Notes

Character Weaknesses
Just as characters must have strengths, they must likewise have weaknesses. A character that only possesses strengths is unrealistic. A perfect character without flaws, fears, worries and doubt is boring. Readers will undoubtedly be unable to relate with this perfect character because everyone is flawed for some reason or another, and for that reason, your characters must be too.

As a writer, your goal would be to make your characters sound more human to your readers. Giving them weaknesses will help you achieve that goal. Like strengths, plotting your character's weaknesses can be quite a large event or something small. This applies to characters who could be aliens or monsters.

Weaknesses are meant to add complications to the internal and external conflicts. Short-tempers, for example, can cause a character to lash out at a loved one and finally drive them away. It can cause a character to lose his or her job. A flaw may also get yourself a character killed. Often, especially in horror and mystery stories, curiosity (which is often a strength and a weakness) can motivate a character to research a strange noise in the attic and then be murdered by a knife-wielding maniac. If the type didn't investigate that strange noise, then it wouldn't be considered a very exciting scene, would it not?

Everyone has fears. Everyone is afraid of something or someone. Your character could be afraid of heights like Carla Englel in Wes Craven's Don't Look Down, or maybe the fear could possibly be less tangible, such as a fear of the dark or perhaps a concern with being alone.

Your character's fears should be clearly established. It should also be revealed within an interesting and imaginative way. For that reason, you need to understand your character's motivations and how they're affected by their fear. Even if your central plots usually do not revolve around your protagonist's phobias, it should affect the storyline for some reason. A detective may have a fear of the dark, but perhaps it doesn't physically affect his actions until he learns that the kidnapped girl is really held captive in a deep, dark cave somewhere.

Their fear may also play a more substantial role. You might have a character whose father works in a butcher's shop, however your character has a fear of the slicing and grinding equipment. Then his father becomes sick and in order to purchase the surgery, the son has to dominate the shop.

Disabilities, fears and weaknesses should help the story progress without overshadowing the plot. They need to be realistic enough that the readers can believe that the type is struggling and could or may not flourish in achieving the established goals. Characters must be pushed with their breaking point, and generally, they will overcome their fears and reach their goals. For the unfortunate characters that don't overcome their fears and succumb in their mind instead, then that character's death is the usual and appropriate consequences similar to in the novel (SPOILER ALERT!) Cheri, w here in fact the protagonist kills himself after realizing he walked away from the only woman he'd ever love.

Make your character struggle but also give them a fair chance. If your character is in a wheelchair, don't make them wheel across the Sahara to rescue the princess.

Disabilities, like weaknesses and strengths could be significant or insignificant, but they must coincide with the plot and the struggles should be related to the central storyline rather than randomly thrown in. If your character has a certain kind of disability or weakness, than some the adventures they encounters should be idiosyncratic to that character. The characters and plot may then progress into situations that he / she wouldn't have had without her disability.

Giving your characters something to fear and/or a weakness to struggle against is best solution to give your strong characters a well-rounded personality that readers will love. Not just for the protagonists, but for your villains and anti-heroes as well!
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