Five basic human emotions

Emotions are obvious and everywhere, but if you narrow them down, most emotions can be slotted into one of the following boxes:

GUILT

HATE

SHAME

REVENGE

LOVE

Your character’s main driving force will essentially encompass one of the above emotions.  On the surface your character’s reactions could appear to be linked to an entirely different emotion.  Defining your character’s underlying motivational factors will enhance their realism and will take your reader on a discovery as the character’s traits are exposed.

GUILT – depression, defensiveness, shyness, etc.

HATE – obnoxiousness, shyness, depression, etc.

SHAME – shyness, depression, fear, etc.

REVENGE – hate, introvertedness, obnoxiousness, etc.

LOVE – lust, fear, extrovertedness, etc.

See how they link up to each other on the surface, yet on closer inspection can mean very different things depending on what’s underneath?