RELATIONSHIP THESAURUS

SIBLINGS



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HELPFUL TIP:

Relationships are part of the very fabric of your character’s life. How well or poorly they get along with others oftentimes comes down to personality, so carefully consider the positive traits and negative traits of your story’s cast. Another factor that can pull characters together or create friction is motivation, so keep each individual’s goal—both at the scene and story level—in mind as you write.
DESCRIPTION:
Many factors can shape this family relationship, including the age between the siblings, home life and environment, parenting styles, personality traits, intelligence and maturity levels, health and physicality, opportunities for growth, and other individual formative experiences (good and bad). The sibling relationship also evolves (or devolves) with age and time. For purposes of clarity, this entry will explore the sibling relationship between children and teens rather than adults.

RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS:
Below are a wide range of dynamics that may 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.

Loyal siblings who put the family bond first
Each party caring about their siblings' happiness and seeking to lift them up
Siblings being best friends
Siblings enjoying spending time together
Siblings sharing the same interests
Siblings noticing when the other is struggling and offering advice or stepping in to help
Siblings sticking up for each other
Siblings with an age gap who love each other but aren't close
Siblings sharing space but not really interacting
Antagonistic siblings who don't like being together
Highly competitive siblings prioritizing winning over their relationship
One sibling sabotaging, undermining, or tattling on the other
One sibling being nice one-on-one but dumping the sibling when other options arise
One sibling bullying the others
Siblings who physically fight

CHALLENGES THAT COULD THREATEN THE STATUS QUO:
The kids feeling the need to compete for their parents' attention
Bad parenting that creates conflict (one child is given more freedom than the others, differing parental expectations, etc.)
A sibling falling ill
The parents divorcing
A parent remarrying and bringing stepchildren into the family
A new sibling being born
One sibling learning unexpectedly that they were adopted
Teens learning that one of their siblings is being abused
One youth sharing a secret with the other that really should be disclosed to an adult
One kid being embarrassed by their sibling

WOUNDS THAT COULD FACTOR INTO THE RELATIONSHIP:
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POSSIBLE CONFLICT SCENARIOS:
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CONFLICTING DESIRES THAT CAN IMPAIR THE RELATIONSHIP:
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CLASHING PERSONALITY TRAIT COMBINATIONS:
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NEGATIVE OUTCOMES OF FRICTION:
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FICTIONAL SCENARIOS THAT COULD TURN THESE CHARACTERS INTO ALLIES:
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WAYS THIS RELATIONSHIP MAY LEAD TO POSITIVE GROWTH:
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THEMES AND SYMBOLS THAT CAN BE EXPLORED THROUGH THIS RELATIONSHIP:
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