I was thinking about character flaws after what was clearly not a golden moment for someone that I know (was it circumstance or a character flaw or both at play, I wondered). This led me to recall my own less than golden moments. They are unfortunate, even regrettable, sometimes. And there isn’t an “undo” keyboard shortcut. I wish there were.
I did a quick online search for “character flaws” just to see what would come up. Of the 99,500,000 search engine results (no shortage of character flaws there), many appear to provide writing tips. Character flaws — how to use them, create them, be inspired by them — in creating fictional characters. That wasn’t what I had in mind, but some of the search engine results were funny (at least to me): “123 Ideas for Character Flaws” and “Character Flaws: Adding Personality to Your Cast.” Then there’s also “The Character Flaw Index” and “281 Character Flaws to Download (Ultimate List).”
Wow.
Out of curiosity, I looked at some of these (seemingly endless) lists of flaws for characters that writers put to the page or stage or screen. This is just a sample from The Character Flaw Index:
- Paste Eater: Eats things that are not intended to be food, often poisoning themselves in the process.
- Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Prone to be thinking out loud even though it’s something they don’t want others to hear.
- Right Through the Wall: Is very loud about their bedroom business.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Acts aloof and apathetic despite really being sweet and kind.
- Saved by a Terrible Performance: When a character’s flaw ends up saving the day for everybody.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Crippling and extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something, not necessarily snakes.
Character flaws, yes, right. The stuff of fiction and every day life. If you need an index or an ultimate list, you know where to find them.
a few words ... from Montréal 