We’re often told to remember that the antagonist is the protagonist in their own story, and while this seems like a character-building tip, it’s actually a psychological one. Characters who think and behave like real people are the ones readers really connect to. And, more often than not, it’s the small, human moments that we don’t fully understand that ring the most true.
For example, our response to change. It doesn’t matter how badly we want something or how great an opportunity is; when a moment of change is upon us, it’s human nature to resist it in some capacity. We hesitate, if not completely dig our heels in, every time.
Let’s take a page from the writer’s experience. When you first started down this road, I bet you dreamed of book deals, advances, and signing stacks of books. And why not think big–you’re capable. So, you rolled up your sleeves and got to work, learning all you could about story craft. You read voraciously, attended workshops, and wrote, wrote, wrote.
Eventually, you finished your manuscript. Deep in your bones, you knew it’s ready–you had workshopped the heck out of it, characters all had that ‘special something,’ and the storyline was unique. So, you move to the next thing: mastering the query letter, researching agents and publishers, and getting sample pages ready.
Now, imagine yourself at your computer. The query is perfect. You add your Dream Agent’s email address, and there’s only one thing left to do: hit SEND.
You find yourself staring at that button on your screen. Why does it suddenly feel like it’s looming over your query, judging every word? An all-knowing smirk, in button form.
You nudge your mouse, and the pointer skitters toward SEND. Your stomach turns to stone.
Shouldn’t you throw a load of laundry in, you know, RIGHT NOW? Or prep the spare room for painting? Walk the dog?
You stand up, telling yourself you’ll come back to this later.
Such a simple thing, pressing a button! Yet in the span of two heartbeats, it became a monumental task.
What happened?
Fear.
Fear of change.
A small action with big repercussions
Sending an email is something you’ve done a million times, nothing to fret over. But in this case, a seemingly small action has a lot of change tied to it, and with change comes fear.
Pressing SEND means your identity changes. You are no longer an aspiring writer; you are an author in search of a publisher. And if you can’t find a home for your book and your self-view tanks, you may label yourself unpublishable.
Pressing SEND means you see yourself differently. Publishing is no longer a far-off objective. You are now someone who gets published, or doesn’t.
Pressing SEND means a loss of control. Up until now, you’ve followed a set path, building your skills at your own pace. Once you send this query, you can’t control what happens next, only your reaction to it.
Pressing SEND means risk. Success means you face new challenges, expectations, and pressure to perform. Failure might mean a damaged reputation, and hard-won confidence and self-belief take a hit.
Change happens to everyone, not just writers. Starting a new job, a positive pregnancy test, having to move–these things yank us out of our comfort zone, and even if we’re excited about the future, it’s natural to experience fear too. When an old way is traded for a new one, a measure of security we once felt goes with it, and so we resist, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.
Characters are no different.
Even when a goal is within reach, characters will experience resistance. In their minds, the higher you climb, the harder you could fall. Their sense of perceived risk grows, and with it, fear of what the future will hold. And this is why characters backpeddle, reverse course, or suddenly feel stuck.
This creates a problem–if our stories stop, readers do too. So, we pull all sorts of levers to get characters moving again, dangling opportunities, tempting them with wish fulfillment, and when that doesn’t work, raising the stakes and showing them what will go wrong if they don’t succeed. These tools push the plot forward—but resistance is not a problem to eliminate. It’s part of the truth behind any human journey.
Resistance to change showcases true human behavior.
When your character behaves illogically, avoids following through, or acts self-destructively, it shows readers that this character feels vulnerable. These moments feel true to life because readers know what it’s like to do something counterproductive out of fear.
Resistance can look a lot like self-sabotage. A few examples:
- Picking a fight to spoil the romantic evening (because their feelings scare them)
- Drinking too much the night before an important interview (to have an excuse for blowing it)
- Settling or underachieving (because it’s safer emotionally)
- Procrastinating (to avoid committing or exposing themselves to the unknown)
- Making excuses (so they don’t have to risk failure)
- Focusing on the wrong things (to avoid screwing up what really matters)
- Telling themselves Now’s not the right time (to avoid risking their security)
- Burning bridges (before someone else can let them down)
- Letting others have the spotlight (rather than claiming it themselves, and all it entails)
Writing moments of resistance is the perfect way to reveal a character’s self-doubt, and really, what’s more human and relatable than that?
Another benefit is that the character will need to overcome their fear to attain their goal, and watching that growth happen is something readers find so satisfying!
Fear of change is part of every story, so learning how to show a character’s resistance to it is key.
This is one of the many things we cover in The Fear Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to What Holds Characters Back, so if you wish to understand how fear shapes your character’s behavior, add your name to this New Release Notification list, and we’ll let you know when it’s out.
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