You probably already know that a character with no "flaws" is a Mary Sue, which is bad. Therefore, you want your character to have these "flaws". You start thinking.

 

Five hours later, you go online and head to this website and read the article on good character flaws. Good, you're here.

 

A character flaw is an aspect of their personality or physique that isn't a good one.  Examples of personality flaws include arrogance, naiveté, a short temper, stupidity, rudeness, immaturity, hypocrisy, and impulsiveness.

 

Constant brooding and angsting over a Tragic Past is not a flaw. It is whining. Although whininess could be a flaw.

 

Examples of physical flaws include slow speed, weakness, or clumsiness (more on this later).

 

Allergies, weak immune systems, and other diseases are not flaws. There are weaknesses, since they are usually not the character's fault. You can work out if you're weak, but you can't do much about a weak immune system except use medications and live in a bubble. Also, inability to do something that the character never has to do is also not a flaw. So your character's inability to swim would be a flaw if they're on a sinking ship, but it wouldn't be a flaw if the story was about a trek across a desert.

 

If you have trouble thinking of flaws, chew on this. Almost every endearing aspect of a character might with a flaw or two (though not necessarily will). Please don't just add random flaws that contradict other aspects of the personality.

• An intelligent person might also be arrogant or condescending of others.
• A cautious person might also be excessively paranoid.
• A confident person might also be arrogant or impulsive.
• A logical person may have trouble admitting they were wrong.
• A carefree person might completely ignore caution and do things that are downright stupid and dangerous.
• A very determined person might not recognize a lost cause when they see one.
• A quick-thinking person might easily jump to conclusions without considering all factors.

 

Once you have a few flaws down for your characters, you still have the problem of making sure the flaws are actually present.

 

For one thing, make sure to show that the flaws are there, instead of just telling the reader. Instead of saying "Arnold was slow" show that he's slow by having him have to stop and catch his breath a lot and having his friends have to wait up for him, or maybe have a friend or family member tell him he needs to run more often and build up some muscle and speed. If a character is supposed to be impulsive, then he should be impulsive. If that means he gets captured or killed, so be it.

 

For example, Bella Swan, a Mary Sue except for her clumsiness, right? Sorry, but it's not a flaw, since most of the time it just makes her look "cute" to the other characters, and thus is an endearing trait, not a flaw. If she had broken her leg or broken Edward's piano, then it might be a flaw (and Edward might have decided to rip her apart). No, the paper cut in New Moon does not make it a flaw. Anyone can get paper cuts.

 

Another thing to do is make sure that the character's flaws add to the story. If a character is clumsy, have him trip and smash something expensive and have to pay for it. Even something minor, like a tendency to exaggerate, could add to the story, if the character exaggerates the brutality of a crime he witnessed to the police and adds 4 years to the perpetrator's sentence.

 

The other way to show flaws is to have the other characters react to them. If a character is whiny, then other characters should be yelling at him or her to stop complaining, unless they themselves have exceptional self-control.

 

Sometimes, a character (usually a bleeding-heart Sue) will be defended from the tag by having “flaws” such as “too much compassion” or “too much wit”. These “too much of a good thing” flaws aren’t flaws, however, good qualities, sometimes mixed with flaws, sometimes not, can cause more harm than good. Let’s say your character is witty, but sometimes has a tendency to say things without thinking of the implications. Let’s say she’s attending an important dinner with the CEO of a big company, the outcome of which could make or break her career. She makes a poorly timed joke about “retards”, forgetting for an instant that one of the CEO’s children has mental retardation. The rest, I think, would be obvious.