It’s easy to become so fond of your protagonist that you forget he’s not all swarthy, handsome, admirable hero. He’s far more interesting if he has faults, past trauma, inner struggles, etc. To ensure that these ring true, and to spawn characteristics that are consistent, I recommend the following book: The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Flaws by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. It is so thorough and well written that it recently took me from kind-of stuck while building a character, to being inspired to write about him nonstop all day. Like poking a hole in a dam. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out. It’ll now be one of the most-used resource books I keep on hand.
