Please forgive the rantiness, and it isn't actually triggered by the obvious series 
Clumsiness in characters seems to be a current fad - a notable number of authors I’ve read over the last few years seem to have picked this as an optional extra. It’s like they’ve picked it because a flaw is compulsory and it doesn’t seem likely to damage their character’s image, like an interviewee claiming that their biggest weakness is that they work too hard. Don’t do this. If your character is Mary Sue-ish, no quantity of fake flaws are going to change that. Okay, but that’s not you -- you genuinely want to write a well-rounded character who happens to be clumsy. Fair enough. But then please think it all the way through. [Oh, I guess you could also be writing slapstick. If so, ignore all below; slapstick has different rules]
I am clumsy in real life. I can’t remember the last time all my toenails were alive at the same time, and you can tell the height of the various tables in my life by the bruise patterns on my legs. This means a few things. It means I don’t place glasses anywhere near the edge of a surface. It means I don’t wear heels. It means I rotate the handles of pots and pans to be on the opposite side of where I’m working.It means I keep one hand free when going up and down stairs. It means I rest my containers in a sink if I’m trying to pour something hot into them. It means that if something is likely to slide if carried on a tray? I don’t carry it on a tray. As an adult, I break neither bones nor glassware with any greater frequency than anyone else. I’m clumsy. I’m not stupid, nor inconsiderate, nor suicidal. So unless your character is stupid, inconsiderate, or suicidal, they too should have developed coping skills to compensate for their problems. They shouldn’t be tripping over thin air while carrying a pyramid of glasses.
If you want to handle it with any sort of depth, you’ll also need to decide how they’re clumsy, because not all clumsiness is created equal. For example, I have diminished proprioception and poor spatial memory - asking me to point to something I can’t see is an exercise in hilarity. (But again, I don’t tend to get lost. I’ve learnt to compensate for having no sense of direction in the literal sense). It means I have to watch for that vicious attacking furniture, but threading a needle doesn’t defeat me. Someone with balance problems, or nightblindness, or muscle weakness, or problems with motor coordination, or something else, will have a different set of things that scare them, and will have changed their lives to avoid a different set of circumstances.
Which brings me to a point that feels like it should be too obvious to mention, except that I never see any evidence of it. The results of clumsiness are painful, humiliating, and inconvenient, and people avoid circumstances likely to leave them hurt, humiliated, or inconvenienced. I hate to imply it’s an irrational phobia, but expect someone with nightblindness to react the same way to a walk home at twilight as an arachnophobe being asked to carry a tarantula. This is something that will get more pronounced the older your character is, in part because of experience, in part because how much damage you take is in direct proportion to your age. A fall you can walk off at twenty will put you on crutches for weeks at forty. Similarly, bruises that used to fade in days will remain visible for up to a month.
If you were hoping to use the clumsiness so the supporting characters will commiserate with them? Realise that in real life, frequent minor accidents quickly use up other people’s store of sympathy. No matter how nice a person is, they’ll reach their limit for how often they’re willing to express concern over yet another bruise. The last time a body part of mine turned blue, my husband’s reaction boiled down to something close to ‘well, at least this time I don’t have to drive you to hospital.’ Even more major accidents will be treated much the same way as with someone driving over the legal alcohol limit – people will assume it’s the victim’s own fault, and scale their compassion appropriately.
Everyone’s a little clumsy, most people think they’re clumsier than average, and a few people have medical conditions they need to be treated for. It isn’t the degree of clumsiness attributed to characters that bother me, it’s the integration that clumsiness has into the entire presentation of that character. So if you want to write about it, don’t try and sprinkle it on top - make it part of who they are.
Clumsiness in characters seems to be a current fad - a notable number of authors I’ve read over the last few years seem to have picked this as an optional extra. It’s like they’ve picked it because a flaw is compulsory and it doesn’t seem likely to damage their character’s image, like an interviewee claiming that their biggest weakness is that they work too hard. Don’t do this. If your character is Mary Sue-ish, no quantity of fake flaws are going to change that. Okay, but that’s not you -- you genuinely want to write a well-rounded character who happens to be clumsy. Fair enough. But then please think it all the way through. [Oh, I guess you could also be writing slapstick. If so, ignore all below; slapstick has different rules]
I am clumsy in real life. I can’t remember the last time all my toenails were alive at the same time, and you can tell the height of the various tables in my life by the bruise patterns on my legs. This means a few things. It means I don’t place glasses anywhere near the edge of a surface. It means I don’t wear heels. It means I rotate the handles of pots and pans to be on the opposite side of where I’m working.It means I keep one hand free when going up and down stairs. It means I rest my containers in a sink if I’m trying to pour something hot into them. It means that if something is likely to slide if carried on a tray? I don’t carry it on a tray. As an adult, I break neither bones nor glassware with any greater frequency than anyone else. I’m clumsy. I’m not stupid, nor inconsiderate, nor suicidal. So unless your character is stupid, inconsiderate, or suicidal, they too should have developed coping skills to compensate for their problems. They shouldn’t be tripping over thin air while carrying a pyramid of glasses.
If you want to handle it with any sort of depth, you’ll also need to decide how they’re clumsy, because not all clumsiness is created equal. For example, I have diminished proprioception and poor spatial memory - asking me to point to something I can’t see is an exercise in hilarity. (But again, I don’t tend to get lost. I’ve learnt to compensate for having no sense of direction in the literal sense). It means I have to watch for that vicious attacking furniture, but threading a needle doesn’t defeat me. Someone with balance problems, or nightblindness, or muscle weakness, or problems with motor coordination, or something else, will have a different set of things that scare them, and will have changed their lives to avoid a different set of circumstances.
Which brings me to a point that feels like it should be too obvious to mention, except that I never see any evidence of it. The results of clumsiness are painful, humiliating, and inconvenient, and people avoid circumstances likely to leave them hurt, humiliated, or inconvenienced. I hate to imply it’s an irrational phobia, but expect someone with nightblindness to react the same way to a walk home at twilight as an arachnophobe being asked to carry a tarantula. This is something that will get more pronounced the older your character is, in part because of experience, in part because how much damage you take is in direct proportion to your age. A fall you can walk off at twenty will put you on crutches for weeks at forty. Similarly, bruises that used to fade in days will remain visible for up to a month.
If you were hoping to use the clumsiness so the supporting characters will commiserate with them? Realise that in real life, frequent minor accidents quickly use up other people’s store of sympathy. No matter how nice a person is, they’ll reach their limit for how often they’re willing to express concern over yet another bruise. The last time a body part of mine turned blue, my husband’s reaction boiled down to something close to ‘well, at least this time I don’t have to drive you to hospital.’ Even more major accidents will be treated much the same way as with someone driving over the legal alcohol limit – people will assume it’s the victim’s own fault, and scale their compassion appropriately.
Everyone’s a little clumsy, most people think they’re clumsier than average, and a few people have medical conditions they need to be treated for. It isn’t the degree of clumsiness attributed to characters that bother me, it’s the integration that clumsiness has into the entire presentation of that character. So if you want to write about it, don’t try and sprinkle it on top - make it part of who they are.
