In a post on Writers Helping Writers, Angela Ackerman shares tips for uncovering your protagonist’s deepest fears. More than a horror staple, fear can cause characters to hold back in relationships, underachieve, avoid people and places, and struggle with self-esteem. “Whatever your character wants in the story, fear stands in their way,” Ackerman says. “If fear is in the driver’s seat, it affects their choices and actions.”
Characters may make bad decisions, avoid confrontation, or shy away from obligations due to fear. Leveraged well, it can be a main obstacle to your character’s goals and emotional growth. “Knowing what your character’s exact fear is, be it rejection, intimacy, competition, or something else, will help you write their actions, behaviors, and decisions in the story,” Ackerman writes. “It will also help you plot events to purposely challenge that fear, in the hopes that they will grow and come to control it, rather than it controlling them.”
So, how do you uncover these fears? Fear can be learned, but usually fear arises from negative experiences, such as abandonment, physical injury, or emotional abuse. “To find your character’s fear, think about their experiences, especially emotional wounds,” Ackerman recommends. “What happened to them, and how did this shatter how they see themselves and the world? What insecurities do they now have? What triggers them, what do they avoid more than anything, and what do they refuse to do because the mental barrier of fear is too strong?”
