Thoughtful Flaws

What are Character Flaws?

I used to hear this phrase tossed around frequently in writing advice, but I didn’t really understand it. Sure, I know what a flaw is, and I know that everyone has at least one. But it didn’t really make sense to me in the context of writing or character development. It seemed almost arbitrary—something I was told to do, but didn’t really understand why, or how to do it well.

I would pick random flaws to give my characters, because I thought it would just make them more realistic. More human. And it did! But I am here to tell you, Writer, that there is a better way! Read on for ways to use deliberate character flaws to heighten your story’s tension and add conflict, without any extra work from you!

Purposeful Flaws

All flaws are not created equal. I don’t mean this in an objective sense – although we all have some perceived flaws that we consider to be worse than others. I am talking about the role of these flaws within the context of your story.

I see lots of lists floating around writing advice pages on social media, with names like “50 Character Flaws” or “Character Flaws to Make Your Protagonist More Relatable” – and I do think these can be useful tools. I do not believe, however, in arbitrarily assigning flaws to your characters just because you read on some blog that you should.

The goal is to select flaws for your characters with intention; the goal is to create flaws that function to escalate the tension or drama in your story. The best flaws are those that are such an essential part of your character that they help drive the action of the novel.

You can see how this might work within your own writing. When I began the first draft of my first novel (some six years ago!), my protagonist’s flaw was arbitrary: something I came up with because I thought it would make him more textured and realistic. And to a degree, this was true. His flaws were numerous: he was a nail biter, he drank too much, and he was a fair-weather friend.

When I finished re-reading it some months after I wrote it, I couldn’t shake the impression I had that something was not quite right. His character just didn’t ring true to me. It took me many more attempts at writing and re-writing the same story before I figured out that one of the problems I sensed was that my protagonist’s flaws were largely unrelated to the action and thematic statements of my story. In short, the Truth of my protagonist was unrelated to the Truth of my novel.

I changed it up; I made his central flaw a lack of empathy for and connection with the people around him, as his relationship with his parents was central to my story. This, after all, was the locus of the theme and the “point” of my story. I did give him a few other “superficial” flaws (the nail-biting remained) for texture and that gritty human element I was after. But the magic really started to happen when I let his core flaw start dictating his behavior.

It was almost as if the novel was writing itself! As I was writing, I found myself asking my character how he would behave in certain scenes. It was particularly helpful when I got stuck— I would put myself in his head and ask, how would my character react to this?

And he answered, Writer! Because his fears and flaws were so closely tied to the central themes of my story, it was very easy to see what his natural next move would be in any given situation. It opened up whole new arcs and subplots that never even occurred to me the first time around.

It all ties into the idea that your story will be the most successful once you find your Ideal Character.