Successful stories are driven by authentic and interesting characters, so it’s important to craft them carefully. But characters don’t usually exist in a vacuum; throughout the course of your story, they’ll live, work, play, and fight with other cast members. Some of those relationships are positive and supportive, pushing the protagonist to positive growth and helping them achieve their goals. Other relationships do exactly the opposite, derailing your character’s confidence and self-worth or they cause friction and conflict that leads to fallout and disruption. Many relationships hover somewhere in the middle. A balanced story will require a mix of these dynamics.
The purpose of this thesaurus is to encourage you to explore the kinds of relationships that might be good for your story and figure out what each might look like. Think about what a character needs (good and bad), and build a network of connections for him or her that will challenge them, showcase their innermost qualities, and bind readers to their relationship trials and triumphs.
The following is just a sample of the content available for this relationship. To see it in its entirety (along with 45+ additional relationship entries), check out our Description Thesaurus Collection at One Stop For Writers.
Parent and Teen Child
Description: A parent and teen relationship is often defined by dramatic highs and lows. While this relationship is vitally important for teens as they grow and mature, conflicting goals between the parent and child can result in ongoing low-level friction and spectacular blowups. And the pressure for parents to get it right can add to the already elevated stress of raising a teen.
Relationship Dynamics:
Each relationship is different, depending on the people involved, their history together, their individual personalities, and a host of factors. Below are a wide range of dynamics that can accompany this relationship. Use the ideas that suit your story and work best for your characters to bring about and/or resolve the necessary conflict.
Unconditional love between a parent and a child
Providing space for the teen to explore their world
Providing reasonable boundaries and rules to ensure the teen’s safe development
Parental obedience when it matters most
Recognizing that the parent is on their side (they’re not the enemy)
Clashing Personality Trait Combinations:
Independent and Controlling, Responsible and Irresponsible, Ambitious and Lazy, Honorable and Dishonest, Naïve and Worldly, Meticulous and Disorganized, Nurturing and Withdrawn, Playful and Humorless, Responsible and Scatterbrained
Negative Outcomes of Friction
A loss of trust
Self-blame for not handling the situation better, resulting in self-doubt
Communication suffering
Ways a Healthy Relationship Can Encourage Positive Change
Teens can view parents as a resource to be mined when advice is needed
A healthy relationship will provide teens with the confidence and support that will enable them to take risks and strike out on their own
Themes and Symbols That Can Be Explored through This Relationship
Borders, Coming of Age, Crossroads, Endings, Family, Freedom, Inflexibility, Journeys, Love, Perseverance, Rebellion, Transformation
Other Relationship Thesaurus entries can be found here.
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Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.