F is for Fear

What are you most afraid of?

Image courtesy of Kevin B 3 / flickr.com

We all have fears, whether it's heights, spiders or simply a fear of failing. Our fears are a part of who we are and will inform certain choices we make or reactions we have in certain circumstances. One person on a rooftop may be in awe of the amazing view, while another may be crippled with fear and crouched down trying not to look.

To make our characters as three-demensional and interesting as possible, it's important to keep this in mind. What fears do they have? How can these fears be used to raise the stakes and increase the tension? How will they affect the decisions they have to make?

We can use our own experiences of fear to help us with the emotions our characters may be going through. Say you have a character with a gun to his head, while you may never have experienced this yourself (I hope), I am sure you will have experienced fear at some point in your life, even if was just at the sight of a spider. Think back to that experience. How did it make you feel? What went through your mind? Did your heart race? Did you go cold and clammy? Use your experience of that emotion to add depth to your character's.

Have you ever used any of your own fears in your fiction? Let me know in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you.

I'm going to be away on holiday until 15th April, but I have scheduled all the posts for while I'm away. I will try and log in once a day to check everything is running smoothly and reply to as many comments as I can. If you leave a comment I will visit your blog when I return and reciprocate. Happy A to Z'ing.