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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/28076
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/28076
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

The word "character" is used in two different senses. There is "character" in the sense of "characteristics" -- the way that a person does things that is different from how others do things. If someone whistles while they work, that is a characteristic.

The second meaning is moral character. A moral character is not a collection of distinguishing features, since we want everyone to have the same set of moral principles and behavior. Everyone's moral character should be the same.

The usual sense of the word character flaw relates to the second meaning. Another word for it is besetting sin. It is the sin or sins that the person is liable to make over and over again. Lady Mary's constant sniping at Edith in Downton Abbey is a character flaw (or the result of one). Of course, a character flaw in this sense of the word is also a characteristic in the first sense of the word: a piece of typical behavior.

A character trait in the first, non-moral, sense might also conceivably be considered a flaw in a particular situation. Someone of nervous disposition might not be best suited to the job of commando. Someone boisterous and clumsy might not make a good china shop assistant. Their character, in other words, may make them unsuitable for a task, even though it is not a moral failure. It is a flaw only in the context of the task.

In a sense, though, these two meanings converge, because in story terms a protagonist is faced with a challenge, something that they must do to gain a desire or avoid a loss, and the crux of the story is that trial they must face, that decision they must make, in order to succeed (or which will be the cause of their failure).

And so the character must come to some point, some task, some decision, for which they are in some important way unsuited. If they were well suited, the task would be easily accomplished without drama and we would have no story. Superman can rescue cats out of trees all day long, since it is a task for which he is eminently well suited, but by the time we have seen him do it the third time, we start to find it tedious. It is the task for which he is in some way unsuited that makes for an interesting story.

So, a good flaw is precisely the kind of flaw that makes it difficult, achingly and fundamentally difficult, for the protagonist to achieve whatever end they are compelled to pursue by the events of the story. Any flaw can be a good one if it plays this role, and any flaw can be a bad one if it does not.

So finish the following sentence:

> My protagonist must \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ and this is extremely difficult for them because they are \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.

The second blank is your protagonist's character flaw.

Original score: 19