Hello, writers.
Taped to my desk is a clipping from the SCBWI Bulletin. It says
Each character should have a “fatal flaw” as well as strengths. The flaw should get the protagonist into trouble; the solution should always come from the character’s own strength.
Readers love flawed characters. The more flawed the character, the better readers love him. (Severus Snape, anyone?)
Flawless characters, who mainly seem to inhabit mystery series, are annoying. You quickly learn nothing’s at stake for them, because they can do everything. There’s no conflict, because everyone worships the ground they walk upon. Even the bad guys admire them. It’s only us readers who don’t. Most of us have flaws ourselves. So we can’t relate.
Anyway. Last week I mentioned three plots that are in the process of being done to death by incipient novelists:
1. A callow youth (male or female) is the Chosen One who must obtain the sacred jewel of Togwogmagog in order to save the kingdom.
2. The protagonist either dies on page one or is dead before then, yet she’s tied to this world until she can make everyone sorry they were so mean to her.
3. The passive female protagonist is the love object of a supernatural being: werewolf, vampire, demon, or, with increasing frequency, angel. She is extremely grateful for this.
I asked you to come up with a twist to one of these plots. People mostly chose plot #1. (Hard to get interested in a passive or dead protag, I guess.)
Tonight’s challenge:
Take the callow youth in #1 above. Give him or her a strength. Then give him or her a flaw. Write a piece of dialogue that reveals the flaw.
The other party in the dialogue should be a person from whom the callow youth wants something. If you can swing it, make it a person who has some kind of power (benign or hostile) over the callow y.
Usual dialogue caveats: avoid synonyms for said; remember that people don’t usually speak in complete sentences; avoid
as-you-know-Bobs;
try to give each character a distinctive voice.
(NB: The most obvious flaw to give the CY would be to have him/her cuss a blue streak. Too easy, though.)
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