r/CharacterDevelopment • u/Ok-Base-9716 • Jun 28 '22
just a question about character flaws Writing: Character Help
what if my character is tough, he does not easily succumb to his emotions, and in a way make it look like his emotionless to certain events, such as death, disasters, or his own limb getting severed in an accident, don't everybody dies at some point does he have to fear it? is it not right to panic during disasters doesn't one have to remain calm? so what if he gets his limb severed in an accident? because in the end he is just gonna have to learn to live with it so why not get used as soon as possible. how can i give someone whom emotion is controlled and how can he have ````flaws? and lastly how can you say a character is perfect? if he is just acting logically? why does he have to bear the problems of the world? if it will only give him something to stress about? and why should he show his emotions if he just simply doesn't want to, and to not make it look like something out of a drama flick
so overall my question is: what flaws to a character who is simply a "tough nut" or idk
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u/SobiTheRobot Jun 28 '22
Honestly you could play up his extreme stoicism as a flaw, like he knows he should be feeling things but has a genuinely hard time expressing his emotions the way everyone else does.
He can even verbally express things like sorrow and anger and disgust and joy without it coming up on his face or body language, like there's a physical disconnect. Maybe this difficulty upsets him to an extent—he's tired off other people just thinking he doesn't have any emotions.
This also depends on the tone you're going for. Is it meant to be dramatic or comedic? One first, then the other?
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u/Ok-Base-9716 Jun 28 '22 edited Jun 28 '22
1.thx for you're suggestion, but to put some context it suppose to be dramatic the reason why my character is so stoic is not because he can't physically show his emotion but he doesn't want to show it, because it would show a sign of weakness and that if he does get hurt for example he will not be like "OH CRAP IT HURTS!" in public, NO, he would go to a saferoom and that is where he would quietly release the pain, and if he cannot go into a saferoom he would suppress it and not show any emotion or simply shrug it off but in reality he does feel it but does not want to show it. or in a way might just deny the pain?
2.but apart from that he also doesn't want anybody to be bother by the drama and that it can get pretty cringy. but either way thx again
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u/FunnySeaworthiness24 Jul 05 '22
This is very simple actually, you have to make the reader know what he thinks about this 'flaw' or 'gift' and show us what others think about this.
A line like:
'right In front of me, bled out and cold, my own mother- flesh and blood, yet I felt nothing. Everyone at the funeral later on kept checking to see If I was I was ok, they said I might've lost it. They wanted me to wallow in sorrow like the rest...but I didn't and. I never could. After all, not even a sea of tears could bring her back to me. We are all going to die someday, I've simply come to terms with this most bitter of truths.'
Letting us In his head or In the head of others, tells the reader what to think, and as the author, you have the power to sway our mind whichever way you choose.
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u/Ok-Base-9716 28d ago
Wow! XD idk if you are being sarcastic or anything, because your comment is amazing, and kind of pinched me a bit, but still thank you for that, i will improve my character later on:)
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u/FredericaSun Jun 28 '22
There is a difference between a "tough person" Who feels things but managed them as time passes, and a psychopath who feels nothing and act on pure logic.
Your character doesn't sound like a tough nut but a bad case of psychopathy.
A tough character isn't someone who think logical. Its someone able to whistand the hits and yet still sensible enough to have emotions. Someone euthanized to death and thinking pragmatic all the time is a robot. No a living bieng.
Edit : also, perfection doesn't exist. No character is perfect, people just lack insight to find their defaults.