Phobias

I have a character with pyrophobia, and I'm having trouble keeping it from getting contrived. The basic premise that inspired the phobia for this character (who is a summoner / gofer by occupation, which I plan to take advantage of) is that she was caught in a large fire and left badly burned from it - and instead of conquering the phobia (which I find predictable!) she feels deep shame over it and only comes to accept that this phobia's a part of herself now.

What I'm having trouble with iiis how recent this accident / phobia's development should be for her to feel shame over it, and the details of the accident itself. I don't want it to be too overblown, but I'm having issues coming up with something believeable. xD

Thanks! (And sorry for having so many questions! :'D)

I'm guessing pyrophobia is fear of fire correct?

I think this fire could have happened really any time in her life. If it happened when she was a child it would make sense that she was deeply scared (emotionally) from it. She could even have a touch of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which would make her even more anxious and paranoid about it.
As long as she's not like 4 or something when it happened, she should be able to remember most of the details because it's such a profound event in her life.
I wouldn't have it be super recent like a month or year ago because you also have to take into account the recovery time from the severe burns and the time it would take for this intense phobia to develop. Burn victims don't get better overnight. It can be years before they look somewhat 'normal' again.
I think I would do some research (if you haven't already) on burn victims and phobias. I think that might help a little.

-Carly

Hey, Eddy,

Whenever I try to create characters, I land in the same spot you do--questioning myself and wondering if they're believable. When I try to create a character that fits a particular mold, I have to make sure that it's the natural course the character has taken. Some characters may go through the events that yours went through, but they may not end up afraid of fire. Or you may have created many characters in your storyline, and one of them may be a better candidate for pyrophobia.

One thing I ask myself about any given character I create is this: "Will he have room to change?" If he's in a place that I've put him in, does he have room to get out of it, and will he try to get out?

If your characters seem out of place to you, the key is not to let them settle. Give them something that makes them change, and they may respond to it differently. Believable characters are those who ultimately take on lives of their own, even if they go beyond what you had in mind for them.

Hope this helps!

~ marz

It might be that the phobia builds from lack of exposure to the fire, as well as the actual event. For example, she was initially scared of fire, but has now avoided it for so long that the actual fear is out of proportion to the danger (eg. freaking out at candles).