Yuffie's Writing How-To's

What is a FLAW?

Sometimes it's not easy to classify a trait as a flaw.

Insanity. Flaw, right?

Not always.

Insanity in itself isn't a flaw. The flaw is how the character reacts and embodies that insanity that's important. As an example: There was an episode of House where one of the psychiatric patients thought he was a superhero. That (sort of, arguably) classifies him as the stereotyped "insane", but he was truly happy in his self-created fantasy. You could argue that in this case, the "insanity" isn't a flaw. It's not hurting anyone. In fact, it makes his abnormal mental state BETTER.

But then the charade went too far, and he, thinking he could fly, jumped off a building. Right there is when the insanity became a flaw--it hurt him.

Flaws hurt someone or something. They bring out negative emotions and reactions.

There's a lot of gray area with this statement because "what is a flaw" can be interpreted so differently by so many people. That's my interpretation of it, but yours may be completely different. You may see a flaw as straying from the stereotypical norm. You may see a flaw as BEING the stereotypical norm.

Here's a little more on the gray area: Say a girl is very introverted and quiet and rarely socializes or talks with anyone. Flaw? To some. But someone else might see it as only speaking when necessary, not speaking in excess. Then every word she does say is hugely important, and her words have more power.

On the flip side, a person talks a lot. He may be very personable and friendly, and that landed him a great job as a sales marketing director. But sometimes he says a little too much, annoys people, and says things he shouldn't have. So is it a flaw? Is it a redeemable trait?

Do you see how you can argue it either way? Maybe this "gray flaw" is the type of flaw you want to explore with your  characters.

Or maybe not. Maybe you want to explore a more seemingly clear-cut flaw such as being a murderer. That's obviously a flaw, right? If she kills for her own pleasure or to get into power, yes, that's probably a flaw. if she kills criminals and low lifes--flaw? Or not?

The bottom line is that what a flaw is completely depends on how you and your character(s) portray and react to it. The situation. Just like with most things in writing, "it depends" is the right answer here. Pick almost any personality trait, and I can bet you there's a way to write it so it's a flaw or a redeemable trait, or both at the same time. A specific personality trait isn't inherently a flaw. You have to make it a flaw based on your character's situation.

It's all on you as the author to decide not simply what your characters' flaw are, but WHY they are flaws! That's the main point of this how-to, to show you that the WHY is more important than the WHAT when looking at characterization.

And dig deep. Don't just think, "Oh, of course kidnappers are evil and that's a flaw." Because I'm writing a story where the protagonist kidnaps someone to keep her from being kidnapped by a worse criminal who'd treat her horribly. So is he doing her a favor by kidnapping her? That's his internal logic, and you may consider THAT to be a flaw. How he justifies his socially inacceptable actions could be the flaw.

Remember, it's not the action itself that is the big flaw. Sometimes the reason, the motive, the reaction behind it is more important to consider.