Emotional Wounds Entry: Victimization via Identity Theft

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.

VICTIMIZATION VIA IDENTITY THEFT

Examples:

having to fight a charge on one’s record because a criminal identified himself as the character using false documents upon arrest
having one’s passport stolen or duplicated and used to bring a criminal or immigrant into the country illegally
having one’s bank account or investments drained by someone with false documents posing as the character
accruing credit card or other debts as a result of another using illegally obtained personal identity documents and numbers
being harassed by creditors, police or criminals because another person has assumed one’s identity
cyber theft of one’s online social accounts or doppelganger accounts created in one’s name to engage in cyber bullying or to ruin one’s reputation
having another obtain medical care using the character’s identity, racking up medical bills and affecting one’s ability to obtain insurance
having a friend or family member pose as oneself and then do something that leaves a lasting stain one one’s reputation
having one’s fingerprints or DNA obtained without consent and then used to implicate one in a crime
having one’s image stolen, photo-shopped into pictures and videos, and then shared online in a revenge attack to ruin one’s reputation
having one’s personal information (phone number, home address, email and social media links) paired with a fake account on an unsavoury sex, violence or predator site to invite harassment as a means of targeted bullying or revenge
having another hack one’s email or other personal communication to send out harmful emails, criminal threats or to pass on damaging/illegal information with the intent of  all activity being traced to the character as a scapegoat

Basic Needs Often Compromised By This Wound: physiological needs, safety and security, esteem and recognition

False Beliefs That May Be Embraced As a Result of This Wound:

I can’t trust anyone but myself
I was targeted because I am weak
Trying to make a better life is useless because someone will just take it away from me
Control is an illusion; what I have can be taken from me at any time
People don’t respect me because I am not worthy of it

Positive Attributes That May Result: aware, cautious, conservative, discreet, scrupulous, structured, watchful

Negative Traits That May Result: biased, cagey, close-mouthed, controlling, cynical, deceptive, guarded, hostile, insecure, obsessive, paranoid, unsociable, secretive

Resulting Fears:

fear of being used or exploited
fear of losing everything one has built
fear of financial ruin
fear of making a mistake and misplacing one’s trust in the wrong person

Possible Habits That May Emerge:

avoiding technology and information-gathering processes
stashing money in hiding places rather than risking it to the bank
obsessively changing one’s passwords, bank accounts and switching credit cards
refusing to share personal information
shutting down social media accounts
over-reacting when friends or co-workers ask too many personal questions
mistrust and paranoia, leading one to question the motivations of others
always paying in cash
avoiding close relationships (if the identity theft was personal & hate-motivated)

TIP: If you need help understanding the impact of these factors, please read our introductory post on the Emotional Wound Thesaurus.

 

Image: Pixabay: Niekervlaan

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