Quirks!

We've all got 'em. We do weird things that don't really say anything about our goodness or badness, but still make us individual.

Fiction characters have them too. Less, probably, than real people, because a fictional character chock full of quirks is annoying. But they should have them - even if only the author knows them.

Do your characters play with their hair? Fidget? Chew on pens? Always tip their head when answering a question? Sing in the shower?

Writing prompt: Write up a new character sketch. Pay attention to the quirks while keeping the other things (virtues, flaws, etc) as balanced as possible. Do the quirks make the person more real? Do they fit?

Virtues as story

Sometimes a virtue itself can be a plot point. When virtues collide, plot happens.

A desire to always tell the truth combined with a secret that must never be told puts someone in an awful position. Both are virtues - keeping a secret that must be kept is good. Telling the truth is good. Together is where plot can happen.

Think about conflicting virtues. Where does plot happen between them? What do you think of them?

Writing prompt: Write a short piece about someone caught between conflicting virtues. What happens? Is it resolvable, or does the person have to "fall from grace" to find a resolution? If possible, write it both ways.

Plotting Around Virtues

Flaws are important. But so are virtues.

A character with no virtues is an unbelievable character. No matter how bad the villain, there are still good qualities that have to be evident, or you've got nothing more than a mirage. If a story is to be believed, there has to be something to make us want to know more, something to make us keep reading. Something to make us sympathize with both the hero and the villain.

Virtues can be tricky. It's as easy to overdo them as it is to overdo flaws, but while one major flaw can hold a story, only one virtue makes a character look false.

Write a character sketch including virtues. How do virtues influence the plot? Do they help or hurt? Are you stingy with virtues, or do you spend them like pennies?

Try to write a sketch for people you know. How many virtues do they have? How many flaws? (This is not an attempt to judge, just to write sketches to practice).

Changing Character Flaws

So there's a character sketch. There's a flaw. And there are plot ideas around the flaw.

But what happens when the flaw changes? What happens if your obsessive person becomes a hypochondriac? Or a pyromaniac? What if vain becomes boredom with life?

Take your character and change the flaw to something completely different, and look what that does with the plotline. Do you have a different story? How different?

How do characters make the story?