Fear Thesaurus Entry: Death

Debilitating fears are a problem for everyone, an unfortunate part of the human experience. Whether they’re a result of learned behavior as a child, are related to a mental health condition, or stem from a past wounding event, these fears influence a character’s behaviors, habits, beliefs, and personality traits. The compulsion to avoid what they fear will drive characters away from certain people, events, and situations and hold them back in life. 

In your story, this primary fear (or group of fears) will constantly challenge the goal the character is pursuing, tempting them to retreat, settle, and give up on what they want most. Because this fear must be addressed for them to achieve success, balance, and fulfillment, it plays a pivotal part in both character arc and the overall story.

This thesaurus explores the various fears that might be plaguing your character. Use it to understand and utilize fears to fully develop your characters and steer them through their story arc. Please note that this isn’t a self-diagnosis tool. Fears are common in the real world, and while we may at times share similar tendencies as characters, the entry below is for fiction writing purposes only.

Flaws That May Emerge
Fussy, Controlling, Morbid, Needy, Obsessive, Paranoid, Stubborn, Worrywart

Hindrances and Disruptions to the Character’s Life
Missing out on opportunities to try new things
Being reclusive and living a life of isolation
The character’s health being such a big priority that they don’t have time for other activities
Other people avoiding the character because of their neediness, restrictive rules, and obsessive need for safety 
Having to use medication to control anxiety and depression
Spending so much time worrying about death that the character loses all joy and happiness
Being ruled by fear

Scenarios That Might Awaken This Fear
Experiencing a life-threatening situation, such as a car accident or a tropical storm
The character or their loved one being diagnosed with a terminal illness
A loved one dying unexpectedly
Having to attend a funeral
Seeing death depicted in a movie or on the news
Having a near-death experience 
Suffering a serious injury
Milestone birthdays that represent the passage of time
Seeing signs of aging as the character gets older

Other Fear Thesaurus entries can be found here.

Need More Descriptive Help?

While this thesaurus is still being developed, the rest of our descriptive collection (16 unique thesauri and growing) is accessible through the One Stop for Writers THESAURUS database.

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