How to Craft a Good Flaw for Your Character

Your character is almost done! You’ve figured out their looks, what they like and dislike, their friends, their enemies, how they talk, their sense of humor, but something…feels flat.

Well, they might not have a flaw yet.

“What?” you might say, “But I don’t want my awesome character to have a flaw!”

Well, if you don’t give your characters flaws, they’re most likely going to be flat. Every human has flaws. It’s just part of our fallen nature. And so, if you want your characters to connect to the readers and act like actual humans, they need a flaw.

So, if you’re not sure what your character’s flaw is, here are some tips on how to figure out and craft your character’s flaw.

Tip 1: Examine the Story

This is definitely one of the best ways to craft your character’s flaw. Look at the plot, think about the theme and message of the story, and try to imagine what a really good flaw would be for your character, and how it would tie into your story well. Maybe, if you look at the story and brainstorm, you’ll find a flaw that would perfectly reinforce your story and fit in really well!

Tip 2: Stay Alert

As you brainstorm, make sure to also look at characters around the character you are working on and see what their flaws are. Then you can think about what flaws you could give your character that would work best due to the characters around them.

Just stay alert as you work for any good signs that you should give your character a certain flaw.

Maybe if their best friend is rich, then you could make your character’s flaw be jealousy, and whenever they meet up with their best friend their jealousy gets in the way, or something like that.

Just searching for little details like that can form a great flaw for your character, thus making them more human-like.

Tip 3: Just Write

Many times, the character’s flaws will come out naturally as you write your story and it progresses. A lot of the time it will just kind of spring up without you even having to think about it, just because the character grows as the story goes on and their flaws fit right into the story. This is good because it won’t feel forced in any way, due to the fact that it’s shaped around the plot and character.

Was this helpful? I hope so! Have you created flaws for your characters before? Have you ever struggled with coming up with ones? I’d love to chat in the comments below!

Enjoyed this? Want more from me? Join my Email List here to recieve writing updates, monthly newsletters, and two exclusive short stories along the way!