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Fear affects our thoughts and actions. The same goes for our characters.
This week's Action/Adventure Newsletter is about fear and phobias, and how these can help and hinder us.
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I wanted to write a newsletter about fear, and when I thought about it, I realised that I am quite the scaredy cat. I still remember when I learned that I have a fear of heights. I was probably about 4 or 5 years old at the time. I’d climbed up these steep stairs to someone’s house, looked back, and all of a sudden I couldn’t move. The world span. I flattened myself on the floor. Couldn’t crawl forward. Most definitely couldn’t move back down. I was stuck, and overwhelmed with embarrassment when my parents had to come to the rescue. I wanted to be a Big Girl, but in that moment I felt extremely small.
Despite this incident, my parents thought it was a good idea to visit a tower. You could step onto a platform and have an amazing view of the surrounding area. Apparently. I never made it to the edge. Instead, I spotted a waste basket that was secured to the tower wall and clung on for dear life.
I’m scared of wasps. Spiders. Or, I used to have a phobia of all spiders, but these days I can cope with the small ones. Big house spiders remain a no. I technically have a fear of scorpions. They completely creep me out. Fortunately, they don’t live where I live so this fear does not affect me. Snakes are cool, and can be cute, but I wouldn’t want to meet one in the wild. There are snakes in my country, but I’ve never seen one, and I am completely fine with that.
I’m cautious around dogs. I think I was ten years old when I walked home from school and a collie came up from behind me and bit me in the arm. I will never know why. I hadn’t threatened it. Hadn’t even seen it. I was just walking at a normal pace, with no odd movements or anything. Some years later I saw a dog attack another dog, and I will spare you the graphic details, but those mental images refuse to be erased. So, I’m cautious. I’ve worked with security dogs, and I have had a lovely dog of my own. I’ll happily pet a puppy when it wants attention. Adult dogs who I don’t know, though… that’s a wait and see. I love to make new canine friends, but when an unknown dog comes running up to me off the lead I confess I do feel a stab of fear.
I get very frightened in medical situations. Whether it’s the doctor, or the dentist, or the hospital, I’m a nervous wreck. I’m extremely phobic of needles. Unfortunately for me, I have some health issues that require medication that, in turn, requires regular blood tests. As you may expect, I’m not thrilled with that development. Such is life.
I’m afraid of death. I’m afraid of losing loved ones. I’ve lost many people who I was close to over the past few years. I don’t want to lose those who remain.
I have many fears, then – perhaps more than most - but I am willing to bet that everyone has something that frightens them. As writers, we can tap into those fears. Horror writers do this every time they write a story, but Action/Adventure writers, too, can make good use of fear to get the adrenaline going.
The use of common fears can create sympathy in your readers, but you do not have to stick to those. I’ve seen uncommon fears used to great effect – the effect they had on the character was so well-written, so skillfully explored that I felt a chill just reading about it.
Some fears are lifelong. Some announce themselves unexpectedly. As I well know, you can end up fearing fear itself – after having an anxiety attack I feared that I’d have another one, and that fear heightened the risk of one occurring.
The facing of one’s fear can lead to character growth. Even if it is not (immediately) overcome, or only partially overcome (like my spider phobia), facing your fears is important in order to live a full life.
That does not mean, however, that I’m going to seek out scorpions or snakes. I’m sure I’ll be fine without that kind of character growth!
What do your characters fear? How do these fears end up helping or hindering them?
NaNoKit
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Action/Adventure: June 21, 2023 Issue [#12029]
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