Customer Reviews

Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay

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Having spent a sizable fortune on "how-to-write" books, I now realize that I need to stop buying these books and just start writing. Having said that, however, I think that Horton's book contains a lot of useful information and is better than most screenwriting books out there.

Whether you like this book probably depends on both your movie preferences and your writing style. If you are more Steven Segal than Woody Allen, then this book is probably not for you. Similarly, if you are a screen writer who meticulously outlines a story, then you should probably take a pass on Horton. If you can follow all those story diagrams in McKee's book, then you will hate this one. This book is the Anti-McKee.

Simply put, Horton view is that the most important part of a story is the development of the character rather than external events. A story should make us identify and empathize with the characters. Consequently, a great screenplay will have that identification and empathy as it's main goal.

The book is often written in a high-handed academic style. Horton is, after all, an academic. This may annoy some readers. For me, it imparted a measure of earnestness. Many of the reviewers had trouble with the "carvivalesque" concept. This could be explained a little more straightforwardly. Basically, it means that character: (i) is not static, but in a state of flux; (ii) is multi-faceted and does not always behave consistently; and (iii) is influenced by its background and evnironment. The first half of the book builds off of these themes.

The one quibble that I had with the book is that some of the exercises are unrealistic. For instance, am I really going to contact an agency to obtain a copy of a little-known short film so that I can review it? Of course not. Neither will you. Only a college professor would make such obscure assignments.

All-in-all, this is a good book to get one started in writing character-centered screenplays. I guess the name says it all.

I've now read this book twice, hoping I missed the insight on moving a script toward a character driven progression. But what I have had to sadly conclude is Horton's book on the "Character centered screenplay" is more of a college dissertation than a book designed to help the writer develop a character piece.

That's not to say the book is completely useless. It has an interesting take on character paradigms, going into deeper than other books might. Horton's ideas on the multiple voices a character might represent can help open up perspectives on how to make a character more rounded without having to blather out more exposition to explain characters. Vogler, McKee (both who's books I highly recommend) don't spend this kind of focus on character dimension... but they weren't writing books solely on character.

Horton throws his arms out patting himself on the back with his pontification regarding 'carnivalesque'. The idea might have been interesting in a glancing pass, and attempt at expanding our perspective about characters and their many sides with the allusion towards changing masks and showing different sides of self, but it became an esoteric exercise in proving academic chops. Had it be posed and then left so we could delve more deeply into other topics, it wouldn't have been an issue. But carnivalesque was dropped front and center at indulgent intervals, ending up being distracting and fruitless, the exact opposite of what a book about writing should be about.

In the end, 'Character-Centered...' is a flat, uninspiring read. Horton is probably a cerebral person who has spend time dissecting and analyzing films, but little time focusing on the writer's journey of producing a good script. In my meandering through screenplay literature, it is rare to find someone giving you 'hows' instead of 'whats'. "Character Centered..." simply doesn't live up to it's name on the basis of a lack of desire to direct would-be writers to produce character driven material.

You're as likely to discover memorable charactersin most scripts as you are to discover gold dustin the L.A. riverbed. Everyone reverentlypitches "strong characters" as essential to astrong story, but no one tells you how to do this.Andrew Horton eloquently demystifies the processof character creation. Having a MFA in screenwriting, I was familiar with some of thematerial, but I found a lot of the book, includingthe approach, fresh, inventive and inspired

The reason that many reviewers pan this book is the reason that I highly recommend it: it is academic and theoretical. Horton bases his character theory on the idea of the "carnavalesque." It is this internal unpredicability that really brings characters to life.

This book is not for everyone. Horton has a habit of criticizing the plot-driven Hollywood blockbusters and idealizing small independents and foreigns. This can be a bit irritating after a while. If you know the basics and have read all the overly simplisitc and formulatic books (I too am no fan of Syd Field) this is an interesting and different angle to check out, with a much more academic style than most. But it's definitely not a simple "how to," so if that's what you want, look elsewhere for the basics.

Horton's book starts from the premise that the most enduring and celebrated movies are based on stories with strongly etched characters who evoke a powerful emotional and moral resonance. These `character-driven' scripts are counter-posed to the unsatisfying `plot-driven' outputs of Hollywood which are based upon a `linear cause and effect narrative built around a central protagonist and the need for a successful resolution'.

As an antidote Horton encourages writers to embrace the `carnivalesque' or spirit of the carnival which he describes as an `open-ended or multi-voiced discourse' in which character is presented `not as a static state of being but as a dynamic process of becoming'. Or in plainer language, characters are morally conflicted, works in progress possessing un-finalised qualities which make them unpredictable and inherently more interesting. From this perspective, there is less of a requirement for writers to generate neat endings where characters resolve identified needs and attain goals. Instead, character motivations may remain shrouded in mystery or at least only be hinted at to reflect the complexities of real life. As examples of this approach, Horton offers us Hannibal Lecter from the Silence of the Lambs and Shakespeare's Iago (from the play Othello) whose inclinations to evil are never explained through a revelation of their innermost feelings and motivations.

This rejoinder to keep the audience guessing is perhaps the most valuable insight in an otherwise tedious book that suffers from the obscurantist style of writing so typical of academic post-modernist texts from the decade following the mid 80s. In seeking to celebrate directors such as the surrealist Luis Brunel, who in their films sought to eradicate `any idea or image that might lend itself to a rational explanation' so Andrew Horton lines himself up with those who in finding multiplicities of meanings everywhere apply themselves to the destruction of understandable logic. Although in his defence he'd argue `as writers we deal not with certainties, but with pregnant ambiguities. Too much certainty and we are in danger of falling into cliché.'

First published in 1994, Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay, also betrays a very dated obsession with gender, race and ethnicity as a route to escape the stereotype-generating dominance of white-male perspectives in Hollywood. At a time when the representation of women and minorities has never been greater or the barriers to access lower it could be argued that the impetus to finding fresh characters today lies more within the fragmentation of political and religious views than it does within the politics of gender and race.

Ultimately, Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay fails to deliver on the promise of its title to help screenwriters develop more vivid character-driven stories. It critiques the failing of the Hollywood model of story-telling yet fails to deliver compelling alternatives. It touches too lightly on topics that may have proved interesting to explore in more detail such as the use of Jungian personality typology in profiling character traits and fails to clearly explain its central idea - that writers should embrace the carnivalesque. In 2010, Horton's text is one to miss.

Horton's well-thought-out book is more than a simple "how-to," or list of "tricks of the trade," it is an exciting blend of theory and instruction. Building on Aristotle's classic three-sided definition of drama, Horton defines the "character-centered" screenplay and leads the reader through a thought-provoking analysis of the workings of this sub-genre. He goes on to explain structure, give tips and even a writing schedule that is adaptable to the aspiring screenwriter's needs. Critics have long lamented the lack of believable characters in American film; Andrew Horton is doing something about it. For me personally, it redefined how I watch movies.

Luckily, I did not buy this book; I read it while enjoying coffee and cheesecake in a Barnes and Noble (sorry Amazon!). It states the obvious obviously. You'd be better off writing your script and asking your friends for their opinion.

To illustrate - do you know the definition for protagonist, antagonist, conflict, drama? I certainly hope so! And do you really need 100 pages to define these terms for you? I certainly hope not!

My advice for screenwriters who truly want to understand story is to read "The hero's journey, the mythological structure of storytelling" and Robert McKee's "story." Go to McKee's seminar. Buy some scripts. Download scripts off the Internet. Then buy the software - Final Draft is my personal favorite - and start writing. Let the software worry about how to format - it's all automatic.

I couldn't put this book down. If I thought this book was boring (as one reader claims), I wouldn't be able to finish reading it, much less finish it in one sitting! Horton delves into subject matter that every screenwriting class I've taken seems to skip. These classes (mostly plot-centered) teach that the "Hollywood" script should have a theme, but that theme is usually the main character's transformation from one end of the spectrum to the complete opposite. Horton assures us that this does not have to be the case for a well-written, character-centered screenplay. Rather, different aspects of a character appear at different times, under different circumstances, much like real life! In other words, the protagonist does not need to be "transformed" in order to be dimensional. Horton's examples are wonderful and he is inspiring.

One of the reviews panned this book because it would not help him wrtie movies like "Terminator". Welllll...yes! Refer to title! "Character Centered"

I have found that it's beneficial for me to read a variety of screenplay books, to get a variety of perspectives on the craft. And to that point, Mr. Horton's book offers a very unique perspective of screenwriting, different from anything else I've read. If you're concerned with depth of character and variety of character, the perspective that Horton offers is invaluable.

And, actually, I do believe that this book can help someone who wants to write the next "Terminator", or whatever. Character is so central to story writing, even action filcks.

Don't waste any time like I did reading catchy titles like "Writing Screenplays That Sell." If you are serious about writing screenplays, you MUST read "Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay." It is the BEST book out there. It may be difficult to get through, only because it's so thick with good information, but it will give you a solid understanding of how to write great characters. I have serveral books on screenwriting, but this is the only one that has any real value. Sorry Syd.