When to use
Use this when a character feels flat, interchangeable, or plot-convenient and you need them to want something, resist growth, and sound like no one else. Works for protagonists, antagonists, and load-bearing supporting cast.
Not for: plotting the story shape (use cw-story-outline), writing a scene they appear in (use cw-scene), their spoken lines specifically (use cw-dialogue), or their world's rules (use cw-worldbuilding).
Method
- Split want from need. Want is the conscious external goal (the crown); need is the unconscious lesson (to be loved without power). Decision point: if want and need point the same way, there is no internal arc — pull them into tension.
- Assign the flaw that blocks the need — the lie the character believes about themselves or the world ("I only matter if I'm useful").
- Give a wound: the backstory event that installed the lie. Keep it off the page; let it leak through behavior.
- Build voice from constraints: vocabulary tier, sentence rhythm, what they never say, and a verbal tic. Decision point: if you can swap their lines with another character's undetected, sharpen one constraint.
- Choose an arc type. Decision point: change arc (flaw overcome), flat arc (holds truth, changes others), or fall arc (flaw wins). Match it to the story's dramatic question.
- Map three arc gates: the moment the lie is challenged, the moment they cling harder, and the choice where they keep or shed it.
- Pressure-test with contradiction — one trait that cuts against expectation (the ruthless general who won't lie). Flatness is the absence of contradiction.
Example
Name: Dev, field medic. WANT: promotion off the front line. NEED: to forgive himself for the patient he lost. FLAW: believes rest is a betrayal of the dead. WOUND: fell asleep on a shift; someone died (off-page). VOICE: clipped imperatives, medical jargon as armor, never says "I'm tired." ARC: change. Gates — (1) ordered to stand down, (2) volunteers for a double instead, (3) hands off a patient and walks away, alive with it. Contradiction: hoards other people's rest, denies his own.
Pitfalls
- A want with no opposing need — produces a competent character with no inner story.
- Backstory dumped on the page instead of leaking through choices.
- Voice that matches the author's default register, so every character sounds the same.
- No contradiction — traits that all agree with each other read as a type, not a person.
Output format
NAME / ROLE: <...>
WANT (external): <...> NEED (internal): <...>
FLAW / LIE: <...> WOUND (off-page): <...>
VOICE: vocab <...> | rhythm <...> | never says <...> | tic <...>
ARC TYPE: change | flat | fall
GATES: challenge <...> → cling <...> → choice <...>
CONTRADICTION: <...>
1---2name: cw-character3description: Build a character with a clear want, need, flaw, distinct voice, and arc.4---56## When to use78Use this when a character feels flat, interchangeable, or plot-convenient and you need them to want something, resist growth, and sound like no one else. Works for protagonists, antagonists, and load-bearing supporting cast.910**Not for:** plotting the story shape (use cw-story-outline), writing a scene they appear in (use cw-scene), their spoken lines specifically (use cw-dialogue), or their world's rules (use cw-worldbuilding).1112## Method13141. Split want from need. Want is the conscious external goal (the crown); need is the unconscious lesson (to be loved without power). Decision point: if want and need point the same way, there is no internal arc — pull them into tension.152. Assign the flaw that blocks the need — the lie the character believes about themselves or the world ("I only matter if I'm useful").163. Give a wound: the backstory event that installed the lie. Keep it off the page; let it leak through behavior.174. Build voice from constraints: vocabulary tier, sentence rhythm, what they never say, and a verbal tic. Decision point: if you can swap their lines with another character's undetected, sharpen one constraint.185. Choose an arc type. Decision point: change arc (flaw overcome), flat arc (holds truth, changes others), or fall arc (flaw wins). Match it to the story's dramatic question.196. Map three arc gates: the moment the lie is challenged, the moment they cling harder, and the choice where they keep or shed it.207. Pressure-test with contradiction — one trait that cuts against expectation (the ruthless general who won't lie). Flatness is the absence of contradiction.2122## Example2324Name: Dev, field medic. WANT: promotion off the front line. NEED: to forgive himself for the patient he lost. FLAW: believes rest is a betrayal of the dead. WOUND: fell asleep on a shift; someone died (off-page). VOICE: clipped imperatives, medical jargon as armor, never says "I'm tired." ARC: change. Gates — (1) ordered to stand down, (2) volunteers for a double instead, (3) hands off a patient and walks away, alive with it. Contradiction: hoards other people's rest, denies his own.2526## Pitfalls2728- A want with no opposing need — produces a competent character with no inner story.29- Backstory dumped on the page instead of leaking through choices.30- Voice that matches the author's default register, so every character sounds the same.31- No contradiction — traits that all agree with each other read as a type, not a person.3233## Output format3435```36NAME / ROLE: <...>37WANT (external): <...> NEED (internal): <...>38FLAW / LIE: <...> WOUND (off-page): <...>39VOICE: vocab <...> | rhythm <...> | never says <...> | tic <...>40ARC TYPE: change | flat | fall41GATES: challenge <...> → cling <...> → choice <...>42CONTRADICTION: <...>43```
Matrixx0070