From KMW: One of the juiciest tension points in a character’s arc is the question: What is your character’s greatest fear?

This question isn’t (explicitly) about what characters say they want or what stands in their way externally. Rather, the answer we’re hunting for is the deeper fear lurking underneath. Very often, that fear is what finally explains why change feels so difficult for characters and why the events of the story matter in the first place.

Today, I’m pleased to share a post on this important topic from writing-advice maestra Becca Puglisi (of The Emotional Thesaurus fame).

She offers a clear and practical 6-step guide to identifying characters’ greatest fears by examining things like their backstories, their avoidance patterns, the things they try to control, and even the secrets they’d rather not face.

Understanding what our characters fear most can help us see their motivations more clearly. In turn, this can help us understand how these fears naturally create organic conflict and opportunities for growth.

If you’re struggling to figure out what’s really driving a character, Becca’s helpful framework is one you can apply right away.

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Your character’s greatest fear touches everything in the story, fueling plot and arc while directing behavior, choices, and motivation. That fear is backstory but also part of the character’s current story element, so it’s important to identify and plan into your novel. Knowing your character’s fear can also help you cherry-pick the conflict scenarios that will provide difficult temptations and the best opportunities for growth.

Whether you’re a plotter or pantser, identifying your character’s greatest fear can keep you on track while drafting and save you the frustration of realizing during revision that a randomly assigned fear isn’t working. Luckily, deep fears often come from the same places and are tied to other characterization elements, so they’re not too hard to find.

6 Ways To Discover Your Character’s Greatest Fear

Here are some easy ways to unearth your character’s greatest fear—something worth building your story around.

1. Explore Backstory to Reveal Your Character’s Greatest Fear

Because the most devastating fears arise from wounding events, an easy way to find your character’s fear is to look at their trauma. Like most people, your character will have endured many experiences that left a mark. Zero in on the one that could generate a fear that will eventually become the biggest internal obstacle in the story.

To identify characters’ emotional wounds, think about their history.

• How did they grow up, and what difficulties did they suffer through?
• Who hurt, betrayed, or tried to manipulate or control them?
• Is there anyone they avoid or wish to get away from? If so, why?

Another area to probe is their childhood, when they lacked the life experience and physical and emotional strength to protect themselves from harm. Childhood wounds fester for years and might include any of the following:

• A sibling’s betrayal
• Growing up in foster care
• Being raised in poverty

These long-standing wounds can do a lot of damage, and the fears attached to them are often harder to cast off.

For another connective thread between your character and their trauma, examine their current behavior and attitudes. If they’re subservient or overly submissive, what caused them to be that way? Were they stuck in an abusive relationship or raised by controlling parents?

There will always be a why behind your character’s behavior, worldview, and attitudes. Dig deep enough, and you’ll likely find a terrible experience and the fear it left behind.

2. Look At What Your Character Avoids Most

Characters naturally shy away from what frightens them, so analyzing areas of avoidance can help you pinpoint deep-seated fears.

• Which people, situations, or locations do they avoid?
• Are there memories they refuse to acknowledge or discuss?

Exploring the people, places, and subjects that put them in escape mode can help you find possible fears.

3. Identify Situations That Trigger Fear Responses

Circumstances that set characters off—especially in an unreasonable or overreactive way—can point to what they fear most.

Imagine characters who:

• Experience anxiety spikes when annual work evaluations roll around.
• Jump to defensiveness when a spouse doesn’t like what’s for dinner.
• Freak out when someone offers feedback on a job they’ve done.

If criticism sends them into panic or makes them aggressive, criticism is probably something they fear.

4. Pay Attention to What Characters Need to Control

Let’s face it: some people are control freaks. They have to be in charge of everything. But most people aren’t this way. So when characters keep a death grip on certain things, that can be a clue to what they fear.

For Example:

• A woman who’s fanatical about staying fit may secretly be afraid of growing old, losing social standing, or losing the respect of others.
• The overprotective father who keeps a tight leash on his kids might fear losing them or being viewed as weak.
• The character who does have to control everything may fear not being in control more than anything else.

5. Consider The Secrets Your Character Hides

Another route to your characters’ fears runs through their deepest secrets.

• What do they not want others to know?
• What causes them regret, shame, guilt, or some other painful emotion?

Secrets are often tied to an emotionally wounding event that could reveal your character’s biggest fear.

6. Follow Your Own Imagination

Writers are insatiably curious. We imagine impossible situations and are hopelessly addicted to what-if scenarios. Fear naturally threads through these, making them a goldmine of potential options for our characters.

And, of course, we can always explore our own fears. When a character’s greatest fear mirrors our own, it makes a story exceptionally personal and gives us (and readers) a safe way to probe what hurts.

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Not every character in your story needs a deep fear holding them back, but the important ones do. Once you identify your characters’ greatest fears, find out how deep those roots go. Entwine them in the characters’ relationships, show them through the situations they avoid, and let their insecurities act like a neon sign. Show the impact of fear throughout your characters’ lives, and readers will feel its weight.

Want More?

If you’d like to explore this topic more deeply, The Fear Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to What Holds Characters Back by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi offers an extensive look at how fear shapes character behavior, internal conflict, and story movement.

This resource explores not just what characters fear, but how those fears manifest in daily behavior, relationships, and decision-making. It examines the internal struggles fear creates, the flaws that can grow out of avoidance, the disruptions fear causes in characters’ lives, and the situations most likely to trigger their deepest vulnerabilities.

All of this gives writers practical ways to show fear on the page while also using it to create meaningful opportunities for growth and transformation.

For writers looking to better understand how a character’s greatest fear can influence motivation, conflict, and character arc, this book offers a practical deep dive into one of story’s most powerful drivers.

Wordplayers, tell us your opinions! What is your character’s greatest fear, and how does it shape  choices, conflict, or character arc? Tell us in the comments!