The Cracked Pot!
Flaws make us unique!
Flaws are what make a character interesting. They help us relate more deeply to characters (because we’re all flawed, right?) and can even make characters more attractive to the reader.
Flaws are actually what makes us human, individual beings with unique characteristics.
We expect our antagonists to have notable flaws, but our heroes should have a few, too, to make them seem more human. Developing flaws is a big part of how to make a unique character. Flaws can be best utilized if we can understand them and get benefits from them.
Once upon a time, there was a water-bearer who had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years, this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master’s house.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its imperfection and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
