But you know what I've realized? I am really good at making lists. And between writing and years of playing tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons, I've come to enjoy making characters and helping others make them. So why not continue making lists like the hobbies one to help other people with their character creation? Most likely, this won't be a long-running thing, as there are only so many lists needed for character and world building, but I guarantee, you'll be able to find it here.
Today, we're looking at bad habits. No character is perfect. Everyone's got these little quirks that they know they should work on fixing. Pick one or two (or more!) for your characters to make them more well-rounded and maybe give them something to improve about themselves.
| Bad Habits |
| Apologizing |
| Arguing |
| Biting pens/pencils |
| Blaming others |
| Bottling emotions |
| Bragging |
| Buying things and not using them |
| Cheating |
| Cheek or Lip biting/tearing |
| Chewing |
| Chewing tobacco |
| Coveting others' things |
| Cracking knuckles/joints |
| Cutting corners/skimping |
| Drinking / Getting drunk |
| Eating junk food |
| Eating late |
| Eating out daily |
| Eating with mouth open |
| Fidgeting |
| Forgetfulness |
| Gambling |
| Grinding teeth |
| Hair chewing/sucking |
| Hangnail pulling |
| Hard drugs |
| Holding grudges |
| Impatience |
| Impulse purchasing |
| Inability to sit still |
| Internet overuse |
| Interrupting |
| Jaywalking |
| Judging others |
| Kleptomania |
| Leaving dirty clothes/dishes out |
| Littering |
| Losing temper |
| Losing things |
| Lying |
| Making puns |
| Nail biting/picking |
| No self-control |
| Not backing up data |
| Not bathing |
| Not brushing teeth |
| Not caring for health when sick |
| Not involving others in decisions that affect them |
| Not knowing limits |
| Not listening/ignoring others |
| Not responding to messages |
| Not trying new things |
| Overeating |
| Oversleeping |
| Overspending |
| Picking at skin/scabs |
| Picking nose |
| Playing with hair |
| Pornography addiction |
| Procrastinating |
| Selfishness |
| Sitting still for long periods |
| Smoking |
| Snooze button overuse |
| Speaking in 3rd person |
| Staring |
| Starting projects without finishing |
| Staying up late |
| Stress/emotional eating |
| Stubbornness |
| Sucking thumbs |
| Tapping fingers/feet |
| Too much TV |
| Tugging ears |
| Unprotected sex |
| Using cell phone/tablet in social situations |
| Using other people's stuff |
| Verbal tics ("like") |
The BEST LIST ever! Things I never even thought of before. Among my favorites: Apologizing, not caring for health when sick & speaking in third person.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Stacey! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I am most definitely guilty of the health one myself.
DeleteThanks Maggie. I'm gonna keep this dog eared.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this! I was just looking at character development worksheets for NaNo and knew I needed something more.
ReplyDelete(Also this reminds me I need to work on my own hangnail pulling problem...)
How are puns a bad habit?
ReplyDeleteTrust me, when you live with a pun-addict, it's the worst habit.
DeleteI can't help but say puns when they come to my mind! I'm pretty much known for them at my school, which is fine, but sometimes the situation is one I should not be joking about. In those cases, my sense of humor is a pun-ishment.
DeleteMade me laugh :D
DeleteThis was really helpful for me! I'm just a rookie writer and I'm thinking of flaws for my characters. This is amazing. I'm really guilty of a lot of things here (Buying things and not using them, Impatience, Lying, Staying up late, etc.) myself!
ReplyDeleteI think the worst habit is 'speaking in the third person.' Most annoying. I've heard some well-known celebs do this on t.v. Drives me nuts when I hear it. But it would be perfect for an annoying person in a novel. Thanks for this. Great list!
ReplyDeleteAwesome. My character has no self control already which leads him to making a serious mistake out of anger that leads us towards the inciting incident. I'm already building suspense and i've written les than 30 pages so far but i'm getting there.
ReplyDeleteAwesome. My character has no self control already which leads him to making a serious mistake out of anger that leads us towards the inciting incident. I'm already building suspense and i've written les than 30 pages so far but i'm getting there.
ReplyDeleteI'm just going to give some of this to Ayana! Hmm... she's already stubborn, but she doesn't bit her nails. She could do this when she's stressed!
ReplyDeleteI will put this list on "my favourite list" :D
Very useful! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeletedefinitely using this as a way to create more well developed characters, perfect flaws considering my characters are teens all the time, so this is helpful stil! so i'm putting this on a new list called,Oc Needs.
ReplyDeleteOh God! Thank you very much for this list!! This is very useful
ReplyDeletevery useful to me.am always bitting my nails when thinking hard and i dint think its good.
ReplyDeleteI love that without knowing, I already give my characters a few flaws :D
ReplyDeletesoooo amazing article
ReplyDeleteIn fantasy: killing dogs, kicking beggars and slaves, smoking a lot, Cursing everyone under his command, Hypochondriac, cowardice, treacherous, digging nose or ears, burping publicly, bating his children with a stick or belt, chewing a toothpick....always, growing a pinky nail, avoid religion, (of course, not all on a same character hahahaha...)
ReplyDeleteI'm doing character interviews today. What a great list of #badhabits! They make our characters real and relatable. Thanks for this great post!
ReplyDeleteFlower vector created by macrovector - www.freepik.com
ReplyDeleteThere are so many other things things I don't realize are characteristically bad habits before. Now I know. Amazing losts
ReplyDeleteso turns out i have 31 of these
ReplyDeleteI am tots using in my novel
ReplyDeleteActress closing her eyes as she takes a bite out of some sponsored food. I always must look away...
ReplyDeleteThank you! that was actually helpful and unblocking!
ReplyDeleteWell I agree that these are bad habits but everyone has a different personality and attitude so these bad habits can actually work on some characters flawlessly but all you need to is show them not to just tell them
ReplyDeleteBrilliant list! People like you make our job just that little bit easier!Thank you. 😃
ReplyDelete