TIP SIX - Flaws

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Flaws


Flaws. The most discussed part of the character's personality. The most controversial. For some it's their favorite part of the personality, or at least the most interesting. I would agree with them. For some it's the worst. Hardest to figure out or just something they don't want for their characters. I understand the first, the second one less so.

Despite being called "flaws," they're actually immensely beneficial to your character.

You see, people aren't perfect. Your character probably shouldn't be, either. It allows for a lot more in your plot. The OC can go through character development. There can be conflicts between two characters caused by their separate flaws. Your OC could even be - gasp - wrong.

God, imagine OCs being wrong

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God, imagine OCs being wrong. Imagine bad things happening as a result of their own failings and not just external factors. Imagine characters disliking them for real, tangible reasons, and not just because the characters are "assholes" the author doesn't like. Imagine. It's horrifying. Let's hope that never happens.

If you can't tell, that t'was a bit of sarcasm.

Jokes and dramatics aside, I understand why people are avoidant of character flaws, or perhaps just accidentally miss them. The nature of fan fiction and the fanfiction community just goes against it. Let me break it down.

First, fan fiction is often made for fun. Wish-fulfillment. OC fan fiction is much more so than other, where the casual writer is probably writing to write themselves into a story they love. People aren't found of seeing themselves as bad or wrong people. I'm not calling people ignorant, most people know they have flaws, but that doesn't mean they like them. So if you're putting yourself into a story for your enjoyment, well, of course you're going to make yourself seem better. Remove your insecurities and the like. It's probably not even an active things, we - yes, we, myself included - do not like to think about our flaws.

Second, even if it's not wish-fulfillment, there is always the human need to be right. Its why arguments are so prone to, well...

 Its why arguments are so prone to, well

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