BLOG #14 - INCLUDING CHARACTER FLAWS

Sometimes life throws me a bunch of curve balls and I absolutely, one hundred percent, can't do

anything correct and I strike out. That's why it's taken me a while to find my batting stance and get

back into the swing of posting about what I deeply love, and that is writing.

I believe one of our main goals as writers is to create believable characters. For me that means, my

characters must not only have ‘positive’ but ‘negative’ traits as well. Think about the ‘tragic flaws’

Shakespeare created for his characters to enhance the drama or humor in his plays. For my story board,

I’ve created a hodge-podge of skimmed ideas. They include not only the hero/heroine/villain’s

weakness/flaw but also their strengths. For the Hero/Heroine I include the crisis (external/internal) they

must face and what they must overcome if they are to grow and change. I’ve grouped these items

together under the category of ‘Fatal Flaw’. I’m a plotter so I need to know all of this before I begin

writing. But if I find something isn’t working, then I change whatever needs to be changed in order to

make my story not only cohesive but logical. I’ve found the following references to be of tremendous

help. The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes & Heroines: 16 Master Archetypes by T. Cowden, C. LaFever

& S. Viders; Creating Character Arcs by K.M. Weiland and a recent acquisition, Archetype Cards by Caroline

Myss. I also in the previous blog, mentioned the websites for Writer’s University and Laurie Schnebly. I

do highly recommend her class, The Fatal Flaw. Next week I will be discussing my favorite . . . Villains on

the Story Board.