Finding Character Flaws/Virtues

To all my fellow writers (and anyone else who might be curious)... have you ever been stuck trying to find flaws for a seemingly perfect character? Or maybe you needed to give your villain some favorable traits (moral ambiguity, and all that), but just aren't coming up with anything. I've been there, too, and it can be tough sometimes. You don't want to just pick a random trait and shove it into the character description. If it doesn't fit with the personality, it will come out forced rather than cohesive. So how do you pick flaws or virtues that truly belong to the character you created?

Here's one trick that I use. Take what you have and find its shadow.

By this I mean that if you're looking for a good flaw, look at the virtues first. Is your character compassionate, pensive, loyal? Now think about ways in which that positive trait could be perceived as negative.

The compassionate character might not be able to push others the way they need to be pushed. They might be too sensitive to others and get wrapped up in someone else's feelings. Perhaps their judgment and decisiveness are impaired by this trait, and they wind up letting the villain go free, at a high cost.

The pensive character might be too quiet and aloof. They might keep their thoughts to themselves to the degree that no one else can benefit from their brilliant plans and discernment.

The loyal character might be blinded enough by loyalty as to side with a friend who has wronged someone else.

If we struggle to find flaws or virtues for our characters, it might be that we are missing the connection between the two. Every characteristic a person has could be either good or bad, depending on the situation and who is interpreting it.

With that in mind, if this exercise is difficult to perform on a seemingly-perfect character, you can always interview that character's siblings for ideas. They'll know exactly how to help you.

What do you think, writers and other passersby? Have you ever struggled to find flaws and faults to round out your characters? How did you solve this problem?

Drop me a comment to let me know!