Deep POV Dive Bonus Lesson: Writing Fear and Excitement
Welcome back to our bonus lesson for Deep POV dive!! I am so excited for this lesson and I hope you’re ready, cause we’re going to be diving deep into one of the two most intense emotions I love to write: fear and excitement.
If you’re a thrill seeker, scary movie lover or just plain adventurous, then you know what it’s like to be going on that roller coaster for the first time, feeling the excitement and anxiety of going on something breathtakingly fun and possibly dangerous( at least in your mind). You feel that intense jittery anticipation as you go on and then you suddenly have that lurch in your stomach as you go down that incline, screaming at the top of your lungs like you’re gonna die( I love rollercoasters and this is pretty much an example of what I feel on rollercoasters lol. I scream like there’s no tomorrow. ;). It’s a mix of that fear and excitement that makes the ride so fun or that thrilling movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It’s what makes it so adventurous.
Now to write fear and excitement in deep pov( as we are not allowed to name emotions in this pov) we’ll have to be using direct thought, sensory details and body language to describe what the character is feeling in that moment. Fear and excitement essentially have the same feeling; that same jumpy, jittery feeling inside and have essentially well the same body language as well except one is positive and one is negative. Fear is the anticipation of something terrible going to happen and excitement is the anticipation of something wonderful going to happen. So how do we express them to where it’s real to the reader? Answer: We’ll need to get to know each emotion at a deeper level.
First is fear, what is it you’re afraid of ? Everyone has their own unique fears they deal with on a daily basis. Sometimes they’re aware of them and sometimes they’re not, but they all have a unique list individual to each of them. For example, Bill is afraid of riding bicycles, public speaking, and knives. Fred is afraid of snakes, saying no to dares, and restrictions from his parents. Now some of you might think “ Okay, now all I have to do is conjure up a reaction to the specific fear list for my character and that’s it”. But no, it’s not that simple. Sure you can do that if you want to, but what would be more engaging for the reader is to know the root of the fear, the why of it. Why is Bill afraid of bicycles? Why is Fred afraid of restrictions from his parents? When you discover the why of the thing, then it becomes more personal and real, plus you get to know the character a little bit better and the reader sees them more in depth. For example, Bill is afraid of bicycles because once he broke his leg while riding one. He’s afraid of public speaking because he thinks he’s awkward, and he’s afraid of knives because he’s afraid he’ll hurt somebody accidently with his shaky hands. In short, it’s a confidence problem. We learn that Bill is more of an insecure guy who doesn’t want to make a mistake. He cares about being perfect and sometimes that gets him to overthink. And then there’s Fred who is afraid of restrictions from his parents. He’s afraid those restrictions would make everyone think he’s a kid and can’t do things himself and however he wants to do it. He’s afraid to say no to his friend’s dares because if he does, they’ll think he’s a coward. He’s also afraid of snakes just because they’re darn creepy and doesn’t wanna get bit. These fears indicate Fred values his independence and the idea of being respected by others and will do practically anything not to feel disrespected. These are the things that make the fear real because they have something they could lose. Their core values are the root of their character, and pretty much every reaction, thought, and emotion stems from that basic foundation. If that goal or something they value is threatened, that creates a response that makes the reader suddenly more drawn towards the character and keeps them engaged in the intensity of the moment.
Now that we know their fears and their why’s of them, what will be their reaction be? Whenever that fear comes around, what will they do? Will they run and hide or remain still and pretend to not be bothered by it? Will they shake their hands or sweat it out? Will they stutter or scream? Again, every person’s response to fear is different, and the more complex that fear is( like trauma for instance, which I’ve got plenty of that going for my characters. lol) the more intriguing the scene will be. Here are several body language responses that are generally used whether you’re scared or excited:
Sweating.
Panting, breathing heavily.
Throat constricting, hard to breathe.
Heart racing and pounding against your chest.
Shaking hands or jittery legs.
Sick to the stomach, clenched stomach.
Clenching and unclenching fists.
Nervous habit, like twiddling thumbs or wringing hands.
Staying still and tense.
Racing and jumbled thoughts.
Sensory overload.
Stuttering and mumbling.
Distracted.
Avoiding eye contact.
Feeling antsy along your skin.
Feeling cold when it’s not cold.
I could go on, but you get the message. A good way to gauge what response to your character’s fear is keeping in mind the why( like Bill being afraid of looking awkward and stupid around other people) and then figuring out how strong the resolve from the character is and whether they’ll face that fear or not. In Bill’s case, if he were called upon to do public speaking, he would do anything to get out of it( pretend to be sick, saying that he has to do homework) anything to not go up on that stage. But he’s also not very good at saying no, and so when it is time to be put onto that stage, he’ll be overthinking it and stuttering through the whole thing until he’s done and feels awful about himself( and maybe a little sick afterwards too). Fred on the other hand, if someone dared him to hold a snake, his first reaction would be to say no. But then he would stop himself from saying it and act all tough and say that snakes don’t bother him( when they really do) and he’ll hold that snake for as long as he needs to until he’s done and then secretly wipes off his sweat afterwards.
These are just two examples of how one could react to the different fears they face. Fear can manifest itself in others as doubt, anxiety, jealousy, anger, suspicion, phobias, PTSD, lying, stealing, stubbornness, distractions; etc. How they deal with their fear is another layer to their character you’ll have to figure out for yourself, but one thing that’s helpful is remember the four F’s ( Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Face). And these four can look different in every situation. Fight can look like either a physical fight for a mental fight, distracting yourself from that one particular thought you don’t want to think about during the day. And then there’s Flight, which can be a physical running away or just getting out of a situation that’s uncomfortable. Freeze is when you’re paralyzed and not sure of what to do. Your brain is frozen in place by thousands of thoughts at once and yet not coming up with one solution. You can’t move your body, you’re stuck and it’s hard to concentrate on anything around you. And then there’s Face( which I’ve added this one) and that’s when you’re consciously aware of your fear and you rationally face it, using whatever method you need necessary to overcome it.
Sometimes with fear, especially PTSD and trauma, you have no idea why you react to certain situations with a fearful response. If a certain word or event triggered a fear you’re not aware of, it’s a subconscious fear of an event that happened a long time ago that hasn’t been properly faced. In that case, your character would have no idea why they’re scared at certain times, unless they do a lot of soul searching and get therapy( that’s another trope you could play with) and their reaction would be a bit confused, making the moment more intense.
Another thing about fear( especially if you’re writing a character who’s injured) is that fear dampens the feeling of pain, those forlorn feelings you felt earlier, etc, etc, because your body and mind are telling you you’re in danger( whether you are or not). Everything else is pushed to the back burner of your attention as you are trying to feel safe again and get away from that danger that is or isn’t there. Once the adrenaline of the situation dies down, your mind will go back to that one thing you were thinking of earlier and that pain in your legs acts up and you realized you’ve been bleeding out this whole time and didn’t even feel it before. That is what fear can do to you, and it’s a great tool to use for your character.
Excitement can feel the same way, but the reaction is so different from fear, it’s mostly seen in body language. Like jumping up and down, giddily giggling when they’re anticipating the receiving of that something they value so very much( like ice cream for instance) and get so happy because it’s what they love. This creates a positive response and doesn’t necessarily need that protective, closed in wall of fear because it’s safe. I will note that excitement can easily turn into anxiety if they think long enough( which a lot of people deal with that, and sometimes take control of the situation to where it turns into anxiety, but that’s just my experience). Excitement doesn’t have that heavy, lingering hold as fear does that will drive you to do things a lot more desperately, but it is still a fun tool to mix in with fear if you want a great thrill.
In addition to learning how to writing these emotions, to hype up the anticipation in your story, the use foreshadowing and physical elements to enhance the intensity of the scene. Place that knife with dripping red blood on the counter, put that ticket with seats to that movie you always wanted to go to with your friend on the shelf, have that mysterious and ominous phrase spoken by a mistrusted foe send a chill down your reader’s spine; all these things you can use to hype up the suspense until the real event comes and makes the reaction ten times as better.
Well there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this series “ Deep POV Dive” and I hope you have learned a lot of great writing tips. Again, the writing course I took was 45 dollars through PayPal on lisahallwilson.com and it’s called Deep POV Foundations. Really great videos and tips right there! She also has another course called Emotional Layers, which helps with layering emotions and describe emotions more in depth for those of you who love drama( definitely my cup of tea ;) if you are interested in taking that. I will be taking that course after a break from this one sometime in the future and will be posting on it if you enjoyed this series. Please comment and tell me how you liked it. Again, thank you so much for reading! Todaloo!
— Abygayle Wynderas
Deep POV Dive: Bonus Exercise:
Create a character chart describing your character’s fears and the reasons behind them. What would their reaction be? How do they handle that fear in the future? Will they overcome it? Post your character chart if you’d like and have fun!
