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Are your characters too “perfect”? Struggling to give them negative traits?

I’ve definitely fallen into the trap of making my protagonists and side characters too “perfect” before. It’s an easy mistake to make, but it can lead to your characters feeling one-dimensional if you’re too afraid to make them seem morally grey.

Here’s a very simple method:

1. Take a character’s main positive trait. Let’s take Hermione Granger, for example - her intelligence is a defining aspect of her character.

2. Exaggerate it into a negative trait. In the instance of Hermione Granger, she can come across to the other characters as a know-it-all. She’s not always portrayed as perfect for her intelligence, which is what makes her character more interesting.

Using this method, we have a number of options for negative traits for an intelligent character - patronising, arrogant, smug - to name a few.

I use the Fatal Attraction theory for this, which suggests that we fall out of love with someone for the same reason we were initially attracted to them. So, if you grew to like someone because you liked how strong and dominant they are, you may become tired of that down the line when their behaviour is controlling.

I’ve illustrated a few examples for how to exaggerate common positive traits into negative ones in the image above, but I have a few more examples to share so you really get the idea:

1. Comic relief / funny - can’t be serious, humour as a coping mechanism

2. Dark and mysterious - emotionally distant

3. Creative - aloof

4. Loyal - neglects own needs, willing to hurt for those they love

5. Compassionate / empathetic - overstepping boundaries

6. Honesty - overly blunt

7. Responsible - too serious

8. Humility - lack of self-belief

9. Trusting - easy to manipulate, overshares personal information

10. Perceptive - rude

11. Flirtatious - inappropriate

12. Organised - controlling, “neat freak”

13. Easygoing - lack of care about serious matters

14. Flamboyant - can be too much for some

15. Spontaneous - puts self in danger

Of course, you don’t have to do this. You can just have a character be spiritual and creative without making them out-of-touch and aloof. It’s completely up to you!

Using a method such as this, even if you only apply it subtly, adds a touch of realism to your writing by making your characters feel more well-rounded. It means that their negative aspects are truly coming from a part of them, rather than selected at random and mashed together from a list online.

[penandpaperdreams]

50 Futuristic Male Names

Some space/futuristic inspired names for your male characters!

1. Archer

2. Ash

3. Aspen / Espen

4. Asriel / Azriel

5. Aster

6. Atlas

7. Bastian

8. Blaze / Blaise

9. Blue

10. Caraway

11. Caspian

12. Cian

13. Clay / Klay

14. Colt / Colton

15. Cosmo

16. Cypher

17. Cyrus

18. Echo

19. Ember

20. Ezra

21. Flint

22. Forrest

23. Idris

24. Jax / Jaxon

25. Jethro

26. Jupiter

27. Kaiser

28. Kalel

29. Kasper

30. Knox

31. Leon

32. Luca / Luka

33. Lucien / Lucius

34. Lynx

35. Odin

36. Omega

37. Onyx

38. Ridley

39. River

40. Rune

41. Ryder

42. Sage

43. Salem

44. Silas

45. Torin

46. Xander

47. Zaiden

48. Zane

49. Zen

50. Zephyr