Psychology for Screenwriters: Building Conflict in Your Script

Working on a script, like any creative work, mostly happens by instinct, and many film professionals believe that artistic freedom and analysis are incompatible. William Indick strongly disagrees. By analyzing theories of psychoanalysis—from Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson to Maureen Murdock and Rollo May—he supports the concepts of famous scholars with examples from well-known films and their timeless themes: love and sex, death and destruction, fear and anger, revenge and hatred. By examining motives, underlying desires, complexes, and what drives the characters, Indick evaluates the authors’ wins and miscalculations—things that ultimately can’t be hidden from the viewer. Because the audience empathizes with the hero, identifies with him, travels along with him through the path of transformation, and reaches catharsis.

A valuable practical guide for filmmakers—screenwriters, directors, students, and film critics. An engaging read for all movie lovers and for those interested in psychology.