OC Reviews and Advice No One Asked for

How to Write "Good" Character Flaws

I've read a few writing advice books here on Wattpad, and in each and every one of them, when discussing how to write good characters, they say "make sure to give them flaws". Ok great. I agree, good characters need flaws. But what does that actually mean? The answer's not so simple.

Here's something that I'll see a lot of beginning authors do; they'll start developing their character with an appearance, usually one that's Caucasian and conventionally attractive, and a list of personality traits, usually based upon a perception of themselves, or someone they wish they could be. Let's develop a character in this fashion.

Our character's name is Lizzie. She's a sixteen year old highschooler with mid length dark hair, pale blue almond shaped eyes, porcelain skin, and a thin frame. She's creative, quiet yet witty, intelligent, passionate, loyal, brave, and just a lil bit cRaZy!! Ok, sounds good. Totally not an idealized version of myself. Oops, I forgot to give me- ahem, I mean her, flaws. Let's see... ohh I could make her clumsy. That's perfect! It's a "flaw", but it;s also cute and endearing and it doesn;t effect the plot in the slightest except for shitty comedy! Oh oh oh and I could also give her a traumatic childhood and disguise it as a "flaw" so she has something to cry to her boyfie about. Oh and also she has a short temper because that's cute. Why is she short-tempered? Fuck you, that's why. What do you mean "those flaws aren't good enough"?? Ugh, fine. Oh, I know! How about I give her a low self-esteem and make her think she's sooOoOe ugly and horrible when in reality she's a speshul baby perfect princess who gets all the sausage! You think that's "annoying and insufferable and not entertaining or interesting in the slightest"?You obviously just don't understand how speshul and tortured she is.

Oh my god, do I hate these kinds of characters. Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with having a character who's clumsy or short-tempered, and some of my favorite characters of all time have had traumatic backstories or a low self esteem. It's only when benign flaws are treated as legitimate ones that I start to get annoyed.

I see many protagonists on Wattpad who have short-tempers. That's great, being quick to snap can be a legitimate problem that could be interesting to explore. However, these "short tempers" are rarely written with any seriousness, and the so called "flaw" never seems to challenge the character in meaningful ways. This, in my opinion, is what separates a "good" flaw from a "bad" flaw; the extent to which it challenges the character.

In fiction, we use the terms "acute tension" and "chronic tension" to categorize the conflicts of a story. The acute tension is the more concrete of the two; the acute tension is introduced in the inciting incident, and it serves as a sort of driving force for the rest of the plot. It's the narrative frame, the occasion for the story, and how much the reader sees of it. The chronic tension, on the other hand, is the larger landscape of the universe; it begins before the story does, and it doesn't exactly end after the final page. It's the "emotional" core; the universal message.

For example, let's say that the plot of a story is that a short-tempered, impatient character is in need of money. Luckily, there's a snowboarding competition is happening soon, and it has a cash prize. In order to win, the protagonist must first learn how to snowboard. This tests her temper, but in the end, with encouragement and difficult patience, she becomes a great snowboarder and wins the cash prize.

Yeah I know that it's a shitty plot and I would never read that story in a million years, but fuck it we're using it as an example. In this story, the acute tension would be the snowboarding competition, and the protagonist's need for money; that's her motivation. However, the chronic tension would be the character's patience, or lack there-of it. The chronic tension is a fatal flaw that needs to be directly challenged by the acute tension. That's where character development comes from; overcoming the challenge of the acute tension also requires overcoming or addressing the character-specific chronic tension. A satisfying ending occurs if there is a "reversal"; in our example, the reversal would be our short-tempered protagonist finally learning how to be patient in order to accomplish her goals. That's character development.

So, to get back to the main thread of the topic; good character flaws are ones that are directly challenged by the story's plot; the characters should be held accountable for their actions, and actually grow and change as people; characters that are "static" are a huge turn off for many readers.

That's all for now folks. What kind of chapter would you like to see next? Let me know in the comments!

Also, what are some of y'alls least favorite character tropes/cliches? I'm planning on making a big ol' list of cliches that I hate, probably ones that are common in YA novels/Wattpad.