I’ve been working on one of my characters for the NaNoWrimo story and I was trying to think of a good character flaw to give him. I want to avoid alcoholism and normal drug use because I think those have been pretty well covered.

I’ve heard about a particular side effect of sleep medications that cause memory loss if you stay awake past the point you’re supposed to go to sleep. I’ve heard stories of people ending up in unusual situations because they stayed awake too long and couldn’t remember what they did or how they got there.

It seems like an interesting concept to play with, but also an addiction to sleep medication is not something I’ve heard or read much about, and so it seems like an interesting angle to attack.

I’m not entirely committed to the idea at this point, which is perhaps one reason why I feel perfectly comfortable sharing it here. I’m still trying to consider all options. Hard boiled and sleep meds don’t really go together. A little voice inside me screams that I could do better than that.

It’s gotten me thinking about the process of course. I had stumbled across Lee Pletzer’s blog a couple days ago where he had a post about character creation.

I generally think of a character I’d like to see. It usually starts with one facet–I look for a perspective that is self-defined by the culture the character grew up or was raised in, or the perspective forced upon them by their job. Their more subtle characteristics always seem to bubble up from there. This is a bit different from say, personality. I feel every character an author creates is at least partially a reflection of themselves, and so in some manner every character will take on certain quirks or personality that reflect the writer’s muse along with a bit of their own personality. Or maybe I just take that for granted.

Either way, I feel the perspective every character brings is more important than whether they like sugar and cream in their coffee, or whether or not they hate lima beans.

I like to take the familiar and put a twist on it. That is the impetus behind the sleep med addiction. I’ve heard, read, and seen too much of the standard alcoholism to really appreciate it in regards to character flaws. Who needs another boozing detective, right?

And so I must search high and low for something else, the 99th idea if you will. What other kinds of character flaws are interesting?

Something that bears dramatic relevance to the theme of the story?

Certainly food for thought!