Debilitating fears are a problem for everyone, an unfortunate part of the human experience. Whether they’re a result of learned behavior as a child, are related to a mental health condition, or stem from a past wounding event, these fears influence a character’s behaviors, habits, beliefs, and personality traits. The compulsion to avoid what they fear will drive characters away from certain people, events, and situations and hold them back in life.
In your story, this primary fear (or group of fears) will constantly challenge the goal the character is pursuing, tempting them to retreat, settle, and give up on what they want most. Because this fear must be addressed for them to achieve success, balance, and fulfillment, it plays a pivotal part in both character arc and the overall story.
This thesaurus explores the various fears that might be plaguing your character. Use it to understand and utilize fears to fully develop your characters and steer them through their story arc. Please note that this isn’t a self-diagnosis tool. Fears are common in the real world, and while we may at times share similar tendencies as characters, the entry below is for fiction writing purposes only.
Being Taking Advantage of
Notes
A character with this fear may worry about potential situations where they might be taken advantage or exploited. These could be serious crimes, such as sexual abuse and identity theft or a simpler occurrence, like being used by a friend for some larger gain.
What It Looks Like
Questioning people’s motives
Believing that other people can’t be trusted
Highly valuing privacy
…
Common Internal Struggles
The character worrying about a person’s trustworthiness, then wondering if they’re being paranoid
Second-guessing the motives of others
…
Flaws That May Emerge
Abrasive, Antisocial, Callous, Confrontational, Controlling, Cowardly, Cynical, Evasive, Fussy, Martyr, Oversensitive, Paranoid, Stingy, Suspicious, Uncommunicative, Withdrawn
Hindrances and Disruptions to the Character’s Life
Allowing career advancement opportunities to pass them by because the character fears they’ll be taken advantage of in some way
Being unable to develop meaningful relationship outside of a tight inner circle
…
Scenarios That Might Awaken This Fear
Being asked for a favor
Someone testing the character’s boundaries
Being pressured for information, a commitment, or a purchase
…
Other Fear Thesaurus entries can be found here.
Fear is a Crucial Piece of Your Character’s Arc
Fear will hold your character back in the story and affect how they see themselves and the world. It’s defining,
Because fear plays such a pivotal role in storytelling and character growth, we’ve expanded this collection and published it as a book that you can easily use as you write. The Fear Thesaurus helps authors understand the psychology behind 80 common fears and use them to create believable struggles, meaningful conflict, and powerful arcs.
For more information on this book and where it can be found, please visit our bookstore. You can also view the book at Goodreads to see what other authors are saying about it.
