Character Flaws - The Creative Process

CHARACTER FLAWS

Something you learn when writing is that no character is perfect. They can't be, because they're, generally, human, and no human is perfect. Part of creating a well-rounded character is giving them flaws that set them off from being the perfect person ever. It's something you notice if, like me, you've spent a lot of your time people watching and creating characters based on faces and actions from those around you. Everyone has flaws and every character has at least one distinct thing that they do wrong or differently to any one else. It's part of the creative process, but it's not something I've touched on before. So today, I'm going to tell you all about character flaws and why they matter in your story.

I don't know about you guys, but the first thing I usually have when creating a character is a name and an idea of what they look like. I know a lot of writers who struggle with the first but always have a good idea of the second. I've been known to troll baby name sites, but in actuality making up names comes pretty easy for me. So once I have that down, I'll start thinking about how they are. I don't always know much about them as a character until I start writing, start finding their voice and such, because I'm a hybrid and that's how I do things (pieces found here and here).

However, I can tell you a few bits and pieces about how I work out what flaws need to apply to each character and how they're not set in stone. Because I do a lot of my character discovery through writing, it's easier for me to pants the majority of it and then tighten things up in revision and edits. But I do have a five-step plan for working out what things they may or may not do and how I get that to translate into tangible flaws. So buckle up, we're going in!

#1 - ARE THEY A GOOD CHARACTER OR NOT?
By this I mean, are they helping the protag or are they actively working against them. Of course no character is one hundred percent bad or good, but asking myself this can give me a good idea as to whether or not they fit the mould for someone who will be helping, or someone who will do whatever they can to put roadblocks in the way of the main plot. Once I have that decided, I can work out the rest. That's not to say that characters don't change sides, because sometimes they do, and sometimes as I'm writing them I realise that I actually have it wrong and it works better if they switch from one side to the other, or even remain indifferent to the plot.

#2 - WHAT'S THEIR FUNDAMENTAL MAKE UP?
In other words, are they honest? Would they be the kind of person to self-sacrifice at whatever cost it may be? Are they going to stand by their words or are they wishy-washy and just wanting to please whoever is in front of them? Do they want to be well-liked or could they not care one iota who likes them or not? Do they find making friends easy? Do they have personal struggles that may not get mentioned in the story itself, but do play a part in their characterisation? Do you they want the same things as other characters and if not, why not? All of these are questions that can be asked and not all of them will have answers, but the idea is to have a general idea about who they are as a person.

#3 - HOW HARD ARE THEIR VALUES?
I'm asking myself this because if they're the kind of person who stands by what they say and do, is there anything that would cause them to change that stance? And if there is, what is it and does it come into the story at all? If it's something that can only be reached by high stakes, do I want to put them in that position and see exactly how they react. A lot of the time, this is stuff that won't come up in the story itself, but will give me hints to their flaws and make up. It'll give me a starting point and allow me to move onto the next step.

#4 - WHAT'S THEIR BACKSTORY?
Here's where you get to do a lot more creating. It depends from writer to writer just how much detail you go into here. Personally I have run the gamut of doing a whole load to barely anything. It really just depends on both the character and their role in the story. For example, a main character is going to get a bigger workup than someone who's only in one chapter and doesn't play a bit part. It's of course, dealer's choice, because for some people this is where they really feel like they get to know the character well, and that's okay. I will put a caveat here about not going completely tragic for every character. While yes, there should, may, will, be some that have a very tragic backstory, it's not the case for everyone and it needs to make sense for both the individual character and their part in your story. Your mileage may, of course, vary.

AND FINALLY, #5 - DO THEIR FLAWS MATCH?
There's something to be said for this final one. In all my years of making characters, I've come across some in my own work, and in other works of fiction where I've felt like the flaws don't match the character themselves. Yes, they are a creation of the author, but you have to have things balanced out and matching. You need to make sure that you don't just pile on the flaws for the bad guy and leave the good one without any, or some that barely seem to matter in the grand scheme of things. So this final checkpoint is a way for me to go back over the other four points and make sure that I've not skipped a step along the way. It's saved me from some big mistakes in my writing.

So those are my five ways of working out character flaws. As I said, all characters have them to some degree and if yours don't, then you might need to start thinking about why, and how to change that. No one is perfect, and no character should be either. Good luck!

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Backstories & Character Building - The Creative Process

BACKSTORIES & CHARACTER BUILDING

Last week I talked about the things that go into building characters (found here.) This week I'm gonna talk about those all important backstories. Every character needs one, well I say every character, I mean that the one you only have in one scene who says two words probably doesn't, but the main characters all need a backstory of some kind. As a writer of several years I've learned the hard way that sometimes you gotta know what motivates your characters and sometimes it can be something simple in their backstory, sometimes not. But anyway, here's some of my tips for backstories.

#1 - MAKE IT REAL
Yes, I know, you want your character to have survived everything from Ebola to their latest break up and while some of those things you've included can matter, it doesn't have to be everything and the kitchen sink. There's a lot of talk around that for a backstory and character to matter, it needs to be tragic. That you can only build strong characters by putting them through hell and coming out the other side and still be standing. There are other ways to build a strong character, but as far as backstories go, you need to make sure it's believable and real, otherwise your readers are gonna be raising their eyebrows and wondering how they made it through all that, and what the point of it was.

#2 - KEEP IT SIMPLE
Along with making it real, it's a good idea to keep it simple. While there will be some characters who deserve and have a complicated backstory, having every character like that just adds to the difficulty in getting readers to believe and relate to the characters. A complicated backstory can be hard to follow and hard to relate to. While it does depend on the world you're writing in, and the rules of that world, it's better to keep the backstory simple and if you must have a complicated one, only do it once.

#3 - IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE TRAGIC
I know what you're thinking, that to be a strong character you need to have had something tragic happen that you worked through and have come out the other side of. That's both not true and also kinda dangerous thinking. Being a victim of a violent crime is tragic and it can impact you, it usually does impact you in your personality and the way you view the world and the way you act, but not every character who is strong needs to have that as their backstory. There are strong people, both physically and mentally, who have never been through the loss of a parent, or through a violent crime. You don't need to equate strength with pain, either physical, emotional or mental.

AND FINALLY, #4 - IT CAN BE ANYTHING
When creating characters, I go for the more minimalist than into extreme detail, but my method doesn't have to be your method and it's all about what works for you. When I look at the backstory for my characters, a lot of it is worked out while writing. However, I've been doing this for a long time and have learned about what works for me and which rules to follow. If you're just starting out, there is no shame in going all out with your characters, both backstory and personality and all the rest. Just because I find it easier to do as I go does not make you less of a writer if you don't. It's all about getting those words on a page and bringing those characters to life.

So those are my four pointers when it comes to making characters and building up their backstories. To give you an example of how I make this work for me, here's what I did. Tara is the character that I've developed the most simply because I was writing her story for about fifteen years. So when I started back in the day, I have two note cards. One was her description and physical make up. So she was tall, skinnyish, with short, brown hair. I had notes about her personality, such as her likes and dislikes, but as I've said before I didn't go into huge detail, so looking at them now (and from memory) I know that she had a fondness for History but she chose D.T (Design Technology, like woodwork but more complicated and now called Graphics in the UK) not because she liked to build or had any interest in it, but because she thought it was an easy lesson for her GCSEs.

Backstory wise, I knew her mother was dead, but she didn't witness it in the true sense of the word. She was six when her mother was killed, and was, by all accounts, shielded from that, but the death brought forward her gift, which meant that as she grew up, she was able to touch something of her mother's and be able to witness those last moments. Apart from that, she was, and still is, a pretty average teen. She was isolated at school by choice because of the connection the kids made to her famous father and the way most people would latch onto her to see if he would introduce them to their favourite celeb. Enter Kaolin who is pretty much the opposite of her.

So that's Tara and her backstory, going into other characters of mine you'll see that none of them have a huge and convoluted backstory, they have a pretty simple background that anyone could have. It's what makes my characters believable and it's what engages the readers when reading their stories. Because I generally write in first person, I need to know my characters better so that I can be sure to be speaking in their voice. Your mileage may, of course, vary.

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