In a post on Writers Helping Writers, Becca Puglisi shares advice for creating believable character flaws, particularly the “nice girl/guy” type. “While it can work for a protagonist, it’s most often reserved for secondary characters, such as a friend, ally, or love interest,” she says. “The key to making to make this kind of character realistically flawed while still maintaining their defining goodness is to be careful which negative traits you give them.”
One technique is to pick forgivable flaws. “If your nice guy character is prejudiced, violent, or cruel—those flaws are strong and could easily override their positive qualities to the point that readers will no longer see the character as good,” Puglisi notes. Instead, look for flaws that elicit empathy, such as naïveté, timidity, indecisiveness, or an eagerness to please. Regardless of the type of character or flaw, show the character at their most vulnerable. “When their flaw is the thing putting them at risk, readers tend to focus their antagonism more on the trait and less on the character,” Puglisi adds.
Another key is showing why your character developed this flaw. Bad experiences, poor role models, and past hurts give rise to coping mechanisms that don’t always serve us well. “Delve into their backstory to see which flaws make sense and where they might have come from,” Puglisi writes. “Readers will overlook even a really unpopular trait if they see it’s the result of the character being hurt, wounded, or influenced in some way.”
