Last time, I brought to awareness many phobias and what they are called. It seems that things we may not even think of as an actual phobia can really be a fear for someone else. Anything from a fear of knees to a fear of bees.
Now that we're alerted to some of the phobias in life, the question is, how would one go about writing a character with a phobia? There are a few things to remember when creating phobia driven characters, but what it all comes down to is consistency.
For example, let's take the phobia, Melissophobia for our heroine. This is a fear of bees. Let's name our gal Melissa (grin) and delve into her fear and how it will affect every aspect of her life.
Season: Melissa's favorite season is NOT going to be summer. She's going to like winter, where bees are dormant and she can go outside without constantly looking over her shoulder. A woman like this would likely live up north somewhere. In the winter months, she would spend as much time outdoors as she could, but in the summer, she'd make sure she stayed in an air conditioned house with the windows and doors always closed.
Job: You wouldn't find her being a nature guide, field explorer, coach for outdoor sports or a gardener. What Melissa would do for a job would probably not include traveling either. She'd make sure it was an office job, 9-5 where she stayed in an indoor cubicle and/or didn't go out until dark.
Boyfriend: Melissa would be best off with a vampire boyfriend who is a man of the night. If you wanted a true conflict in her life, then give her a beekeeper boyfriend or possibly a baseball player who wants her to come watch his games, or a forester, or a florist.
That brings me to my next point.
Flowers: You can't write about a heroine who is afraid of bees and then have her love flowers. That would be inconsistent. Instead, she likes candy or jewelry, but backs away when someone gives her flowers. She probably throws them in an outdoor trash can as soon as the guy leaves. After all, there may be a bee in the flowers. Especially if they're from an outdoor garden. She wouldn't even sniff them, as her fear would control her enough that even the aroma of flowers would probably make her anxious.
Food: Okay, here's something you probably never thought of, but if her fear is strong enough, she wouldn't even want anything to do with foods that contain honey. After all, honey is made by bees, and that thought in itself is enough to scare her enough to keep her from putting honey in her tea.
Colors: Take it a step further. Take it to extremes. She hates the colors of black and yellow together. That reminds her of bees. Anything striped is off limits also.
Sounds: Any buzzing sound will have her stomach in knots. Even if its just the buzzing of a fan, a common house fly or the buzz of the stereo speakers or dishwasher.
We may not think this is a valid point, but to anyone with a phobia, this is in fact very important. Some cases are not as severe as others, and you can take this as far as you want, but do consider all the consequences when creating a phobic character.
Letters: If she is an extreme case, she won't even like the letter B or like to use it, or like words that start with it. And simple little words like "because" sound like "buzz" to her, therefore always reminding her of that pesky little insect.
Needles: Melissa most likely freaks out when she has to get a shot at the doctors. Why? Because it is too much like the stinger of a bee and getting stung.
Okay, I may have gone overboard, but I'm doing it to make a point. One thing always leads to the next. One fear, one decision, will affect every aspect of that character's life.
Claustrophobia is the fear of being in enclosed spaces. But here again, that doesn't just mean your character doesn't like being in elevators. If this is her fear, it'll reach out like tentacles to all aspects of her life.
When her child joking plays peek-a-boo with her and puts the blanket over her head, she is going to get very upset, and yank it off quickly. That'll put a damper on her day. She won't like being on vacation and taking a tour of a cave with narrow passageways. She won't like to swim under water because she can't breathe. Claustrophobic people feel as if they can't breathe in small enclosed spaces, and in my opinion that is what triggers everything off.
Forget about having her put on a fencing mask, or even crawl under the bed. Anything at all that threatens her ability to breathe is going to remind her of her fear. For that matter - watch those long lingering kisses, because that will probably upset her as well.
Phobias are so much deeper than one may imagine. They are not easy to use when creating a character, so if you decide to do this, be prepared for a very complex character and a writing challenge on your behalf if you are to pull this off believably.
But like I said in the beginning, consistency is the key element when creating a phobia based character. If you're going to do it, you need to make it affect every element of this character's life.
If you feel you've got a handle on this, or want even more challenge in your writing, then give her a boyfriend who is helping her conquer this fear. That in itself could lead in a whole new direction, and many arguments or ill feelings between them.
Now get writing! I didn't mean to scare you off. (Hmm, there's probably a name
for fear of writing a character with a phobia, too.)
Elizabeth Rose
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