When you’re writing a character, it’s important to know why she is the way she is. Knowing her backstory is important to achieving this end, and one of the most impactful pieces of a character’s backstory is her emotional wound. This negative experience from the past is so intense that a character will go to great lengths to avoid experiencing that kind of pain and negative emotion again. As a result, certain behaviors, beliefs, and character traits will emerge.
Characters, like real people, are unique, and will respond to wounding events differently. The vast array of possible emotional wounds combined with each character’s personality gives you many options in terms of how your character will turn out. With the right amount of exploration, you should be able to come up with a character whose past appropriately affects her present, resulting in a realistic character that will ring true with readers. Understanding what wounds a protagonist bears will also help you plot out her arc, creating a compelling journey of change that will satisfy readers.
NOTE: We realize that sometimes a wound we profile may have personal meaning, stirring up the past for some of our readers. It is not our intent to create emotional turmoil. Please know that we research each wounding topic carefully to treat it with the utmost respect.
DISCOVERING ONE’S PARENT IS A MONSTER
Examples:
- A parent convicted of being a pedophile
- The discovery that one’s parent has committed murder
- Having one’s parent outed as a serial killer
- A parent who abuses children (physically, emotionally, or both)
- A parent who likes to cause animals pain or kill them for fun
- Finding out one’s parent is poisoning people to make them sick
- A parent who is a kidnapper
- A parent who police discover has captives on the property or in a hidden basement area
- Discovering one’s parent is a human trafficker
- A parent who exploits vulnerable people for personal gain
- Finding out that one’s parent practices sacrifice and taboo blood rituals
- Discovering one’s parent is also a cannibal
- Finding out one’s parent likes to torture others
Basic Needs Often Compromised By This Wound: physiological needs, safety and security, love and belonging, esteem and recognition, self-actualization
False Beliefs That May Be Embraced As a Result of This Wound:
- I should have see this about (mom or dad). My judgement can’t be trusted.
- Everything I know is a lie
- My (mom or dad) isn’t human. Maybe I’m not either
- With (mom or dad) as my parent, I am defective
- I can never lead a normal life
- People will judge me no matter what I do because who (mom or dad) is, so why try to fit in?
- My (mom or dad) never loved me–how could they and do what they did?
- I should stay away from people for their own protection
- My dreams are dead. I can never go on to do great things with this hanging over me
- People will only see me as the son or daughter of a (pedophile, serial killer, madman, etc.) so I must keep this a secret from everyone
Positive Attributes That May Result: appreciative, calm, centered, courageous, disciplined, focused, generous, gentle, honorable, independent, industrious, introverted, just, kind, loyal, merciful, nurturing, patient, pensive, protective, responsible, socially aware, spiritual, supportive, wise
Negative Traits That May Result: addictive, antisocial, compulsive, confrontational, cynical, defensive, dishonest, evasive, fanatical, humorless, impulsive, inhibited, insecure, jealous, martyr, morbid, needy, nervous, paranoid, pessimistic, rebellious, resentful, self-destructive, temperamental, timid, uncommunicative, uncooperative, withdrawn, worrywart
Resulting Fears:
- Fear of genetics
- Fear of oneself and what one might be capable of
- Fear of one’s past being found out
- Fear of being universally hated
- Fear of reporters, the media, and information gathering systems
- Fear of the public eye
- Fear of trusting the wrong person with the truth
- Fear of becoming a mother or father, and passing defective genes along
Possible Habits That May Emerge:
- changing one’s identity
- moving frequently or when one feels threatened (even if it is just in one’s own mind)
- keeping secrets
- avoiding relationships
- keeping to oneself, not engaging with neighbors or one’s community
- avoiding family members and friends from one’s past
- avoiding social media
- avoiding places and situations that remind one of what one’s parent did
- googling oneself to see if anything comes up
- beating oneself up for normal urges and thoughts, believing them to be indications of something sinister
- Refusing to read books or watch TV/movies with situations that hit close to home (Or, obsessively watching/reading in hopes of insight & answers)
TIP: If you need help understanding the impact of these factors, please read our introductory post on the Emotional Wound Thesaurus. For our current list of Emotional Wound Entries, go here.
For other Descriptive Thesaurus Collections, go here.
Image: Isabellaquintana @pixabay
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