Today I did start the long laundry list of character traits - but with a different agenda. Not to fill it out and move on and get to writing, but to fill in what I know and move on from there.
I spent time exploring my story as well. I feel if I have the climax and basic plot of the next books if any, it will make more sense to chart out the character flaw within all this context, though I do have clarity on close to what my protagonist's flaw is.
In other news, The Handmaid's Tale is pretty depressing. I hope there is some redeeming factor like in Atlas Shrugged and unlike in 1984. I guess there was a reason I avoided and serious books and I should stick to that to decide the next kind of books I read. Not to mention, this is the week I finished watching King Lear and it is truly, nightmarishly tragic.
All this sadness, despair and melancholia might have its place, but not in my universe. I will stick to exploring character transformation and the conditions of human existence through Marvel and DC films, and The Hunger Games kind of novels. I thought All the Light You Cannot See was a beautiful tale, set during the second world war, and I need my literature to have hope like it did. I am of the school of thought that believes literature and art should be transformational. I guess King Lear might be but I wouldn't go there again and 1984 was way too haunting for me to handle.
The rest of the week is going to be spent in finishing The Handmaiden's Tale but finding ways to have lighter elements of art in my life. :)