When I posted last Mon., Nov. 15, about personality disorders, Tyler Barnes piped up that there’s a book for writers called The Negative Trait Thesaurus. It’s one in a series of five books by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi to help writers craft their stories. You can read more on their website, Writers Helping Writers.
The Negative Traits book focuses on flaws characters can possess that will make them sympathetic to readers.
That got me to thinking about our flaws and what I wrote in Growing Great Characters that only seems to gets truer with time:
What makes us awesome also tends to be what, in some instances, tanks our effort. If we’re go-getters, for example, sometimes we’re too ambitious and lose focus on what’s really important. Or maybe we love to help people, but give away too much of our time and energy and so get burned out.
We are waaaaaay too hard on ourselves for being ourselves!
I'll suggest we get rid of the word flaw, which is all sorts of negative, and instead replace it with challenge, because that’s what too much of a good thing can be.
So give yourself a hug today and embrace your flaws, because they’re also what make you a terrific human being!
What are the challenges presented by your personality?
Mine: wanting to take every adventure possible.
Happy Sunday!