Writing prompt #102: WHAT ARE THEY AFRAID OF?
Hi Everyone,
I was reading a new translation of FATHERS AND CHILDREN by Ivan Turgenev when I came across this passage describing Alina Vlasyevna, “a real Russian gentlewoman from times gone by.” In the following passage, Turgenev lists a number of things Alina is afraid of:
“She was afraid of mice, grass snakes, frogs, sparrows, leeches, thunder, cold water, drafts, horses, billy goats, redheads, and black cats and regarded crickets and dogs as unclean beasts; she would not eat veal, pigeon, crayfish, cheese, asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, hare, or watermelon because a cut watermelon looks like the head of John the Baptist . . .”
YOUR WRITING PROMPT: Choose one (or more) of your characters and make a list of everything that frightens them, from traumatic to trivial, superstitious to the supernatural. Can you work these into your story? How does learning their fears inform your understanding of them? Do any of these specifics fears recur, or become points around which incidents and scenes might revolve?
I hope this yields some interesting writing!
Abrazos,
Cristina
This woman needs some heavy-duty therapy!!
I often fail to consider a character's fears, when fear can drive so much of their actions, or non-actions. This is a good reminder to keep that in mind throughout. Thanks for sharing.
I often feel as though these prompts come to me when I'm most lost in my writing, and they inevitably cast some light on the path I'm trying to write. Thank you for this prompt!!!