Fear is one of the most powerful tools for creating internal conflict for our characters.

We all have fears, whether that's the fear of the monster in the closet or just the fear of getting in front of a camera and recording a video like this one. Some people fear public speaking, or getting lost, or spiders and snakes.

Others have a fear of commitment in a relationship, a fear of losing someone they love, or a fear of succumbing to the same illness that has run in their family for generations.

No matter what kind of story you write, your protagonist is going to have some kind of fear. Capitalizing on that can really ramp up the stakes and make your story a true page-turner for readers.

As you read on, you may want to take notes for future reference, because I'm going to be giving you, among other things, more than a dozen questions to ask yourself when brainstorming what your character's fear might be and how to use it to create the best impact for your story.

The video this post is based on (embedded above) was releasing on October 31, 2022, and was, coincidentally, the thirty-first full-length YouTube video I've created. That's why I thought it might be a fun time to explore how to use fear in our stories.

After thirty-one videos, I also wanted to thank everyone who has helped me keep this blog and YouTube channel going. I appreciate every post view, every comment, and of course every subscriber.

Now, onto discussing fears.

I've divided this post into three sections, the first of which is what I call Defining the Fear. This will include a list of questions you can use to figure out what your protagonist's greatest fear, or even smaller fears, might be. It's a good brainstorming tool to use when planning the stakes of your story, as well as your protagonist's character arc.

Now, here are the questions:

1. What or whom is your protagonist afraid to lose?

2. What type of future does she fear? This could be a future for herself, a future for the world, or a future for someone she loves.

3. What does she fear to gain? This might be a fear of succumbing to an illness, like I mentioned earlier. It may seem odd to word this as a gain, but all I mean is, what is your character afraid to getor to have? The illness is only one example. Maybe your character is afraid of gaining, or getting, a bad reputation.

4. What does this character fear to become? Maybe your protagonist is afraid she'll become a bad person or a failure if she doesn't accomplish some task.

5. What does this character fear she will cause to happen, to other people or in general? Maybe the character is afraid that if he does a certain thing, he will cause the loss of a job or some catastrophic thing to happen for the world or someone he loves.

6. What external forces terrify this character? Fire, snakes, bees, heights, earthquakes?

7. What circumstances does she fear? Getting lost, being broke, failure, etc.

8. What activities frighten her? Public speaking, driving in a big city, bungee jumping?

9. And a bonus question that you can attach to any of the previous ones: why does your character fear this? Is it just an instinctive fear, like a fear of heights, or did something in this character's past create that fear?

Now, let's move on to Using the Fear: the impact and purpose of the character's fear on your story.

For this section, I have a few more questions, but also some tips for you.

1. How does this fear affect your character's life? Is it crippling? Does it only surface under rare circumstances? Does your character manage this fear through simple avoidance?

If your character just avoids the thing she's afraid of, then what impact might that have on the story? For example, a character who's afraid of bees may refuse to go on nature hikes or other outdoor excursions. Maybe this character's fear is so pronounced that he stays inside and refuses to go out, especially in the spring when bees are prevalent.

Or perhaps a character's fear of public speaking might interfere with his goal of getting a promotion at work, or may even get him fired. Or if this is a teenage character who's in high school and afraid of standing up in front of a crowd, then she might fail an assignment.

2. How does your character's fear impact others?

Here are a couple tips:

Tip 1. Not only should we show that the character has this fear, but we need to show the character having to face that fear at one or more points in the story. The story could start out with a character in a situation that demonstrates having this fear, and the fear causes some kind of negative circumstance or situation to occur.

In the movie The Princess Diaries, the main character is in debate class, having to present her side of the debate, when she freezes and runs out of the classroom and is physically ill.

Later in the climactic portion of the movie, the character once again finds it necessary to speak to a crowd of people. This time, she chooses to do so. She has to face her fear during the climax because it's the only way she can resolve the conflict of the story.

We can show this character facing his or her fear multiple times. At least in the beginning, it should have a negative consequence, so we can show how the character grows and develops in the character arc throughout the story.

Another thing to keep in mind about showing the character facing the fear multiple times is, each occurrence needs to escalate in intensity or importance, or in the impact that the outcome will have on the character or other people. This is what we also call stakes. So, the stakes need to be higher and higher each time your character has to face this fear.

Tip 2: Make sure this fear, or the impact of that fear, will have some bearing on the plot and the character's arc. So, consider what's at stake. What happens if your character does not overcome this fear? What happens if the character gives in and uses avoidance or some other method for getting out of facing the fear? And then, what's the outcome if the character does face the fear? This will help you determine how this situation will impact your plot and the character's growth.

The fear shouldn't just exist to create conflict and show that the character is scared or to try to make the reader scared. It should have an impact on the events of the plot that are coming up or on the character's growth. Remember to give that fear a result.

Now, how do we write the fear?

Keep in mind that fear is mostly about suspense. The shadow of the monster is always scarier than the appearance of the actual monster. Anticipation is way scarier than the event coming to pass. That's why I'm suggesting to show the character facing a certain fear in smaller doses and escalating situations throughout the story before the ultimate facing of the fear happens, especially if that fear is part of the character's climax.

An excellent way to show how afraid the character is and help the reader experience the fear with the character is to employ the same techniques we would use when creating suspense in our stories. What those techniques? Check out The 10 Best Ways to Create Suspense in Your Story.

When writing scenes that contain fear, we can use cliffhangers and scene breaks to prolong the suspense as to the outcome of the frightening situation. We don't want to overdo it with cliffhangers and cutting a scene in half, so to speak, but these are very good techniques to use, especially at the ends of chapters. They create an automatic need for the reader to turn to the next page.

Depending on what your character fears, you might want to consider investigating techniques horror writers use to instill fear in their audiences. And if you write horror, keep in mind that horror elements can still leave the reader with a satisfying ending if the story ends with hope.

When showing your character's fear, be sure to incorporate techniques that we use for showing, instead of telling, any emotion. Things like body language and internal physical responses (for a viewpoint character, specifically). If you'd like more suggestions on how to do this, be sure to read all the way to the end of the post for this week's Power-Up.

Another way to help the reader experience the fear with your character is to make it seem impossible for this character to either overcome the fear or even survive the fear coming to pass, depending on what that fear is.

And make sure the fear always has a larger purpose in the story. It's not there just to create conflict or drama, but it has some kind of impact on the overall plot or the character arc, as we've said before. Facing that fear should have a direct impact on the events that are coming up, so the reader will feel the fear more deeply. If nothing's at stake, then there's no real investment for the reader.