Sin

As a writer, I tend to create sinless characters. They brim with flaws, yes, but the defining feature of humanity--sin, in all its depth and color--is absent.

Which is odd because, as a person, my vision is quite different. When I'm affected by the shortcomings of my neighbors, I see their defects as more than flaws. They're sins.

(Train of thought courtesy of Flannery O'Connor, who wrote: "...a communion created upon human imperfection, created from what we make of our grotesque state.")