Fear Thesaurus Entry: Losing Financial Security

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
Compulsive, Controlling, Dishonest, Flaky, Greedy, Impulsive, Indecisive, Irrational, Nervous, Obsessive, Pessimistic, Possessive, Stingy, Unethical, Workaholic, Worrywart

Hindrances and Disruptions to the Character’s Life
The character losing sleep because they’re always worrying about money
Not being able to have the same experiences as others
The character lacking fulfillment in their career
Missing out on important family moments because the character is always working
Bypassing lucrative opportunities because the character is too afraid of the risk
Suffering the physical effects of too much worrying (headaches, weight loss, ulcers, etc.)
An inability to be content; always striving for more financial security
Having strained relations with a spouse or child because of the character’s stinginess or inflexibility

Scenarios That Might Awaken This Fear
The character or their spouse losing their job
The boss announcing cutbacks at work
Sustaining an injury or incurring a serious illness 
Losing everything to a scammer or in a bad investment
Watching the economy plummet toward a recession or depression
Having to take on caregiving duties for an additional family member
Having to file for bankruptcy
Being sued

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.

If you like, swing by and check out the video walkthrough for this site, and then give our Free Trial a spin.

The post Fear Thesaurus Entry: Losing Financial Security appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

The Bookshelf Muse is a hub for writers, educators and anyone with a love for the written word. Featuring Thesaurus Collections that encourage stronger descriptive skills, this award-winning blog will help writers hone their craft and take their writing to the next level.