Write Better: Tips and tricks

Those Foul Flaws

Something that's come to my attention is that a great many people do not know what character flaws are. Sure, we know that we have to ascribe some to our character to avoid the status as Mary Sue, but beyond that many of us struggle with creating and using flaws effectively.

So what is a flaw?

A character flaw is what takes the perfection out of your character. It limits them in some way. In the writing world, flaws are generally considered to be negative traits, mental or physical, whose presence causes problems for the character(s) in the story.

It could be something that causes a direct effect to the characters/environment (two year old has a temper tantrum) or something more subtle that could inhibit motivation and choice (Laura doesn't board the Titanic because she's afraid of drowning).

I'm going to take a moment to tell you something that in 99.99% of stories holds true:

Hating something is not a flaw.

Being of 'average' looks is NOT a flaw.

Being 'fat' is NOT a flaw.

There are only certain circumstances where these can be successfully argued as flaws. Unfortunately, I tend to see these a lot in teen stories, where the writer says something like: I have a fair complexion and average looks. And they expect you to believe that not being the prettiest or skinniest girl in the school somehow means you are flawed.

A common trend I see is that writers, either in defense of their story or in the act of describing it, will say "Oh, but MC (Main Character) has flaws! She's scared of cats and when she's hyper she gets very distracted."

BUT

I read the story, and get either one or all of the following situations:

1. "MC or Narrator states his/her flaw, therefore he/she suffers from said flaw."

I'm pretty shy. // Bryce was terrified of chickens.

And then it never appears again in the text, but if you ask the writer, they'll direct you to the sentence and proudly say "There it is! There's the flaw!"

2. "In situations where the flaw would logically appear, it doesn't."

Shy MC sasses the head cheerleader and/or meets and immediately has a deep and meaningful conversation with the new, attractive boy in school. // Bryce takes his girlfriend to a farm. He feeds the goats and chickens with her and all he can think is how boring this is.

Both of these examples provide a great opportunity to showcase the flaw, but instead it seems as though the writer forgot they gave the character that trait!

3. "The MC is able to overcome their flaw(s) for a scene or even a sentence, then reverts back to having the flaw."

Tom suffers from nyctophobia. He's terrified of darkness. Terrified. Basketball practice ends at nine and he walks home alone in a part of town without streetlights. He's just listening to his favorite song and chilling when he spots his crush and has a few words with her as she's leaving her froyo job. At home, he almost has a panic attack when his sister shuts the lights off on him while he's in the bathroom.

I usually encounter this problem when the writer has gotten themselves into a corner. Instead of figuring a way out, they just hit pause on the flaw because having it doesn't fit their plan. This is where I hear the most excuses.

"Well, he was listening to music and that calms him. Well, he's only afraid in tight spaces. There are stars out so it's not scary to him. He was with his crush. Being alone is when he's scared. He had other things on his mind." And so on and so forth.

4. The flaw only produces positive results.

Flaws can turn out for the best. Maybe the duchess doesn't eat the ice cream because she's lactose intolerant. Turns out, it's been poisoned and she's the only survivor.

I'm not talking about that kind of situation. I'm talking about those traits that could go either way, like stubbornness. It's a resistance to change. It could be and has been used fantastically in literature.

So many people claim that their character's flaw is being stubborn. If you poll the users of Wattpad, that'll come up as one of the most common flaws, if not the most.

But here's the thing. Their flaw of stubbornness only yields good results for the character. MC stubbornly protests wearing his jacket, and it turns out that it's 95 degrees outside. MC stubbornly refuses to back down and let a freshman get bullied, and he's viewed as a good guy. MC stubbornly insists on bringing the sword along, and what should appear but a dragon.

You probably don't have a flaw if, instead of challenging the character, it solves their problems!

A flaw is not a flaw unless it appears (and typically has some effect) within the story.

Not every reader is going to have you at their side to talk to, or a small list of all your characters supposed flaws. They just have the story. If they can't find the flaws, the character, as written, isn't flawed.

For example, my MC in Bear Skin loves cotton candy. Do I know this? Yes, Does the reader? No. Why not? Because it never appeared in the text. Wasn't relevant to the plot!

Now, let's revisit the girl who is easily distracted when she's hyper. We read the story, and even in the intense situations (say, fighting off dragons), not once is she distracted. Is this a flaw? No more than liking cotton candy is!