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- Herausgeber: WS
- Serie: Writers Helping Writers
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013
The Negative Trait Thesaurus digs into over 100 personality flaws and the dysfunctional behavior and biases associated with each. It’s a robust database of weaknesses that can hold characters back and provide them with an internal challenge that must be defeated in order to achieve the story goal.
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THE NEGATIVE TRAIT THESAURUS:
A Writer’s Guide to Character Flaws
ANGELA ACKERMAN
BECCA PUGLISI
Copyright 2013 © by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi
Published by JADD Publishing
All rights reserved
Writers Helping Writers
First print edition, October 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0-9897725-2-5
No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in print or electronic form without prior permission of the authors. Please respect the hard work of the authors and do not participate in or encourage the piracy of copyrighted materials.
Edited by: C. S. Lakin and Christine S. Zipps
Book cover design by: Scarlett Rugers Design 2013
Book formatting by: Polgarus Studio
DEDICATIONS
To my second set of parents. No one could ask for a more supportive, encouraging, loving, accepting, and fun pair of in-laws. Thank you for everything that you’ve done for your son, for me, and for our children. Love you bunches!
—Becca Puglisi
To my family and friends (online and off!) who taught me to believe.
—Angela Ackerman
Our deepest gratitude to writers everywhere, who inspire us through their dedication, perseverance, and heart. With this book we particularly honor the memory of Carolyn Kaufman, who was taken far too soon. Her insight and friendship will be greatly missed.
—A & B
THE WRITERS HELPING WRITERS® DESCRIPTIVE THESAURUS SERIES
Available in nine languages, sourced by universities, and recommended by editors and agents all over the world, this bestselling series is a writer’s favorite for brainstorming fresh, description and powering up storytelling.
The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression (Second Edition)
The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Attributes
The Urban Setting Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to City Spaces
The Rural Setting Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Personal and Natural Places
The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Psychological Trauma
The Occupation Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Jobs, Vocations, and Careers
The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles (Vol. 1)
The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles (Vol. 2)
Emotion Amplifiers: A Companion Guide to The Emotion Thesaurus
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORDby Carolyn Kaufman, Psy. D.
Personality theory says that all of us have five to ten central traits that define us. It’s easy to identify them—just make a quick list of the characteristics that best describe you. If you want some verification, ask a couple of close friends or family members to make their own lists describing your personality and then compare notes. You’ll likely find striking similarities.
While you and the people who care about you will probably emphasize your positive qualities, there’s more to all of us than positive attributes. As a writer, you’ll want to make sure you also explore your characters’ more problematic traits, because that’s where you’ll find both inner and outer conflict. That’s where you’ll find your story.
When I started doing psychotherapy as a counselor, I was privy to many people’s secrets. I quickly learned that no matter what you see on the outside, everyone struggles on the inside. Everyone is damaged, some people more severely than others, and the hurts we’ve experienced in life leave wounds that change the way we view the world and ourselves. Sometimes flaws develop as we attempt to defend against further hurts.
Other flaws are the dark sides of our positive attributes. For example, if your character is a confident, attractive, high-powered success, there’s a good chance that those positives qualities are also casting shadows. For example, taken to extremes, confidence can become swaggering haughtiness, just as attractiveness can lead to vanity and superficiality. And for all of their charisma, successful people don’t usually get ahead by being gullible or wishy-washy. Your character may have climbed to fame or fortune by relying on the positive aspects of manipulation, scheming, and cold-hearted decision-making. But those very same flaws may be his downfall.
Sometimes people know their flaws are problems, but other times they live in merry denial. Even when their flaws are pointed out to them, these people say things like “Oh, I’ve heard that before but I don’t believe it.” A few people are so blinded by their flaws that they’ve lost all perspective. For example, the arrogant intellectual might claim that he’d treat others better if they weren’t so dumb. Or the self-absorbed television personality might argue that she’d be happy to listen to others if they ever talked about anything interesting.
Each human being exists inside of a subjective sphere created by his own experience. The truth is that you can never truly know just how another person feels or views the world. We must do our best based on our own knowledge of the world and by being open to exploring experiences that are different from our own. The Negative Trait Thesaurus can help you better understand the flaws you have already chosen or discovered in your characters, and it can lead you to consider possibilities you might not otherwise have.
If you, the writer, are a forthright person, you may find it difficult to get inside the head of someone who is timid or withdrawn; if you are cautious and conscientious, you may find it difficult to understand people who are reckless and impulsive. Fortunately, you have in your hands the writer’s solution to that dilemma: flip to the entry on Reckless and find out what causes people to become reckless, and how they might characteristically act based on that trait. Remember, in real life there is no narrator to announce the flaws of others to us (“she was obviously a hypocrite”); instead, we have to rely on behavior to tell us what we need to know.
Once you have identified or developed the flaw, you will need to force your character to deal with it. The Negative Trait Thesaurus will also help you understand both the negative and the positive aspects of each flaw, since people continue to rely on a flawed approach because it is somehow working for them. The book presents you with possible ways to make your character aware of his flaws, and explains how that new knowledge can force him to confront his issues.
Listen, change is hard. Hard. Even Abraham Maslow, the psychologist who created the familiar hierarchy of needs, acknowledged that many people stall before they reach the self-actualization stage. He called this the Jonah complex.
In the Biblical story of Jonah and the whale, God gave Jonah a challenging task. Jonah subsequently did what many if not most people do when confronted with such a situation—he ran the other direction in hopes of avoiding it. In this case, quite literally, as he booked passage on a ship heading away from the city where God told him to go. A violent storm arose and the sailors, believing God was angry with Jonah, threw him overboard, where he was swallowed by a whale.
While most religious interpreters argue that Jonah stayed inside the whale for three days and three nights because God was foreshadowing the time period between Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, I’m wondering if Jonah didn’t take a while to come around to God’s way of thinking. Ever seen a little kid who doesn’t want to do what he’s been told? There are refusals, arguments, and tantrums, all part of the power struggle between the child and the adult. As we get older, we get more subtle—and sometimes more passive aggressive—in our refusal to change, but we are enormously stubborn creatures, and we will take extraordinary measures to stay in our old comfort zone. Even when it’s not very comfortable.
What that means is that, as Angela and Becca explain in their Building the Characters from the Ground Up section, you have to give your characters real motivation to change their flaws. Change doesn’t usually happen because we make a New Year’s resolution—it happens when we find ourselves backed up against a wall because our normal responses aren’t working. A crisis is an opportunity for change, but you need to provide a whale of a reason to convince your character that he has no choice.
As writers work with characters that can be described with words like obsessive, moody, grandiose, paranoid, and so on, they sometimes get confused about whether a psychological diagnosis is warranted. Because we use diagnoses in our society to indicate problems that are making someone’s life (or the lives of others around him) difficult to live, many writers are unsure how to write about character flaws without assigning a diagnosis.
A character is impulsive and easily distracted? He must have ADHD. A character is always nervous? She must have generalized anxiety disorder. A character is egocentric? He must have narcissistic personality disorder.
Many people think of human beings’ mental health as falling into two mutually exclusive categories: normal and disordered. The reality is that there is a whole range of behaviors in between.
For a real diagnosis to be made, a normal tendency like sadness becomes excessive (as with a depressive disorder) or vanishes altogether (as with the manic phase of bipolar disorder), making normal life nearly impossible.
As an example, many people are tidy, and many people like their homes to stay clean. Some of those people are extreme enough that they annoy others and sometimes even themselves. But for something like obsessive-compulsive disorder to be diagnosed, the cleaning problem must be consuming their lives. Perhaps they’re getting to work two and three hours late because they can’t walk out the door without washing every last stitch of fabric in the house—sheets, clothes, curtains, maybe even the carpets.
Students in psychology classes often seize upon a couple of diagnostic criteria and assume they have the disorder when the truth is that they’re actually perfectly normal…just flawed. So maybe you have a nervous character that struggles with his anxiety but is still able to live a normal life? An anxiety diagnosis may be too extreme, but he is still flawed.
Interestingly, flaws can be even more insidious than psychological disorders because characters may not realize just how much of a problem they have. Plus, there are medications and therapies that have been shown to work with particular disorders. While the same therapies can be adapted to help a character deal with his flaws, when no diagnosable disorder is present, insurance probably isn’t going to pay for treatment, which leaves your character with fewer options for help.
So while you may end up using The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders next time you’re creating a flawed character, don’t start there. Start with The Negative Trait Thesaurus.
FLAWED AND HUMAN: CHARACTERS WHO APPEAL
With so many distractions online and off, finding ways to draw readers into our stories has become more important than ever. Yet how do we create a compelling story? What sets one book apart from the rest? And most importantly, how do we build a strong reader-character connection?
It is widely believed that people read to be entertained and to escape, but those aren’t the only reasons. If readers took time to reflect, they would likely come to the conclusion that the best books—the ones that stay with them long after the final page is read—are those that reveal a deeper truth about themselves and the world they live in. And how does this insight come about? Through the point-of-view (POV) character’s own self-awareness, inner transformation, and growth.
Well-drawn characters can feel so real that when we read about them, it’s like we’re sharing their experiences. We ache when they ache. We want what they want. When they’re torn and conflicted, so are we. What is it about complex, realistic characters that have such a strong pull? Why does their search for meaning resonate so deeply within us as readers?
It’s because we’re all on the same search in our own lives. The need to understand who we are is ingrained in each of us. We have desires and needs, fears and hopes. We have questions about our role in this life, and what we should accomplish. In this way, we are on the same journey for answers as that of our characters.
The route we follow on this journey is largely up to our individual personalities. Attitudes, ideas, thoughts, and behaviors are uniquely attuned to one’s needs, beliefs, morals, and values. Unlike emotions or moods that come and go, personality traits are consistent and play a big part in determining our actions.
Like real people, each character is a unique fingerprint of flaws and positive attributes that create individual whorls and ridges in the personality. These traits emerge slowly over time, formed by the character’s experiences, both good and bad.
When it comes to character creation, it’s vital to understand who our characters are and what motivates them, even though not everything we discover will end up in the story. Flaws are especially critical to define, for it is a character’s hurts that compel readers to care and the imperfections in their personalities that make them relatable and memorable.
WHAT IS A FLAW?
There are different schools of thought about personality and character traits, many of which are heavily debated. What can be agreed upon is that each person, and therefore each character, is a melting pot of traits that all work together to satisfy basic wants and needs according to one’s moral code. For example, a character who dreams of winning an Olympic gold medal may have traits like determination, a strong work ethic, and perseverance. Because he values fairness and hard work, he will most likely avoid steroids and other shortcuts, instead following a routine of strength training, healthy eating, and honing the techniques needed to reach his goal.
Strengths like these undoubtedly help characters achieve their desires. But what role do weaknesses play? How do we know which traits are positives and which are flaws?
A character trait is a distinguishing attitude, quality, or behavior—negative, positive, or neutral—that aids in defining someone’s personality.
To break it down further, positive attributes are traits that produce personal growth or help a character achieve goals through healthy means. They also enhance one’s relationships and benefit other characters in some way. Honorable, for instance, is easy to place on the positive side of the personality wheel. A truly honorable character is going to use healthy measures to achieve success, and because of his nature, he can’t help but aid others and strengthen his relationships along the way.
On the other hand, flaws are traits that damage or minimize relationships and do not take into account the well-being of others. They also tend to be self-focused rather than other-focused. By this definition, jealous clearly belongs with the flaws. Jealous characters are focused on their own wants and insecurities; their resentment and bitterness make others uncomfortable and hurt relationships rather than build them.
Neutral traits are harder to categorize, containing a mix of positive and negative qualities; because they do not have the limiting or unhealthy aspects of flaws, they do not appear in this volume.
HOW DO YOUR CHARACTER’S FLAWS DEVELOP?
Characters are all about self-discovery, finding meaning, and achieving goals. They’re usually seeking to improve themselves in some way—at work, in personal relationships, spiritually, or through self-growth. But time and again, their flaws sabotage them, blocking them from gaining what they want both on a conscious and subconscious level. It’s ironic, really; who they are and what they want are often at odds, making it difficult for them to achieve success. So why do they have these flaws? Where do they come from?
It shouldn’t be surprising to learn that the past is to blame. Many factors play a part in determining who our characters become, including the way they were raised, their role models, environment, and genetics. If the character’s world is anything like ours, it’s filled with flawed people, and life isn’t the perfect, well-balanced nirvana they’d like it to be. Specific events and long-term exposure to unhealthy ideas, behavioral patterns, and relationships can hamstring a character. An ignorant character, for instance, may be that way due to years of poor teaching, or from being sheltered in a way that limited her ability to connect or get along with others. This history of not being taught the whole truth creates a deficiency in her personality that undermines her ability to reach her full potential.
But the most crippling factor—the one that authors should always strive to unearth from their characters’ pasts—is emotional trauma. Old hurts can have a huge impact on our characters, influencing their current behavior. Emotionally painful events like these are called wounds and are profoundly powerful. This defining emotional experience from a character’s past is so debilitating that she’ll do anything to avoid suffering the same kind of pain again. It colors how she views the world and alters what she believes about herself and others. This traumatic experience instills a deep fear that the hurt will happen again if the character doesn’t protect herself against it.1
Physical defects with a lasting psychological effect, such as a crippling illness or disfigurement, can have the same result. In both cases, the mistaken belief that the character must harden herself in order to be emotionally safe is what allows negative traits to emerge.
THE CHARACTER’S WOUND
Wounds are often kept secret from others because embedded within them is the lie—an untruth that the character believes about himself. He may think that he deserved what happened to him, or that he’s unworthy of affection, love or happiness, etc. Self-blame and feelings of shame are usually deeply embedded within the lie, generating fears that compel him to change his behavior in order to keep from being hurt again.
For example, if a man believes he is unworthy of love (the lie) because he was unable to stop his fiancée from being shot during a robbery (the wound), he may adopt attitudes, habits, and negative traits that make him undesirable to other women. If he does grow close to someone, he might sabotage the relationship before it can become too serious. He may also avoid situations in which he is responsible for others, believing that he will only fail them in the end.
To use a less dramatic scenario, consider a daughter growing up with a father whose work was more important than his family (the wound). This girl may become a workaholic adult due to her belief that the only way to gain the attention and acceptance of others is through career achievement (the lie). Although she wants a family of her own, she may sacrifice that desire so she can dedicate herself to work. Her health declines, friends become marginalized, and her life revolves only around activities that promote her career, leaving her successful at work but unfulfilled at heart.
The lie plaguing your character should center on one of five basic human needs:2
BASIC NEED: To secure one’s biological and physiological needs
RELATED LIE:I’m not capable of providing for myself or anyone else.
BASIC NEED: To keep oneself and one’s family safe
RELATED LIE:I don’t deserve to feel safe.
BASIC NEED: To feel connected to and loved by others
RELATED LIE: I am not worthy of love or affection.
BASIC NEED: To gain esteem, both from others and from oneself
RELATED LIE:I can’t do anything right.
BASIC NEED: To realize one’s full potential
RELATED LIE:I’ll never be a good ____ (parent, employee, friend, etc.).
(For an extensive list of basic needs and associated lies, see Appendix A.)
Many other flaws result organically from one’s upbringing or environment rather than birthing violently from a traumatic wound, but a character’s major flaw should always be traced back to a defining hurtful experience. This flaw will compromise his path to achieving his dreams and prevent him from reaching his full potential. It is this weakness that the character will eventually have to overcome by revisiting the past and coming to terms with his old wound.
PROTECTIVE MEASURES: HIDING ONE’S FLAWS
It’s natural for characters to want to hide their weaknesses from others. In social situations, they may wear a mask, or persona, putting on an act to hide how they really feel. Imagine a woman who was taken advantage of in the past. Her persona may be to act sour and tough—too strong to be hurt. By acting this way, she keeps others from getting close so they will never know that she’s just as vulnerable as she ever was.
The persona also serves to hide the darkness within—the negative, ugly bits of our characters’ personalities that they would prefer others didn’t see. Prejudices, inappropriate thoughts, unhealthy desires that are selfish or harmful: although these qualities are part of their personalities, our characters hide them to avoid the guilt and shame that occur when their true selves are exposed.
Most importantly, hidden behind the persona is the lie that creates the character’s flawed behavior and negative thinking. As mentioned earlier, this lie is different for each character and stems from their emotional wound.
When building characters, uncovering this lie is the key to understanding how certain flaws might develop. Digging deep while in the planning stage and extensively exploring a character’s backstory will allow us to better understand his past wounds and what will motivate him in the present.
1 Michael Hauge, author of Writing Screenplays That Sell
2 Adapted from Abraham Maslow’s original Hierarchy of Needs
THE ROLE OF FLAWS WITHIN THE CHARACTER ARC: COMPLICATING THE JOURNEY
Flaws come in different shapes and sizes. Minor ones tend to be common and don’t often impact behavior in a life-altering way. The character has learned to live with these weaknesses, which usually show up when he is under high emotional strain. Major flaws, on the other hand, have dramatic results, twisting the character’s view of himself and his surroundings.
These major flaws—often referred to as fatal flaws—are what cause the hero to be “stuck” in some way at the start of his story. He may be blind to these flaws, or if he does see them, he might misinterpret them as strengths, failing to recognize that they’re actually preventing him from achieving his goals. Depending on his perception, the character may seem content at the beginning of the story, although on some level, his life is lacking fulfillment. While there are usually external forces holding him back, there’s also that internal flaw that must be overcome for him to feel complete and satisfied with who he is.
The internal change that a character undergoes over the course of a story is called the character arc. At the beginning, he views himself and the world one way, but through growth and inner transformation, he comes to view his life on a deeper, more meaningful level.
OUTER MOTIVATION AND OUTER CONFLICT
At its most basic, the character arc consists of four pieces. The outer motivation is what the character wants to achieve, and the outer conflict is the element that’s stopping him from attaining that goal. To use a familiar example, Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee from the movie A Few Good Men wants to win his case and absolve his clients of guilt (outer motivation), but Colonel Jessup (outer conflict), with his ambition and influence, is keeping him from achieving that goal. Pared down, this is the external story of A Few Good Men.
INNER MOTIVATION AND INNER CONFLICT
Compelling and multi-dimensional stories also consist of an inner journey that parallels the external one. For every outer motivation, there should be an inner motivation; this is the reason the character wants to achieve his goal, and it’s almost always an effort, in some way, to gain greater self-worth. This inner motivation should be accompanied by an inner conflict: the flaws and/or lies within the character that stand in the way of him achieving his inner motivation.
Kaffee’s reason for wanting to win is to distinguish himself (inner motivation), to prove that he can successfully argue a court case—as opposed to his usual plea bargain—and live up to his dead father’s reputation as an exceptional trial lawyer. This need for validation emerged from growing up in the shadow of his wildly successful father (wound). As a result, Kaffee doubts himself and his abilities (inner conflict). Though he wants to prove himself, he’s afraid that his best efforts will fall short of his father’s accomplishments and he will always be second best.
A character arc works best when it mirrors the ups and downs of the outer story. As the character strives to overcome an antagonist or challenge, so must he overcome himself and his greatest fears. Throughout the arc, the damaged character must face himself and his shortcomings. To emerge healed and whole, he must acknowledge his wound and see the lie for what it is. Once he is able to let go of his false belief, the lie that has motivated his actions to this point will no longer control his life.
A character does not have to overcome all his flaws during the journey, but if the story is to end with him becoming a stronger, more balanced version of himself, then the fatal flaw must be vanquished, or at least diminished to the point that it no longer controls his life or holds him back. Unless the story intentionally ends in tragedy with the character being unable to face his fear, then his struggle at the story start should be reversed by the end. If he viewed the future with trepidation, now he faces it with optimism. If he once embraced a life of isolation, he now sees value in building community with others.
For further insight into the character arc and how it fits into story structure, we highly recommend Michael Hauge’s Writing Screenplays That Sell and The Hero's 2 Journeys (CD/DVD) by Michael Hauge and Christopher Vogler
FLAWS AND INTERNAL CONFLICT
The road to evolution and transformation isn’t easy. Flaws act like sharp stones in the path, providing obstacles for the character to overcome. Shadowed by these bumps in the road are life’s lessons, waiting to be learned.
Let’s take Mickey as an example—fresh out of jail after serving time for a crime he didn’t commit. He’s alone in the world since his best friends cut him off at the time of his arrest, leaving him hurt by their betrayal. His outer goal is to stay out of jail by playing by the rules and not getting into trouble, but his resentment and anger have created a huge chip on his shoulder, particularly when it comes to the police and the legal system.
We have a beautiful storm of conflict here. Mickey is determined to avoid further jail time, but his resentment and rebellious nature are constantly tripping him up. The powerlessness he experienced during his prison term has given him a thirst for control, yet he has to abide by other people’s rules if he’s going to maintain his newfound freedom.
This is how a character’s flaws can create great inner strife.
Another way to complicate this struggle is to give the character opposing desires or needs, and force him to choose. Let’s say that our hero is pursuing his original goal when he discovers that his ex-wife and estranged son have gone missing. Mickey suspects foul play, but the police are apathetic and warn him, an ex-con, to stay out of it. Now he has two goals: keep out of jail by following the rules, and save his ex-wife and son by doing whatever is necessary.
Flaws create contradictions, causing the character to question what’s most important. Authentic characters struggle with thorny decisions, and their shortcomings make it hard for them to be objective. This causes tension and conflict, and ensures that their roads will be difficult to navigate.
CAN FLAWS HELP OR ONLY HINDER?
Some people may argue that flaws, on the whole, get a bad rap. After all, many of them initially develop as coping mechanisms to protect our characters from being hurt. And if they aren’t harming anyone, then how can they be so bad?
The problem is that flaws are fueled by lies and negative beliefs that stymie the character. These traits can limit learning and growth, hamper judgment, and damage relationships with others. In the majority of situations, flaws keep our characters from reaching personal and professional goals.
For example, a healthy character who has experienced betrayal may find mistrust emerging as a personality trait. She doesn’t take things at face value, views other people with suspicion until they’ve proven trustworthy, and investigates before committing to anything.
On the surface, this seems reasonable and smacks of good old-fashioned common sense. But consider that, as a result of this mistrust, she’s not as friendly as she used to be. No longer spontaneous, she refuses to take a step without knowing what’s coming. She distances herself from others, hides her emotions, and keeps secrets. Committed relationships frighten her, and if one begins to develop, she breaks things off before it gets too serious.
The picture isn’t as pretty now, is it?
On the surface, flaws may emerge to protect the character from emotional hurt, but they will always limit growth and create dysfunction in some way. These negative qualities, minor or major, will bias the character’s perceptions and dictate how he or she relates to others.
THE POSITIVE SIDE OF FLAWS
What’s important to note is that while flaws themselves are destructive, they can be applied beneficially to help your character within the context of your story. Consider a protagonist who lives in a world of corruption and crime. When people are out to take advantage of everyone else, the ability to lie well could be a valuable asset. Likewise, if an overly competitive character is thrust into a situation where she must compete to the death, this flaw could give her the strength to save herself.
Flaws also have their positive elements, although these aren’t as clear because the negatives are so obvious. Gullible characters are easily duped, but they’re also trusting, friendly, and generous. Spoiled characters, while over-indulged and selfish, can freely express their wants and desires and have no trouble standing up for themselves. When examining your protagonist’s negatives, be sure to explore the positive side of their flaws, since both can be utilized to create a well-rounded and believable character.
THE ROLE OF FLAWS IN RELATIONSHIPS: CREATING FRICTION
Not only do flaws create delicious and powerful internal conflict, they will also cause strife between the hero and his supporting cast. Conflicting traits can bring out your hero’s darker qualities, while characters with opposing priorities, desires, and behaviors are sure to produce additional tension.
Imagine this scenario:
Deana is working hard to prep for her catering event, one that could lead to some high-profile referrals and put her business on the map. A perfectionist, she’s stressed out, triple-checking every detail to make sure the appetizers are garnished and at the correct temperature for serving. Meanwhile, her long-time friend and new employee Angie is polishing trays to enhance presentation. She’s trying to focus, but her mind keeps slipping away to her recent breakup and her worries that she’ll never find the right guy.
When a flirty waiter swings into the hotel’s kitchen and invites Angie outside for a smoke, she doesn’t think twice. As a result, food is placed on her unpolished silver trays and served to the guests.
Deana discovers the water-spotted trays making their way around the dining hall and becomes furious. This was an important event—how could Angie screw it up? She knows that her friend has a blind spot when it comes to men and that she’s been especially fragile since her breakup, but she’s hurt that Angie didn’t come through when Deana needed her.
Friction is created here on a couple of levels, complicating the plot and putting a strain on this relationship. The situation has become more complex because Deana wants to support her friend through her difficult time, but she also wants to make her business succeed. While she thought she could do both, she’s wondering now if she’ll have to choose between her two goals.
There’s also a clash due to differing personalities. Deana’s fussy, hard-working nature is at odds with Angie’s impulsiveness. More conflict emerges when Angie’s priorities shift from doing her job and helping her friend to flirting with the waiter and fulfilling her own desires.
While some positive attributes can conflict with each other and cause tension in relationships, the biggest blowups happen when flaws are involved. The resulting friction occurs in varying levels of intensity in the form of sparks, fireworks, and explosions.
SPARKS
This low-level friction often manifests as impatience, frustration, irritation, and disappointment—all of which bubble mostly under the surface, affecting a character’s mood, judgment, and perception. Outwardly it might cause a verbal exchange that shows a difference of opinions or beliefs. The character may disagree with, doubt the competency of, or pass judgment on another person in the scene. Sparks can strain a friendship, causing one character to question the other’s priorities.
Characters on both sides may harbor resentment or request space in the aftermath. Often the point-of-view character will reflect on the confrontation, trying to understand what caused it. When the characters meet again, there will be some awkwardness, but forgiveness can pave the way back to harmony and equilibrium.
In Deana and Angie’s scene, the resulting low-level friction might look like this:
Angie slipped in through the back door, a slight smile on her face. A moment later, the waiter followed, tucking a slip of paper into his jacket. She grabbed the buffing cloth and lifted a tray from her pile of platters, not seeming to notice how it had diminished in her absence.
Deana set down her clipboard. “Lining up a date?” At Angie’s goofy grin, Deana had to force her voice to stay even. “Maybe next time you should make sure the platters are done first. Half-a-dozen trays went out covered in watermarks.”
Angie’s shoulders dipped and her smile melted. “Oh. Well, I had them in two separate piles. You’d think the guys doing the plating would’ve noticed which ones were clean.”
By not accepting responsibility for the dirty platters, Angie hasn’t exactly smoothed things over. An apology would have done wonders, but she chose to shrug off Deana’s gentle criticism—likely, because she’d expected her friend to be happy that she’d lined up a date instead of rebuking her. Both are feeling less secure in their friendship than they once were, and this unease will likely remain until the air between them is cleared.
FIREWORKS
This intermediate level of friction kicks emotions up a notch. Arguments, tense body language, impulsivity, and reduced empathy may develop. Voices rise as characters speak their minds, often knowingly saying things that will hurt the other person. Fireworks will have a lasting effect on the relationship, making reconciliation more difficult. Healing the rift is possible, but it will take time and effort from both parties to mend their hurt and pride.
Imagine how fireworks might transform the confrontation between Angie and Deana:
“Lining up a date now, of all nights?” Deana lowered her voice, but each word betrayed her anger. “Come on, Angie! You know how much is riding on this.”
Angie froze, mid-swipe. “What’s the big deal? It was a five-minute smoke break.”
Deana motioned toward the dirty stack. “Yes, and a half-dozen unpolished platters went out because of it.” She took a deep breath. “Look, I know you’re hurt about Leon leaving and are probably eager to get back into dating, but at work, you’ve got to put that away. I’m relying on you to do your job.”
“I am doing my job.” Angie dropped a tray onto the pile, making the whole thing wobble. “Don’t blame me that someone wasn’t paying enough attention to tell the clean platters from the dirty ones. Besides, the guests won’t even notice those tiny spots. Stop being such a perfectionist.”
Here, Deana is upset enough that she’s careless with her words, getting personal by bringing up Angie’s neediness with men and hinting at her unreliability. Angie matches anger with anger by minimizing Deana’s frustration over the unpolished platters, and she tops it off with a dig about her perfectionism. Tension crackles between them, and the pride of both characters takes a hit.
EXPLOSIONS
This high-level friction causes the involved parties to feel raw, uncontrolled anger or rage, betrayal, or humiliation. By-products include smugness, pride, and contempt that can lead to feelings of hatred. Characters become volatile, and may yell, scream, turn violent, or walk out. They might break things, literally or figuratively, sabotaging the relationship by hurling insults and revealing secrets. Trust is shattered, and satisfaction blooms when one party is avenged by causing the other emotional pain.
In the aftermath of an explosion, relationships are broken. Long-term resentment sets in and anger flares when the event is mentioned or recalled. If time does eventually bring the parties back together, the relationship is unlikely to return to what it was before. Both parties will be overly sensitive, avoiding certain topics and establishing limits in order to protect themselves. They may find it harder to trust not only the other party but anyone in a similar situation again. Explosions can create new emotional wounds, altering one’s perception and behavior in the future.
By continuing the scenario between our two friends, let’s see how explosions might develop—this time, viewing the scene from Angie’s perspective:
“Perfectionist?” Deana’s voice scaled the walls and shook a rack of champagne flutes. “Is that what they call it in Angie La-La Land? I built this company from nothing because I pay attention to the details—something you might consider doing once in a while.”
Angie raised her chin. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, to start with, that guy who just pocketed your number? He’s half your age. What do you think he wants from you?”
Angie’s face tingled with heat, and she threw down a silver tray. “Oh, suddenly you’re the relationship expert? Miss Hasn’t-Dated-Since-College, Miss I’d-Rather-Be-Working?” She let out an ugly laugh, not caring that everyone in the kitchen was listening. “I know it must be hard to see other people having real lives, so how about you stay the hell out of mine?”
Here, hurtful words fly, judgments are made, and reputations are damaged. Deana knows she’s poking at sensitive areas, but she’s angry enough to speak without considering the results. Angie lashes out in return, well aware that others are watching but not caring how this fight might damage Deana’s reputation with her employees or the hotel.
When it comes to creating the right amount of conflict, imagine that the tension resulting from clashing traits is a thermostat. Adjust it until you reach the desired heat, then see where the scene goes.
BUILDING CHARACTERS FROM THE GROUND UP
When creating characters, it’s pivotal to understand how flaws are formed and the role they play in the story. The next step is to decide which weaknesses will plague your protagonist. As with any aspect of writing, there are many possible techniques for determining the flaws that will work best.
BE MEAN
To put it another way, figure out what your character wants, then add flaws that will make that desire almost impossible to achieve. If he craves love, a callous or uncommunicative veneer would make it difficult for him to get what he wants. Similarly, someone who desires acceptance would have a hard time gaining it if he was a busybody with a taste for gossip. It sounds heartless, but remember that a good story can’t exist without conflict. If tension is what you’re going for, use this technique to discover the flaws that will make your characters’ lives the most difficult.
SABOTAGE GOAL-FRIENDLY ATTRIBUTES
Unlike the “Be Mean” technique, which uses a character’s desires against him, this method exploits the character’s positive attributes. Start by identifying the positive traits that would be the most beneficial in helping the character reach his goal. Then give him flaws that do the opposite. For example, let’s say that your hero wants to get his GED certification fifteen years after dropping out of school. Attributes that would help him achieve this goal include intelligence, persistence, and industriousness. So to make the journey difficult, pick a flaw that’s the opposite of one of these traits. Maybe he’s a bit of a flake; he makes decisions but has a tough time sticking to them and gives up at the first sign of trouble. Supporting characters know this about him and doubt his dedication and ability to succeed, adding another roadblock for the hero. By thinking of which traits would work, then choosing the opposite, you’re sure to find flaws that will undermine the character and give him even more to overcome.
UTILIZE THE REVERSE BACKSTORY TOOL (APPENDIX B)
This useful tool provides a visual aid that illustrates how a character’s goals, flaws, and wounds are interrelated. If you struggle with understanding your character’s past, this tool will help you shape it by asking vital questions about his motives and needs. It’s also versatile and can be used a number of ways. You can start by determining the character’s goal and strengths, and choose his flaws from there, or begin with the character’s weaknesses and use those to figure out his goal and the wounding event. It’s also possible to begin with the character’s needs or the lie he believes about himself and work backward to plot out a suitable and challenging goal. However you choose to use it, this simple but effective resource can be invaluable for filling in the important blanks in your character’s backstory.
CHOOSE FLAWS THAT CONTRAST WITH THE TRAITS OF OTHER CHARACTERS
Conflicting traits, by definition, create conflict. It’s the classic Odd Couple scenario, and it works well to build tension and complicate matters for the hero. If your character has controlling tendencies, pairing him with a rebellious partner who resists any kind of authority will cause serious problems. Is your hero humorless and overly serious? Then bring on the mischievous sidekick. If you’re judicious about choosing flaws for all the players in your story, the characters will create tension just by interacting, making the hero’s journey more difficult than it has to be.
PULL FROM YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE
Think about the flaws that limit you and the people in your life. What weaknesses do you wish you didn’t have, and why? What flaws do you see in others that drive you crazy? Will any of these work for your character? If so, you now have the opportunity to witness firsthand how a particular flaw manifests itself so you can write it realistically.
TIP: To help you stay organized, try using the Character Pyramid (Appendix C). This tool will help you figure out your character’s flaws and to what degree they will get in the way.
VILLAINS AND THEIR FLAWS: STRIKING A BALANCE
Writing a villain is no easy task. In fact, much of the story’s success lies on the writer’s ability to craft a credible antagonist to oppose the protagonist. For there to be a hero, there must be a force, usually another character, working against him. A weak villain offers little challenge, yet a strong one forces the hero to step up, demanding more of himself than he even thought possible.
Deeply flawed and driven by morals that may seem unconscionable to the hero, villains must still connect with readers in some way to be realistic. Their presence should command attention, and while their actions cast no doubt that they are a dark force, their intentions or motivations must be logical, and on some level, understandable.
With a troubled past creating fertile ground for flaws to take root, it is easy to go too far and create a character with overblown negative traits. To ensure this doesn’t happen, create a balance of traits that allows the villain to showcase his many flaws while still giving the reader a glimpse at a redeeming quality or two.
RESPECT THE ANTAGONIST
The antagonist or villain is a critical part of any story, forcing the hero to find the courage and strength he needs to evolve. From the outside, the writer’s job seems as simple as creating a villain so loathsome that readers will cheer the hero on when he smashes him to dust. But the work is actually much more complicated. The villain cannot be a shallow placeholder or cardboard stand-in that conveniently blocks the protagonist’s path. To be worthy of challenging the hero, the villain must be as rich and complex as the protagonist himself. Respecting the villain’s position within the story means going the distance during character creation.
CHOOSE COMPLEX MOTIVES AND GOALS
Like the protagonist, an antagonist has dreams, needs, and desires. In his eyes, he is the hero of his own story and so strives for higher self-worth just like anyone else. But unlike a protagonist who wishes to become more fulfilled through healthy means, the antagonist embraces undesirable methods. Broken in some deep and defining way, he believes that his goals will bring him closer to feeling complete, not understanding how his flaws and skewed view of the world are the very things holding him back from true happiness.
It’s important to delve into the antagonist’s personality and possibly show readers his normal world before he clashes with the protagonist. Exploring backstory will help writers understand how the antagonist’s experiences, including the wounding event, has contributed to who he is today.
In the novel Misery, Annie Wilkes first appears to be a kindly Samaritan who happened to be in the right place at the right time, saving novelist Paul Sheldon from a winter car crash. A retired nurse, cheerful Annie sets his broken leg and manages his pain from her Colorado home. But before long, Paul starts to worry that something might be off. Her fanatical love for his Misery Chastain character, the declarations that she’s his number one fan, and her excuses for not transporting him to a real hospital all raise red flags. When she goes into a manic rage after reading his latest manuscript where her beloved heroine Misery is killed off, Paul begins to see the depth of her madness. After stints of neglect and various threats and tortures, Paul sneaks out of his locked room, searching for answers and a way out. He discovers a scrapbook outlining the disappearances of dozens of people, along with a string of infant deaths at the hospital where she once worked. This window into the past confirms his worst fears: Annie Wilkes is a serial killer.
As Stephen King did in Misery, sharing some history with readers can provide an understanding glimpse into the psyche of the antagonist, and may help to explain how she became the person she is. Revealing these important tidbits creates a bond between the reader and the villain. And while readers might not agree with what the antagonist wants or condone her methods, they will at least know her well enough to understand why she acts as she does.
DIG AT HIS PAST UNTIL HE BLEEDS
For both protagonist and antagonist, the past shapes the character. Experiences, environment, and influential people within a character’s past all contribute to determining who he becomes in the present. Antagonists suffer wounding events just as heroes do, and the outcome of these emotional traumas is what sets them on an altered path. When negative emotions well up from a hurtful event, flaws can distract the villain from his pain or protect him from reliving the same suffering again.
As you would for a protagonist, probe your villain’s backstory. Think about how he was raised, and by whom, and how he was treated along the way. Who loved him and who hurt him? What failures and past pain is he determined to avoid, and how do these affect his goals and motivations now? Answering these questions encourages a deeper understanding of who he is and what vulnerabilities can be used to bring out the worst in your villain.
Most of all, think about which events occurred to cause a moral shift. Morality is the biggest difference between an antagonist and protagonist. They can have the very same goals and desires, but their moral barometers will dictate how they go about achieving them. The line in the sand is different for each; the question every writer must answer during the character creation process is why.
CHOOSE FLAWS THE ANTAGONIST VIEWS AS STRENGTHS
One main difference between an antagonist and other members of the story’s cast is that when he encounters adversity, rather than building up his positive attributes to help him, he hones his flaws. To him, these negative traits don’t hold him back; they fuel him with the strength he needs to move forward.
Understanding where your villain came from and what elements shaped him into his current negative state will help you choose flaws that suit his nature. Specifically, seek flaws that he views as powerful—tools he can refine to help him reach his goals. Many negative traits are positive attributes taken too far: confidence can lead to overconfidence; ambition can escalate to greed; supportiveness becomes fanaticism. With the villain’s low sense of moral obligation and his warped view of his place in the world, it is easy to see how he may twist positive traits into their darker cousins.
YOUR ANTAGONIST IS THE PROTAGONIST’S MIRROR
When choosing flaws, think about how your antagonist’s strengths can be a mirror for the hero’s weaknesses. If the hero is timid and uncertain, the villain can be determined and confident. And if the protagonist’s attributes are a willingness to trust and a patient nature, make the antagonist untrusting and impatient. By choosing flaws and attributes carefully, you ensure that clashes and conflict erupt whenever the hero and villain meet.
FATAL FLAW AND TRAGIC FLAW
For the protagonist, at least one flaw will stand out as his fatal flaw, emphasizing the deficiency about himself that must be overcome if he is to successfully grow and round out his character arc. Antagonists also have a character arc, and a fatal or tragic flaw which is their undoing. In their case, their inability to minimize or defeat this flaw is what causes them to ultimately fail. The only exception is the rare instance where the villain experiences an emotional awakening, allowing him to recognize his beliefs are false. In this case, a shadow lifts, allowing him to see his world as it really is, and break the hold his fatal flaw has on him. While he emerges changed, it oftentimes comes too late, and the antagonist does not survive it or is forced to pay for the harm he has done.
VILLAIN FAILS: DIAGNOSES AND TREATMENTS
One of the worst things we can do for our story is to include an unworthy villain. Here are a few of the biggest stereotypes writers should avoid.
The “Mua-ha-ha” Villain
This villain is your typical “wants power for the sake of power” antagonist. He takes what he wants, is never satisfied with what he has, and targets the hero only because he has the nerve to stand against him.
DIAGNOSIS: This villain is a sketch, a crayon drawing of the real thing, devoid of real motivations that will make him compelling to readers. He is boring and forgettable.
CURE: Put meat on your antagonist’s bones by exploring who he is and why. Delve into his past, understand who he is, and give him compelling reasons for his goals that satisfy a deep psychological need. Build in morals that have been corrupted by wounding events, putting him at odds with the protagonist’s own beliefs. Add positive attributes that help readers see him as complex and formidable, capable of succeeding.
