Concept might not be the right term. For a story I've been working on for years at this point, I have two main characters. The female one is simple- she is good at and likes saving lives, and hates when people do anything that keeps her from doing that. The guy on the other hand, is a lot more complex. Something has been stalling me out in him, to the point I've been running him through basically fanfiction to figure him out. It's worked, but has also reached a point where I don't know enough to figure the rest out. Somehow, loneliness and fear are the keys to unlocking what my missing concept is. The loneliness comes from having what little support structures he had torn away- what's left is tenuous and weak. The fear... he's lived his whole life in fear. And while he can't remember being born, his memory starts not long after. There is something in the way the two intersect that is my missing puzzle piece. Does anyone have suggestions for what it might be?
I'm afraid I don't really understand what you're saying. There has to be an intersection of loneliness and fear because they are in the same person. One thing I suppose I forgot to make clear is that he had little to do with the removal of his support structures. He has no family, because of the actions of his family. He had friends, really good ones too, but they were either dragged apart due to either circumstances or death. There's a saying- you don't know what you have until it's gone? Well, he knows now, and wants it back. And there's that on the surface he can seem unusually brave, but bravery isn't the absence of fear, it's the ability to act despite fear. And he can't remember a time when he wasn't afraid. So bravery isn't very hard for him. I know emotional states can blend in some ways that can be odd. But I don't know how, in general or for these two specific emotions.
From what I understand, you are trying to find the intersection between fear and loneliness. Then you must figure out which is the cause and which is the effect. Does the loneliness cause fear, or does the fear cause loneliness? He's lived his whole life in fear. Then, he loses his support structure. His fear would make him unable to reach out. Loneliness results. Hope this helps even a little.
Fear of what? You need to know that, and why he's afraid of whatever he's afraid of. And then his overcoming the fear is the crux of the story (or failing to, whatever the case may be). It's impossible to give anything like an answer here because everything is way too vague. Nothing about either character is given (as far as character traits) except loneliness and fear, and those are what you're asking for help with, so they're not nailed down yet. I'm going to once again push this set of ideas I've been so enamored with lately: Character Web. I think what you need to do is develop your characters by developing the character web, starting with (or coming around to) what they're in conflict about. That's your theme. Once you know what it is you build the whole story and all your characters around it.
Lots of people (most?) feel lonely at some point. What's the thing that gets lots of people (most?) through? The belief that's it's temporary, things will change for the better. A consistent factor in persistent loneliness is the fear that it won't improve, which can become it's own self-fulfilling prophesy, a cycle of emotion that catches the afflicted in inescapable centrifugal forces. Or not. That might all be very far from where you're going. I'm not entirely sure I get what you're looking for either but bounce back a few ideas of what responses are getting close.
I had hoped that by being vague I could get a wider range of how the two emotional states could interact. That could then give me a wider array to do further research on to figure out what is the right thing I'm missing. His backstory is fairly well detailed, and none of it is there for the sake of being there. And, well, I'm not sure how detailed I should be here, when much of it isn't too relevant to my question. As a child, while he didn't have too many friends, the ones he had were good friends. Politics outside of their control tore many of them away from him, and the last ones that stayed close to him died shortly before the start of the story. He as adrift and lonely because of that. Add to that, he remembers the execution of his mother, which happened within an hour of his birth. He nearly died then too, and only an idle comment saved his life. Big hulking guys can be really scary to babies, and once he learned language? Add to that the group that executed his mother are the rulers of the nation he was born in, and some blame him for things that were actually triggered by the comment that saved his life, his fear is justified. And now he's in a different country, and his status is in very murky waters because of strange politics... He has respites, things and actions that he can take comfort in so that while he is lonely now, can take the edge off of the fear that has been so pervasive that he can no longer tell he's afraid. But there are ways that fear and loneliness can blend, and I'm not sure what they are, so I don't know which one is correct, so I can't describe him properly in the beginning. And if I can't do it properly in the beginning, I can't properly describe how that changes after he nearly dies and new friends save his life. Some of which were already there, just none of them knew that they either were, or were going to become, friends.
I still don't understand but mostly because it seems you're answering your own question. He's lonely. Most of the people close to him are violently dead or exiled (?). He fears he's cursed, that anyone who gets close to him will meet a sorry end so he's very reluctant to form close relationships. Which makes him lonelier and more fearful of letting people in. The loneliness stems from the fear that arises from the loss of people close to him. The two emotional states are linked, mutually nurturing (not in a good way). Call it blended and you're there?
Yes, if this is the primary fear, then it works nicely just as Mr. Nugent said. But if the fear is of powerful political figures destroying people he loves, then that's a different fear and I'm not sure how it would connect up unless the same thing is starting to happen again in his new country (which it sounds like it might be). But the difference is, a fear of meeting people, trying to befirend them, or have a relationship, does blend nicely with loneliness, because it would tend to promote it. The more political fear really has no direct emotional connection to his loneliness. You coul. probably create a connection there, but I think it would be rather forced, unless he finds himself living in an area surrounded by the powerful political figures he fears, and is always afraid anyone he meets might be connected to them. Or... maybe there are shadowy governmental agencies that work undercover and have recently begun treating decent law-abiding citizens like criminals, making them disappear or worse, and he's afraid he's become a target of one of these agencies. No, that wouldn't be at all believeable—or would it... ?
I think this might be your problem. I can't see how a near death experience would wipe out or even change someone dealing with fear and loneliness. A near death experience can be a wake-up call for some things in some people, but it really doesn't fix people or their problems. And given all this character has been through, I really don't see almost dying having this effect on him. I also don't see how this makes him suddenly have friends or realize he maybe always had some people. Is he really going to call them or hang out with them more because he almost dies? I don't think it matters if they saved him or not. This character sounds like he has deep-rooted issues to which there is really no quick fix. I also can't see how almost dying would do anything to help his fear. If anything, it seems like it would make it worse. I think the problem is you're trying to show a character change, but it just doesn't really make sense that this character would change the way you want him to as a result of what you are trying to make happen in your story.
The near-death is not an immediate fix- those never make for good stories, imo- but a wake-up call to start paying attention. I think I'm looking for a less common interaction of the two emotional states, and Covid is doing me no favors when trying to research. I'm not looking for something that is sudden-onset, but is much more chronic. Well.... This is a political dystopia that starts within a few weeks of a governmental decapitation.... In my defense, I am utterly bored of stories that go "They removed the evil heads of the government and they all lived happily ever after", and can’t find anything that deals with the aftermath. And there are times that when you want the job done right you gotta do it yourself. For me? This is one of them.
