The Psychology of Screenwriting

The Psychology of Screenwriting is more than an interesting book on the theory and practice of screenwriting. It is also a philosophical analysis of predetermination and freewill in the context of writing and human life in our mediated world of technology. Drawing on humanism, existentialism, Buddhism, postmodernism and transhumanism, and diverse thinkers from Meister Eckhart to Friedrich Nietzsche, Theodor Adorno, Jacques Derrida, Jean Baudrillard and Gilles Deleuze, The Psychology of Screenwriting will be of use to screenwriters, film students, philosophers and all those interested in contemporary theory. This book combines in-depth critical and cultural analysis with an elaboration on practice in an innovative fashion. It explores how people, such as those in the Dogme 95 movement, have tried to overcome traditional screenwriting, looking in detail at the psychology of writing and the practicalities of how to write well for the screen. This is the first book to include high-theory with screenwriting practice whilst incorporating the Enneagram for character development. Numerous filmmakers and writers, including David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch, David Cronenberg, Pedro Almodóvar, Darren Aronofsky, Sally Potter and Charlie Kaufman are explored. The Psychology of Screenwriting is invaluable for those who want to delve deeper into writing for the screen.

Jason Lee

Acknowledgements 1. The Psychology of Identity 1.1 Introduction/1.2 Ban the Script?/1.3 Identity, History and Psychology/1.4 Inferiority Complex/1.5 Back to Basics - ideology/1.6 Evil and Knowledge 2. The Psychology of Practice 2.1 Finding your Intention/2.2 The Psychology of Obstacles/2.3 The Psychology of Treatments/2.4 The Psychology of Format/2.5 The Psychology of Ideas 3. The Psychology of Character 3.1 Names/3.2 The Goodness of Evil/3.3 Myth and Psychology/3.4 The Psychology of Mirroring/3.5 The Psychology of Self/Limit/3.6 The Psychology of Machines/3.7 The Psychology of the Enneagram/3.8 The Psychology of Instinct/3.9 Scene and Structure 4. The Psychology of Dialogue 5. Individuation 5.1 The Timing of the Secret/5.2 Break a Few Rules and Home/5.3 Fundamentals/5.4 Intertexuality and the Reader/5.5 Theme/5.6 Adaptation/5.7 Writing Voiceovers/5.8 Whose Voice? 6. Conclusions 6.1 The Psychology of Story/6.2 Chekhov's Gun/6.3 The Psychology of Freedom/6.4 The Psychology of the Non-self/6.5 Genre/6.6 Editing and the Rewrite/6.7 The How and the Why/6.8 Mediated Fate Endnotes Select Bibliography Index