When we hear about a broken heart, usually our collective minds to go romantic disappointments and devastation. Unrequited love, betrayed love, or even love separated by death or any other type of force majeure.

And that's absolutely one type of heartbreak that is and will remain legit. It's just not the only one.

Humans' hearts can break for any number of reasons. Anything that we invest in wholeheartedly (see what I did there?) can also result in heartbreak: a career, family, creating something important, research, inventions, discoveries, activism.

If something we deeply, visceraly care about is in some way hurt, destroyed, or eliminated, then we will experience heartbreak.

So when you are designing a character with a broken heart, consider that it doesn't necessarily need to involve a significant other (though it can!) but a whole number of things- or even more than one. A heart can be broken, or it can be shattered, and somehow still keep you going.

So what is a broken heart?

We could start with a straight up medical definition, since it is something you can be diagnosed with. Broken Heart Syndrome is a condition where the person experiences intense symptoms of a heart attack without actually having one. It's a type of cardiomyopathy caused by intense amounts of stress and acute, extreme emotions.

It has been classed as a mostly psychosomatic condition that is solely caused by those extreme emotions and stressors, can appear without any prior or undiagnosed psychiatric or psychological issues, and- which is very important- it resolves on its own after a few days.

A psychosomatic condition is one where emotional impacts on a person manifest in some kind of physical way, not necessarily pathological. So, we should a heart broken, whether it causes Broken Heart Syndrome or not, only if the person endures deep, extreme, and highly impactful negative emotions. Emotions that put stress on the heart, if you like.

All right, so we have a character with a broken heart, that has been hit with some kind of devastation. Even with the psychosomatic syndrome, the physical aspects resolve after a few days. Even the most powerful emotions abate after a few days- without losing in their intensity, but the sheer stress reaction and adrenaline drains.

It's the phase where the person is exhausted, devoid if all emotion and may appear stoic. This is the stage that is very appealing in fiction. A stoic, off-standing, distanced character (usually some kind of lone wolf) with incredible wisdom or skill, that just won't join/help/support the protagonist or the team at the drop of a hat because a) they may be jaded, b) they may just not be interested and c) they may simply have no energy or willingness to invest in another cause/project and get their heart broken again.

Often the character arc of a character with a broken heart in this stage is for the protagonist's hope and reassurance to revive them, get them to believe again, and kick back into action. In a sense, their broken heart is mended that way.

But that isn't the only behavioral pattern a character with a broken heart may have. Heartbreak isn't necessarily manifesting in melodramatic, grandiose ways of angst. It isn't even only about characters acting out their anger stemming from their broken heart.


Not everyone will be like this


or even like this

A character with a broken heart might look something like this:



or this:



or even this:



People can and do mask their hurt and vulnerabilities. A broken heart is no different. A character with hearbreak might hide behind a facade of quirkiness, or bubbly frivolity, or snazzy coolness. Their armor against the world could be a set of behaviors that keep people happy, impressed, accepting, or even enthusiastic about the character, but also at a distance.

When you have a wound, you don't want people touching it. It's the same about a broken heart. People don't want it to get worse. They also don't want to be reminded of it (depending on the character), or forced to relive it. So they will engage in behaviors that protect them from that.

Especially if they're left alone to handle their trauma (because that's what heartbreak is), if circumstances or interaction unexpectedly brings the heartbreak to the surface, such a character may suddenly, violently or dramatically shift. From bubbliness to weeping, from joy to rage, from nurturing to abrasive, and so on. It can make for a very compelling scene where you show their heartbreak (and often suddenly reveal it) rather than tell about it.

How does one heal from a broken heart?

Well, it depends.

One remedy is to get away from it all. From everything that caused the heartbreak. Then rebuild, and hope to have enough mettle and energy in you to readdress the heartbreak from a place of strength and relative safety.

Another is to reverse the trauma. If the cause of the heartbreak is able to be corrected, then correcting it will be (to a big extent) the cure. This could be a whole character arc: if the trauma is betrayal, to experience loyalty. If it's a failure of some sort, to experience success a second time round and so on.

A third remedy is to simply …move on. Especially when heartbreak is caused by something irreversible, like death or a maiming (and we're not in the Marvel universe or something), then coming to terms with that and learning to live with it and in spite of it, regaining what is lost through other ways, can be a way to heal a broken heart.

Whatever it may be, heartbreak isn't just about romance, and it doesn't only serve to create the strong silent and broody types. It can be a huge building block to build a wide variety of character personalities and jumpstart character arcs that will be compelling and engaging, even timeless!

How do you write heartbreak?


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