when designing your own:
- clumsy,
- awkward,
- boring,
- humourless,
- mischievous,
- stubborn,
- vain,
- bitter,
- arrogant,
- envious,
- ignorant,
- lustful,
- judgemental,
- possessive,
- vengeful,
- spiteful,
- cruel,
- disloyal,
- intolerant,
- paranoid,
- murderous,
- forgetful.
I never thought of using prompts to develop character flaws, so I appreciate those possibilities you have listed here.
ReplyDeleteYour point makes so much sense. As I was writing about my friend Ronald, I imbued him with a number of flaws, which in turn triggered a number of my own flaws. So many people began to identify with Ronald’s behavior of always coming up with lame ideas that would get me in trouble, not to mention his catch phrase, “What could possibly go wrong?” that it encouraged me to write more stories about us. Even in this year’s A to Z Challenge, where I’m going on a 26 part adventure, Ronald gets involved. Those that have read my Ronald stories before, anticipate, but have no idea, what’s coming. Defining your character’s flaws and failures helps crystalize your character in what you write. And if the readers can identify with it, it makes the stories so much more enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI prefer not to concentrate on my flaws
ReplyDelete