Great question! What you’re referencing is a failed arc, or negative/tragedy arc as others might call it. There are quite a few structures you can use for this type of story. The character might start out in a bad place and never rise out of it, despite them wanting and trying to. They might start out great but devolve into a bad internal place that they’re never able to completely escape.

My only caveat to what you’ve suggested is that the wounding event should already have occurred before the story starts. Things may (and should) happen to the character throughout your story that cause the fatal flaw to bloom and grow, but the seed of that flaw should already be there at the story’s start. Maybe it’s completely dormant, just waiting to be triggered; more likely, it’s quiet but not silent, and readers see a hint of it here and there before it bursts out and becomes super obvious.

The reason for this is that the wounding event is almost always a past event; it’s not part of the character’s current story. The current story is about the character trying to meet an unmet need by pursuing a story goal, but them being stymied by their fatal flaw, and them eventually recognizing this and trying to overcome it. THAT’s the current story. The wounding event that laid the foundation for the fatal flaw is absolutely going to impact the character and influence them in the current story, but the event itself is part of the past, and for most stories, it should stay there.

The failed arc is a huge topic, but Katie Weiland covers it beautifully in this post. And while you’re at her blog, check out all the other amazing information she has there. Thanks for reading, Andrew!