Flaws vs. Handicaps

Differences/Definitions

• A flaw is internal, a handicap is external.
• A flaw typically has to do with personality or internal problems that make it hard to solve a problem, a handicap is something like lack of time, or physical things that make it hard to solve a problem.
• A flaw is the hero’s fault (temper), a handicap is not (ex: Mary Jane in Spiderman).
• A flaw you overcome and it leads to a character arc, a handicap you do not overcome and it leads to more conflict.

Why Conflict is Needed

• Flaws/handicaps allow for the reader to relate and connect with the story.
• We can see ourselves in the characters of a story when they are not perfect.
• Flaws allow for growth and development in characters.
• People identify with change; watching characters go through change inspires us.
• Example: Spiderman allowed for people to relate because he was a teenage boy with problems of his own, however, Spiderman was not able to grow with his readers. People who started with Spiderman are now parents, while Spiderman is still fresh out of college.

Difficulties with Adding Flaws

• How can you make challenges that are interesting and continually more difficult and different than the previous flaw?
• How often do you create new flaws and how much can readers handle?
• How can you constantly come up with new, innovating ideas to develop your characters?
• How do you match flaws to heroes and not give them the wrong challenges?

How to Write Flaws Well

• Create conflicts that allow your characters to grow how you want them to. The flaws will allow them to grow and develop in a certain way, so find out what point you want your character to be at, and create a challenge to get them to that point.
• Create problems that allow readers to see the deeper side of your characters.
• Make sure your flaws are actual challenges and not just quirks.
• Make them likeable! (ex: Luke Skywalker was a whiny boy…typically unappealing, but they wrote it in a way that worked)
• Make your flaws realistic and relatable.
• Make them competent, give them strengths to balance out their weaknesses.

Involvement in Communities

One of the biggest involvements in a community is the involvement in a personal education. While education is widely variable and dependent upon each person and circumstance, it's typically known in our society that a higher education will lead to a better paying job. Careers that pay higher salaries often require years and years of schooling to make sure only the top notch people get those jobs. When you have a higher education, people are more likely to listen to you and trust in what you have to say. Just having a college degree will increase your chances of getting a job exponentially. 

When someone has a higher education, their involvement in society will increase. They are more likely to be taken more seriously and have more opportunities to get involved in their communities. In my opinion, civil life and the level of education you have are directly correlated and influence each other greatly.

Going along with this, another question asked was talking about organizations. There are many different organizations and different types of ways to get involved, but for me personally, I think education and work organizations are the most important. I believe that you will find success through your connections, and so I always am working to put my name out there and to get connected with as many people as I can. These types of organizations are the most important to me because I feel like they impact my future the most.

One example of this took place last year. I am in the broadcast journalism major and I am working to become a sports reported. I currently work for BYUtv and I am planning on interning with ESPN this next year. I always try to get involved with my boss because I know he has many connections that could be potentially valuable to me. I've always been really involved and invested in college basketball and football, and last year I had the opportunity to do a lot of work with new recruits. Because of my work organization and connections through my boss, I was able to work directly with a highly recruited basketball player who was considering BYU - Jabari Parker. It is because I put myself out there and decided to get involved that I was able to have more coverage and greater experiences. Without being involved in my education, schooling, and work, I would've never had the opportunity to do something that was so defining for my career.

Another classic, maybe cliche, example that I was to include is involvement in church organizations. Going to BYU, the high involvement in all of our church activities seems normal and unimpressive. However, compared to everyone else in the world, our involvement is insanely high. As members of this church, we put so much time and effort into being truly involved. Personally, I decided to give up time and education to serve a mission. While that's normal at BYU, it's often unheard of at other places. Our involvement in the church and dedication to the Gospel is what makes it such a success and why it is spreading so wide and far so quickly. It just goes to show how true dedication can go a long way. (aaaaaaand cue cheesy mission picture now)

Top Ten Influences - Online Writers

My group had the task of finding out how to advertise to podcasters. We eventually decided that the work that needed to be taken to advertise to them was not worth what the final outcome would be. We then switched over to online writers and how we can reach out to them.

Emily posted what our keywords are, which are:
- Writing workshop
- Creative writing exercises
- Writing prompts
- Creative writing exercises daily

These terms seemed to be searched often and have a high result rate. Along with those ones, some terms that I've found to be successful are:
-Creative writing ideas
-Writing tips
-Tips for creative writing
-Creative writing help
-Writing practice


As far as leveraging out to other people, I found these Twitter accounts that could be useful.
@writing_tips (30.6K followers)
@WritingCraft (17.4K followers)
@writingproject (19.9k followers)
@365Things2Write (1,000 followers)


Websites online we could use are:
http://www.writerscafe.org
http://www.scribophile.com/