Customer Reviews

Psychology for Screenwriters

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For any writer struggling to create powerful and believable characters, it is imperative that you understand the psychological aspects of why people do the things they do, why they behave in the ways they choose to, and what inner drives propel them towards potential greatness. The hero's journey talked about in myth and story has a structure based upon archetypes, themes and patters of human behavior that any writer can come to master when creating the perfect screenplay, and "Psychology For Screenwriters: Building Conflict in Your Script" by screenwriter and Assistant Professor of Psychology William Indick is a priceless guidebook for navigating the interior of the mind.

Written for screenwriters, with tons of examples of movies current and past that clarify the concepts, this book can also serve as an indespensable guide for writers of novels, who also grapple with making their characters believable, truthful and effective. Using Freudian psychology as well as the teachings of Carl Jung, Alfred Adler and the late, great mythologist Joseph Campbell, the author takes us on a highly detailed journey into the hero's journey itself, breaking apart each step of character development and providing a correlating psychological theme that underlies the motivations and actions of human beings. By doing this, the writer can absorb on a subconscious level what they then hope to realize in their work on a consious level - fully rounded, deeply real characters experiencing things that the audience can cheer for, relate to and feel authenticated by.

The book, which is thick and wordy and almost like a textbook, so filled with information is it, covers every aspect of human behavior and motivation, from psychosexuality to the conflict of identity crisis, from the hero's journey and its trials and pitfalls, to the many archetypes of persona and plot, to the different aspects of the heroine's journey, the existential conflict, the battle of ego and id, neurosis and narcissism, the defense mechanisms of the crafty ego, sibling rivalry, good versus evil, finding the inner animus, inferiority complexes, the power and metaphor of dreams and so very much more. In fact, reading this book can be somewhat intimidating for a writer who simply wants to "create better characters" and one can easily get bogged down in detail. But all that psychological stuff is truly worth it, because the end result is a greater understanding of human nature, which translates into writing that is more authentic, more profound, and more emotionally satisfying.

What works really well in this book are the many examples of how these aspects of personality show up in films most of us have seen before. This really allows the author to drive home his points and clarify his concepts in a way we call can understand - by relating it to what we've already experienced on the big screen. Even better are the many helpful sidebars, chapter summary points and insightful exercises all geared towards making sure that the writer, and reader, truly understands the material before closing the book and beginning to write.

I found this book to be a highly recommended "must-have" for writers serious about doing more than just popping out a commercial, story-driven script for a quick sale (ha-ha). This manual for serious character and story development is for those writers who truly want to create memorable people and plotlines that will connect with and move their audiences. One important suggestion, though. There is so much ground covered in this book that you might feel crippled by it when you are ready to write. Instead, read it, absorb the material, then set it aside long enough for it to sink into your psyche.

Then sit down and write, and watch your characters and your story take on a powerful and profoundly effective life of their own. Not only will you have learned more about what makes your characters tick, you will have learned a thing or two about yourself, which is really what writing is all about - expressing the self.

I really didn't know what to expect when I got this book as a present, but I actually found it extremely useful in my writing. The chapters on Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung really helped me with structure for my script, and the other chapters are also full of useful insights into the psychology behind developing characters and plots. I recommend this book more than "The Writer's Journey," which I found less helpful.

When I first read this book, I realized that it contained alot of psychological/anthropological/mythological principles that we all take for granted and yet live each and everyday. The theories presented go so much further than just screenwriting. As screenwriting is not necessarily my forte, I found the book helpful in creating not just memorable characters, but understandable conflicts and plotlines within a short story or novel. I would highly recommend this book to novelists and short story writers beyond just the screenwriter at whom this book is primarily aimed.

There's a lot of information to be found within this book. Notes are a must, along with at least 2-3 readthroughs. Being able to apply the points to a specific piece you are working on definitely helps the points to sink in. Even if you are not terribly interested in the psychological theories of the masters, the book is broken down in such a way as to make the points which you can best apply to your characters easily understood. However, the archetypes contained within are not so simplistic & formulaic as to lose your interest or that of your reader/viewer. This book really challenges you to think about the motivations of each character in your book and how you can best end your story (or screenplay) with the creation of a whole entity with whom your audience can identify on an intangible level.

An excellent read.

A lot of food for thought here. The book describes various psychological theories (Freud, May, Jung) and applies them to creating characters and story. Good book. Why aren't there more books like this? Stories are about human behavior, human feelings; i.e.: psychology. Sheesh! Tons of books about format and structure, little on story content, character motivation.
I also recommend "Creating Chracters", by Howard Lauther.

This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in character and story development. Psych theories are very clearly explained and corresponding film examples are great. This is also a fun read for movie fans who consider themselves students of film.

The strength of this book is its ability to present theories of psychology in a concise, constructive way. Reading Indick while writing a screenplay will give you constant reminders of what good stories have to come down to, character psychology. As a key to watching and understanding movies and their characters -- let alone a discussion of psychology -- this book is more limited, but for writers looking for quick, practical help it's invaluable.

This is the kind of material that can be used to overcome writer's block. It is not so much about how to write as it is about content and character motivation. It is easy reading with relevant examples. I will be using this until the pages yellow and the binding cracks.

This book outlines different psychological theories put together by some of the big names in psychology (Freud, Jung, Adler) and some lesser-known ones as well to help screenwriters add psychological depth to their characters (and plot as well).

As I read this book, I found I was able to apply most of the theories to one script I'm working on. It seems to me that all these different theories enable screenwriters to approach their characters from several different ways. So now the question becomes "Which theory can I use?" as opposed to "Which one must I use?". Very helpful indeed.

I'm going to preface this by saying that I am not into screenwriting books at all. I find most of them to be too warm & fuzzy and touchy-feely. This book however, was one that I seriously got into.

That being said, I used to wonder how to apply the many theories and concepts that I learned in Psychology 101 to my scripts... well this book showed me how to do that and much, much more. Basically, the author takes several phychologists such as Freud, Jung, May, Adler & Erikson and relates their theories directly to characters and plots in scripts. By introducing and giving a general overview of a specific theory and then referencing movie plots and characters to demonstrate and exemplify that theory you will see clearly how to relate basic psychology to your script while creating interesting characters and story lines.


The book is not complicated at all and you don't need to have taken a Psychology course to understand what he is writing about. He forgoes all the hardcore drivel that is often associated with Psychology and gets right to the essence of the theory or concept in laymans terms. He does an excellent job with this and the reviews and breakdowns at the end of each chapter will allow this book to be an excellent reference as you write your scripts. The book is well organized and upon completion of the book, I can say that I will use this book as my primary reference tool when I write my next script.

Even if you don't write scripts or intend use this book as a reference tool, it will provide fantastic insight into independent & Hollywood movies, their character creation and plot devices.

I am not a fan of story development software, I prefer pad and pen and some good reference books. This is a great reference book if you develop complex characters. You aren't going to create a "Hannibal Lecter" character with story development software, but you may with this book. Get a good screenwriting software package (I use Movie Magic) and shop for some quality reference books instead of forking out hundreds on story development software. That's how I write, and of course that is my opinion... I have two Videographer Awards and an Aegis Award and am looking forward to bigger honors with the help of this book and others! :-) I also have a novel on Amazon...