Comments on: Transforming Negative Traits into Powerful Character Arcs

By: denise

denise — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 02:35:46 +0000

I love this.

By: Jerry Tabbott

Jerry Tabbott — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 14:06:27 +0000

Great article! Initially, I expected ‘another article on character arc,’ but your particular focus on transforming flaws makes this one exceptional. I took another look at the characters in my first and second novels to see if I’d actually used it. My answers were “sort of” in the first and “not quite” in the second.

In the first, my MCs have a complacent view of governments-i.e., just let governments decide how to best use technology. By the end, they’ve decided not to trust those governments with dangerous weaponry they (my MCs) have acquired. It’s not exactly a deep-rooted flaw that they turn into strength.

In my second book, my MCs settle into their new roles, facing new challenges and actively striving to learn how to fulfill their newly accepted responsibilities. I give certain villains a character arc, but the most notable one is shown early on to already have lines he wouldn’t cross. So, his flaw is not so profound or complete as to fit your example.

Definitely, though, I’d like to use this in my next stories, where I have fresh, yet undefined characters to mold. Thank you!

By: Lissa Johnston

Lissa Johnston — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 20:46:13 +0000

Love this advice and how specific it is regarding a character's arc.

By: Anna Erishkigal

Anna Erishkigal — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 16:37:28 +0000

I love the exercises that go with this article. Thank you!

By: Debbie Vilardi

Debbie Vilardi — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 15:40:03 +0000

In reply to Ken Hughes. There is a life lesson in "A weakness is a strength you keep using at the wrong time."

By: Ken Hughes

Ken Hughes — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 14:15:27 +0000

A rule I've always liked is that a weakness is a strength you keep using at the wrong time. If a story shows *why* someone does what most of us look down on, and then leads them to making it a better part of a better way to live, it's gone past the obvious and shown some real depth.

By: Vivienne

Vivienne — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 10:44:46 +0000

I like the way you give us an example,Sarah. It makes it easier to envisage what you mean. Thank you for this post. It will help me. It also he.ps with deciding who the protagonist is. I now know the person whom I thought is the protagonist in a story I'm writing in fact, isn't. She's not the one who needs to transform, but another character has the arc.