How to deduce the protagonist's flaw from the plot?
I'm working on a plot-driven novel. The plot stands, and the changes the characters undergo, that is, the character arcs have been devised.
What I need now is the lack or fault that makes my characters who they are at the beginning, that are an obstacle to their goal, and that they finally overcome. There seem to be several options, none of which feel perfectly right.
So how could I deduce a character's lack, fault, flaw, or weakness from the plot (or character arc)?
I'm asking this without examples from my own writing and in a general manner, because I hope to find a method that can be used by other writers and in other situations, too. But do use examples if you feel that helps your explanation.
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2 answers
I think you may be making too much of the idea of a flaw. To have an Achilles heel, you must first be Achilles, and who among us is? Most stories are not driven by a single flaw (which would imply an otherwise perfect hero -- an Achilles, a Superman) but by the ordinary circumstance of human life. Human being are limited in so many ways, and those limits stand in the way of our achieving our desires. Mere humanity, the reach that exceeds our grasp, is enough to fuel a million stories.
Nor is the overcoming of a flaw central to the emotional or moral climax of a story. It is usually a choice, and a choice not driven by a particular flaw, but by the very nature of human existence. We all must make hard choices in life, and those choices are the stuff of stories. All that is won comes at a cost, and the hero must be willing to pay that cost, flaw or no flaw. Different character's strengths and weaknesses may bring them by different routes to the moment when that price must be paid, but it is the paying of the price that is the climax.
The question I think you should be asking is, does the plot I have sketched out bring the character I have invented by a plausible series of incidents to the moment where the price must be paid?
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Ok, considering the information in the comments, what you know for your character is that in the end he sympathizes the antagonist. I would take this as inspiration for his flaw. So in the end it turns out the antagonist was right in a way. I'd make the reason why the protagonist didn't see that at the beginning (that the antagonist was somehow right) as the protagonist's flaw and prove it throughout the plot. For example the protagonist was too superficial or he was too conservative or the detective was too brutal with the criminals etc. The antagonist will "help" the protagonist grow this flaw of his.
P.S. I always try to answer the WHY question and not the WHAT. If you have the what... happens for example, show the reader why actually it happens.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/24575. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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