Can someone give me an example of this?

questions
#1

MC Critical Flaw: Choice
Resolve: Change
Outcome: Success
Judgement: Good

By making a choice to change, he ends up being better off even though anytime he makes a choice, he ends up further from his goal?

#3

How about:

“Commander Petrovich is known for his bravado and gung-ho attitude towards war and killing. Whenever he sees an opportunity, he immediately strikes. However, as war approaches and the American’s DEFCON level rises, he struggles with a subordinate over whether to engage nuclear weapons and start World War III. In the climactic moment of the story, he is told by his superiors that the Americans are attacking and to retaliate, but rather than strike while the iron is hot, he takes a steady breath and decides to hold off, sure that the signal from the Americans is an error. Sure enough, he is correct, and the possibility of war fizzles out.”

Inspired by this man.

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#4

How do you see Critical Flaw: Choice being illustrated in that?

#5

From the definition: “Sometimes a character will choose before all the information is in. This can lead him to take steps that may ultimately prove to be counter-productive or even self-destructive. … snap judgments often lead to regrets for those whose only exercise is jumping to conclusions.”

So using @actingpower’s example, Petrovitch’s flaw is always making snap judgements (choices). By not doing that and choosing to Delay, he saves the world.

I was trying to come up with an example before. The problem I have is distinguishing between Problem/Solution vs. Unique Ability/Flaw. But maybe that would be clearer if we had a whole storyform for context.

#6

MC keeps choosing a toxic relationship that detracts from his effectiveness.
MC keeps choosing to take the “high road” when “getting his hands dirty” would be more effective.
MC keeps choosing to do what’s easy & trivial instead of what’s hard & important.
MC keeps choosing to act like he has the idiot ball (see tvtropes for more info).
MC keeps choosing the bottle & evading his problems over facing them.

MC keeps being chosen by one or more pursuers (e.g. a romantic pursuer, a stalker, an assassin).
MC keeps being chosen by his father to work at the family business.
MC keeps being chosen by his mother to go with her to church.
MC keeps being chosen by his daughter for her to crash at his place.
MC keeps being chosen by a bully to do the bully’s work.

Success: The MC overcomes the critical flaw & MC’s unique ability is unleashed at the climax to help tip the OS into success.
Change: The MC drops the MC problem & applies the MC solution to his personal problem.
Good: The MC gets over (to some degree) his personal angst that he had at the beginning of the story.

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#7

In the 60’s MC has a life problem and can’t figure out what it is, so she ends up in a new thing called ‘group therapy’ to see if it can help her change her life. During one session, one group participant bangs her foot with a fist hard, making her howl in surprise and pain. “I only wanted to see how ambivalent you are!” She goes home and looks up ambivalent in the dictionary. She realizes that she has gotten into a habit of looking at and assessing all possible choices of everything in her life, at every moment. She has ended up spending her whole time assessing choices, getting nothing done because everything is an equal choice. With this knowledge of herself, she is able to participate in future group sessions plus observe the others making choices, good, unpleasant, terrible, etc. She starts making choices in her own life consciously. As the years move on, she knows she has to just pick one choice and live with it for awhile, making her life successful (as any can be in this modern age…haha) This story of trying out group therapy has an outcome of success and a judgement of good. Now, I might be wrong and this might be an example of choice as a problem, but it can be used to demonstrate choice as a critical flaw using ambivalence.

#8

So, he makes a choice to make fewer choices. But, doesn’t the choice to make fewer choices reduce his chances for success because he is still making a choice (to make fewer choices) which is his critical flaw?

#9

In Dramatica, a story point doesn’t apply its meaning globally to every possible instance of its element.

So… An MC Critical Flaw of Choice means that something to do with Choice hinders him toward achieving the OS Goal (usually hindering the MC Unique Ability).

It does NOT mean that every possible thing to do with choices, choosing, being chosen etc. ALWAYS hinders the effort toward the Goal.

(Imagine a country where all the paper money is red in colour. This does not mean that every red piece of paper is considered cash. Similarly, not every choice in the story – not even every choice made by the MC – is going to be the MC Critical Flaw of Choice. This applies to every story point.)

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#10

“Choice” is, at that vital moment, making the call, taking the jump, “shitting or getting off the pot,” if you’ll pardon my French. “Delay,” by contrast, is standing by and waiting for more information, or waiting for someone else to make the choice for you, or doing anything other than having to make that fateful choice.