About the Book:

Psychology for Screenwriters by William Indick helps screenwriters craft psychologically resonant characters and conflict.

Alfred Hitchcock once said: "Drama is just human life with all the boring parts cut out." Psychology for Screenwriters will help you tap into these great psychological resources to learn how to write and reflect real human drama.

To make your stories come alive, you must understand human behavior. This book clearly describes theories of personality and psychoanalysis with simple guidelines, thought provoking exercises, vivid film images and hundreds of examples from classic movies. Using Psychology for Screenwriters, you can make Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, and Joseph Campbell your writing partners. You'll learn to create convincing motivation, believable identity and development, and archetypes that produce authentic screen moments.

What people say:

"An insightful account of how psychological knowledge can elucidate and guide any filmmaking experience…. Unquestionably, it is must read material for screenwriters and anyone interested in understanding the intricacies of storytelling in the motion picture industry." — Dr. Maura Pilotti, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Dowling College

"Indick's love of cinema comes through and the information is structured for a thought-provoking read. Psychology for Screenwriters can provide a better understanding of the human condition and a richer appreciation for the characters and stories of the films that have been universally accepted by audiences and/or judged to be great." — Indie Slate Magazine

"Indick brilliantly manages to bridge the gap between psychological theory and its application for screenwriting…. The most important insight a writer can get from this book, is that it helps understand why a character's behavior comes across as unbelievable. In the majority of cases, this will be because stages in a psychological process have been skipped or portrayed wrongly. An excellent addition to every screenwriter's bookshelf." — Screentalk Magazine

"I found the book extremely well written and readable and, more importantly, easy to understand even without a Ph. D. in psychology. It is a hands-on study of character traits and how they define people and their enacting with the social world around them. Great stuff." — DVD Review

About the Author:

William Indick is an American screenwriter, author and an Associate Professor of Psychology at William Paterson University, in New Jersey.