Uncover the hidden fears that hold your character back.

Fear is a primal force, a built-in warning system alerting characters to danger. It can drive them to protect themselves or trap them, making their deepest insecurities and past trauma loom larger than life. It’s also the current that fuels plot and arc—a struggle they must face and overcome to reach their goals.

FAILURE. HEARTBREAK. BETRAYAL.

PULL READERS IN BY TAPPING INTO DEEP HUMAN FEARS.

Inside this guide, you’ll learn to:

• Master the psychology of fear so you can show how it distorts perception, hijacks reason, spawns lies, and drives the character’s choices and behavior
• Write authentic character struggles using over 80 in-depth fear profiles that explore possible disruptions to a person’s life, specific triggers, reactions, and internal conflicts
• Use universal fear categories—Survival, Stability & Control, Relationship, Identity, and Moral & Existential—to plot challenging situations, personal battles, and opportunities for growth
• Pinpoint your character’s greatest fear by exploring their emotional wounds, secrets, unmet needs, and other related factors
• Learn about the role your character’s fatal flaw plays in their fight with fear and the story’s resolution
• Strengthen story structure by weaving fear into the main turning points that define a character’s journey

Force characters to face their inner demons while giving readers a front row seat to their own internal battles. The Fear Thesaurus helps you write stories where fear shapes choices, fuels transformation, and reveals the courage it takes to change.