Character Secret Thesaurus: Faking an Illness

What secret is your character keeping? Why are they safeguarding it? What’s at stake if it’s discovered? Does it need to come out at some point, or should it remain hidden?

This is some of the important information you need to know about your character’s secrets—and they will have secrets, because everyone does. They’re thorny little time bombs composed of fear, deceit, stress, and conflict that, when detonated, threaten to destroy everything the character holds dear.

So, of course, you should assemble them. And we can’t wait to help.

This thesaurus provides brainstorming fodder for a host of secrets that could plague your character. Use it to explore possible secrets, their underlying causes, how they might play into the overall story, and how to realistically write a character who is hiding them—all while establishing reader empathy and interest.

For instance, let’s see what it might look like if your character…

Is Faking an Illness

ABOUT THIS SECRET: Why would someone fake being seriously ill? Being sick might garner attention or sympathy from others. It may result in a financial settlement or provide protection from an abusive environment. It could also be the perfect way to get out of a commitment. How this secret affects the character will depend not only on their reasons but also on the severity of the illness. Cancer, for example, is more difficult to simulate than a stomachache, with more complicated and long-term ramifications should someone discover the truth.

SPECIFIC FEARS THAT MAY DRIVE THE NEED FOR SECRECY: Abandonment, Being Physically Touched, Being Returned to an Abusive Environment, Being Separated from Loved Ones, Being Unsafe, Change, Crowds, Failure, Having No Purpose, Isolation, Leading, Letting Others Down, Mediocrity, Never Finding Happiness, Not Being in Control, Putting Oneself out There, Relational Commitment, Sex

HOW THIS SECRET COULD HOLD THE CHARACTER BACK
Becoming accustomed to avoiding responsibilities and not taking risks
Becoming inactive and sedentary
Losing advantages at work
Self-isolating to maintain the ruse and becoming lonely

BEHAVIORS OR HABITS THAT HELP HIDE THIS SECRET
Faking symptoms of the illness
Canceling social events or plans
Calling in sick at work
Fabricating medical appointments
Purchasing medication and leaving it out where people can see it
Asking others to run errands for them

ACTIVITIES OR TENDENCIES THAT MAY RAISE SUSPICIONS
Acting more chipper than they should be if they were truly sick
Being spotted in public looking perfectly fine
Contradicting themselves or saying things that aren’t true about their condition
Clearly using their illness to avoid responsibilities

SITUATIONS THAT MAKE KEEPING THIS SECRET A CHALLENGE 
Being offered the trip of a lifetime
A deadline coming up for something they’ve always wanted to do
Developing a real, acute condition that requires medical attention

Other Secret Thesaurus entries can be found here.

Need More Descriptive Help?

While this thesaurus is still being developed, the rest of our descriptive collection (18 unique thesauri and growing) is accessible through the One Stop for Writers THESAURUS database.

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