How vulnerable are your fictional characters? Do they wear their hearts on their sleeves? Or are they cold and withdrawn? Maybe, like Agent 007, they're just so cool and fearless, they face all challenges, secure in the knowledge that the author is going to get them out of even the worst dilemmas. How easily threatened are your heroes?

It's a question. On the one hand, readers can identify more easily with characters who face challenges and threats that they themselves recognise. On the other, if a character is too vulnerable, too easily imposed upon, readers may become impatient. 'Oh, stand up and fight back,' they may moan. How do you balance realism with the reader's need for satisfaction?

Suppose your hero is the strong, stoic type. The guy or gal who is the go-to person for help: champion of the weak, defender of the right. Somebody, say, like detective Philip Marlowe or the devil-may-care Scarlet Pimpernel. Can this character be vulnerable?

Of course he can. He'd better be, or the reader will lose interest. Marlowe's vulnerable, in that he is terribly lonely. We sense that when we see him drinking in his car on a stakeout. He drinks too much, we know that – sometimes we wonder how he manages to stay upright, frankly – and that might have a lot to do with his having seen too much of the seamier side of life. That Scarlet Pimpernel may be cool in a crisis, and really knowledgeable about fabrics, but when all is said and done, he's lonely, too. He misses the love of his wife. It's a big relief when she finds out his secret identity.

You get the point, right? The stronger the character is, the more necessary it is for that character to have a dimension of vulnerability – some part of his/her life that is painful or needy. Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder is a stand-up guy, but when the pressure is on, he needs to go to an AA meeting. We wish he'd invite Philip Marlowe.

Many strong characters in fiction have 'secret sorrows': some sort of suffering in their backstory. The backstory's a good place to put material like this. A sad backstory's like a visible scar, a reminder that things weren't always so good. For the storyteller, that backstory can be money in the bank, a reserve to draw on when you want your character to reveal vulnerability. Say she has to visit someone in hospital, but she's reluctant. Why? Well, there are so many bad memories associated with hospitals…

The sad backstory is a reserve in another way, too. A previous traumatic experience can be a source of strength for your character. The lessons learned during a painful episode in the past can help the writer explain why the character is able to meet the current challenge so successfully. It avoids the appearance of superheroism on the part of the resourceful character.

Perhaps my heart was weaker than the hearts of most men, and I suffered more than they would have done in my place; that is all.

Edmund Dantes, in The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas.

We know better. We know that Dantes' sufferings have made him stronger, not weaker. We also know by this point in the story what strengths he has acquired on his journey. Equally, we know his central problem: how to balance redress against revenge. It's a strong support structure for a tale, and of course, Dumas the master storyteller handles it superbly.

No matter how you deal with your character's vulnerabilities, keep this in mind: a story without a memory is a weak story. If your characters go through trauma in the course of the action, remember that they don't just spring back afterwards. People are not made of rubber. Let them feel it, and if they don't have time to heal, let them show the effects. Keep their backstories in mind. Think about where they've been, and remind the reader from time to time. Remember what they want, what they need, and what they, quite possibly, can't have. Let these factors inform their actions.

The reader may like them more for their vulnerabilities, or less. But they'll find the characters more believable. And in the end, that's what you're after.

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Dmitri Gheorgheni

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