Comments on: Special Fiction Writing Week: Creating Character Flaws

By: Why Hunting for Plots is Worthless | Writers' Treasure

Why Hunting for Plots is Worthless | Writers' Treasure — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:02:07 +0000

[...] Create a three dimensional character. Create his flaws. Create his ambition. Create everything, his looks, his intellect, the things he excels at, and the [...]

By: The Marge Simpson Guide To Writing A Novel

The Marge Simpson Guide To Writing A Novel — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:51:09 +0000

[...] shouldn’t have done that to Homer, it did have the beneficial side effect of adding some character flaws. When Temperance’s husband was perfect, there was no conflict, nothing to keep the reader [...]

By: Jason Black

Jason Black — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:38:28 +0000

This is excellent advice–I can’t tell you how many manuscripts I’ve edited that suffered from “Superman Syndrome.” God they’re boring.

However, I don’t think your advice goes quite far enough, so I responded on my own blog: how to make character flaws work on multiple levels:

http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/show/42

Enjoy!

By: Rose

Rose — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:29:34 +0000

Whadya mean Supes doesn’t have a weakness? Kryptonite, man!

But that’s the problem. The only villains that can do anything to him are ones that cater to his very limited list of weaknesses: kryptonite (and does that ever get old fast), magic (to an extent… they got that from Captain America, right?), and Lois Lane.

It may seem like a not-fun thing to have to flaw one’s characters, but there’s so much more room for mischief when your character’s conflicts can be caused by a spectrum of problems.

Great post, Taylor!

By: Tim Smith

Tim Smith — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:48:58 +0000

I’m really loving this series! Great job!

I totally agree with you. I’ve always liked characters that have problems. It helps you identify with them. Great post!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:58:52 +0000

There are actually several places online where you can do a Mary Sue Litmus Test in order to make sure that your characters aren't too awesome. Here are three that I've used: The Writer's Mary Sue Test The Original Fiction Mary Sue Litmus Test The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test The last one is the only one that provides a section for fan fiction and RPG characters; the other two are pretty much exclusively original fiction. It's a good way to get an objective look at your characters, and get an idea if you've made them just too darn awesome.