Some Thoughts About Writing Fear

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I’ve been away for the past five days, visiting family, and while I’ve been away, I’ve been doing a whole bunch of things I’ve never tried before. Things like off-roading in a 4x4, or flying for the first time. Some of these things I really enjoyed, and others, quite frankly, made me more than a little nervous. And it got me thinking about writing fear, how it can be portrayed realistically. And how a character’s fears can be used to flesh out their personalities and inform their actions. Today I wanted to share some of these musings.

Response to Fear

Fear of the unknown is a pretty common fear. A lot of us are afraid of doing things we’ve never tried before, or going places we’ve never been. But, while a lot of people have this fear, we all respond to it differently. Some people might meet it as a challenge, while others find it difficult to get out of their comfort zone, and still others cancel any plans that involve the unknown because they’re afraid. How does your character respond to things they are afraid of? Does it stop them from doing things, or do they prefer to meet their fear head on? Knowing this can really help writers understand how their characters work in less pleasant situations, and make them more unique.

Coping With Fear

While everyone is afraid of something, no one deals with fear in quite the same way as anyone else. And most people have a strategy for dealing with their fears. Your characters should too. Does your character deliberately put on a brave face to fool others? Are they the sort of person who prefers to distract themselves and ignore the fact that they're afraid? Maybe they always have two or three back-up plans to reassure themselves with. How a character copes with their fear says a lot about them.

Physical Symptoms

One of the best ways to show fear is to use physical responses. A character may feel overly hot, or feel really sick deep inside. They might develop a rapid headache from overthinking things. They might sweat a lot or find it hard to sit still because of nervous. We’ve all been afraid of something at some point, and we can identify strongly with a good physical response to fear because we know how it feels. Using one or two physical descriptions can give your fear more punch.

People Respond Differently In Similar Situations

Everyone is afraid of something different, and this means that people will react quite differently in the same situation. For example, I am afraid of things I have no experience with. One of my sisters is afraid of heights. Put us on a flight together, and we will both be scared, but we’ll act differently. I might be stressed during the security checks and boarding, but will then relax as the plane takes off. On the other hand, she might be fine right up until the plane starts moving when she is likely to freak out. Another person might not be afraid at all. Because we are afraid of different things, our responses to the same event are likely to be different. Keeping a character's fears in mind while writing can help you get a better grasp on how they would react differently to the same events.

Use Personal Experience

You might not be afraid of heights like your character is. Or maybe fear of the unknown doesn't make you freeze in panic. While you might not have experience in the same sort of fear as your characters, I can pretty much guarantee that you've been afraid of something at some point. And when you come down to it, our most basic responses to fear are pretty similar, even if the way we deal with that fear is different. Use your knowledge of it, and combine that with what you know about you character and their personality, and you can use your personal experience to create an experience of fear that readers will believe.


These are some of the thoughts I've had about how to writing fear. What advice would you add to this list? And tell me, what is your character afraid of? What scares YOU (if you dare to share)?

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12 comments

  1. This is a great post, Imogen! I really hope your trip was amazing, and I am glad you did such amazing things!

    What is my character afraid of? Well, one of my characters, Kennedy, is afraid of being vulnerable, which affects her relationships with other people dramatically. But this fear is due to something that happened in her past (no spoilers!).

    This may sound childish, but I'm actually afraid of the dark. I know, I know, it's a common fear...but I think it also ties into fear of the unknown. I mean, are we really afraid of the dark or are we actually afraid of what might be lurking there?

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    1. Thank you! My trip was very nice, and thankfully not too fear inducing! Fear of being vulnerable can be such an interesting fear for a character to have, can't it? So many ways it can affect everything from their relationships, to taking chances in their actions.

      I think you're right about fear of the dark. I don't have a huge fear of it, but when I feel afraid in the dark, it's usually because I imagine what could be out there. After all, who knows what could be watching us from beyond the light?

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  2. This was quite a helpful post, especially the physical symptoms section! I'll definitely be pinning it for reference later :)

    Ellie | On the Other Side of Reality

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    1. I'm so glad you found it useful Ellie! Thank you so much for visiting my blog, and pinning my post.

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  3. This is a good post! I sometimes feel lightheaded or have a heavy feeling in my chest or flinch or have a rush of cold when I'm afraid. I hope you have a great time with your family!

    storitorigrace.blogspot.com

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    1. Ooh, those are great symptoms of fear. I can definitely relate to the heavy feeling in my chest. Fear is such a physical thing, isn't it? It has such a distinct feel to it.

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  4. Great post, Imogen! In the novella I'm working on right now one character is afraid of losing her older brother, the other is afraid of people finding out his past. When I get scared, I normally get a fair amount of adrenaline and a feeling like I'm being watched, or I get sick to my stomach.

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    1. Ooh, that's a great symptom to use, the feeling of being watched. Also feeling like the watchers are judging you. That usually happens to me! I should start collecting some of these and compile them into a post. They're all so good!

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  5. This is such an amazing post! I've never thought about fear of my characters in this way but it helped me a lot. Especially those physical symptoms. I realized that I keep forgetting about these little but important details which make the story more relatable and interesting. In the story I'm writing my main character is afraid of loosing control over her own life because it was her father who made the decisions for her. When she feels like she's loosing control she starts panicking. Her heart is beating faster and she has troubles breathing properly. :)

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    1. It's the little details that can really boost writing sometimes, isn't it? I know I struggle with remember to add this sort of detail too. It's something I'm having to think about a lot while I'm editing.

      Ooh, I love how you're using your character's fear. That would really add something to her personality, backstory, and to the story itself. Nice!

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  6. You know what this made me think of? Supernatural. As a horror show, I think a big part of what they're going against is not just handling their fears, but having to grow because they scary things keep escalating so that things that used to be scary pale in comparison to what is in front of them. And that idea of response, coping, and behavior in regards to fear is important to every single character who faces something scary, because in Supernatural, the scary things are coming to get you.

    What I think is most interesting, though, is the last one about personal experience. In general, I think people don't go around hunting demons and ghosts. Probably not the writers, and definitely not most of the people who watch the show. But we empathize with the fear present on the show, and not necessarily because we're scared of what they're going up against, but of the consequences. Over the course of a season we end up having to face the fact that the Winchester family may get broken apart irreparably and they are not just fighting for themselves but each other. And we can all identify with that, because we all want to have the people we're close to alive and okay at the end of the day. Drawing on such universal ties can make for a very compelling presentation of fear, because we fear the same things ourselves. And that's awesome. In a scary way.

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    1. Heather, I absolutely LOVE this comment. You've explained the idea of writing using universal fears so much better than I could. I'd love to add your comment to the main post. It'd be so helpful to others I think. Would you mind if I added it? Giving all credit to you of course.

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