Writing Characters with Emotional Baggage (and Why It’s Worth the Headache)

Hey fellow writers,

You ever try to write a character who's dealing with some deep emotional stuff—like trauma, anxiety, grief, guilt—and suddenly realize you're knee-deep in way more complexity than you planned? Yeah. Same.

One of the toughest (but most rewarding) parts of writing, for me, is building a character who's emotionally layered in a real, messy, and human way. I’m talking about characters who make you root for them and want to shake them at the same time. It’s tricky. So I wanted to share a few thoughts on what that process looks like—and where it tends to go sideways.

1. Skip the Stereotypes, Invest

We’ve all seen those cookie-cutter "tortured souls" before—the brooding loner, the broken genius, the angry rebel. It’s easy to fall into that trap. But the real magic happens when you dig into the why. Why are they angry? Why are they pulling away from people? What hurt them, and what’s keeping them stuck?

In a mystery I wrote on, Grace (my main character) has this mix of guilt and protectiveness tied to her family’s past. It doesn’t define her, but it shapes how she sees the world. That’s what you want—emotions that drive behavior, not just decorate the character.

2. Let Them Screw Up

No one likes a perfect character, especially one who’s supposedly dealing with big feelings. If your character is supposed to be wrestling with inner demons but keeps making flawless decisions, readers will check out, and maybe for good (dramatic pause).

They’re going to mess up. They’ll say the wrong thing, misjudge people, maybe even sabotage their own happiness and success. That’s not just believable—it’s powerful. And when they do get it right, it actually means something.

3. Make the Inner Stuff Matter

Plot is great, but emotional arcs? That’s where readers get attached. Maybe your character doesn’t get the promotion, solve the case, or win the election. But maybe they finally confront their past, or trust someone, or forgive themselves.

That kind of emotional payoff hits hard when you’ve built it up right. I work on this, like many, constantly.

4. Keep the Feelings Driving the Story

One thing I’ve learned the hard way: if a character’s emotions are just... there, hanging out in the background, it gets stale and uninteresting fast. Use those emotions to move the story forward. If your character is anxious, let that tension lead to a bad decision. If they’re grieving, let that grief make them reckless or indecisive.

Don’t let emotional baggage just sit in the corner. Put it in the driver’s seat.

5. Write with Heart, and Do Your Homework

If you’re writing about real mental health stuff—depression, PTSD, addiction, whatever—please, please do your research. Talk to people, read first-hand experiences, listen. And then write from a place of empathy and grace, not just drama.

That’s how you get characters who feel real—who might frustrate us, but also move us.

Writing emotionally complex characters isn’t easy. Honestly, it’s exhausting sometimes. But when you get it right? When a reader says, “That character felt so real to me”? That’s everything.

So yeah, give your characters their emotional baggage. Let them struggle. Let them grow. And remember: the messier they are, the more human they feel.

Happy writing
Let me know if you’ve written a character like this—I’d love to hear how you handled it.

—Your Fellow Writer in the Trenches

Bryan~