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Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay
Updated and Expanded edition
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Book Presentation:
"We need good screenwriters who understand character." Everywhere Andrew Horton traveled in researching this book—from Hollywood to Hungary—he heard the same refrain. Yet most of the standard how-to books on screenwriting follow the film industry's earlier lead in focusing almost exclusively on plot and formulaic structures.
With this book, Horton, a film scholar and successful screenwriter, provides the definitive work on the character-based screenplay. Exceptionally wide-ranging—covering American, international, mainstream, and "off-Hollywood" films, as well as television—the book offers creative strategies and essential practical information.
Horton begins by placing screenwriting in the context of the storytelling tradition, arguing through literary and cultural analysis that all great stories revolve around a strong central character. He then suggests specific techniques and concepts to help any writer—whether new or experienced—build more vivid characters and screenplays. Centering his discussion around four film examples—including Thelma & Louise and The Silence of the Lambs—and the television series, Northern Exposure, he takes the reader step-by-step through the screenwriting process, starting with the development of multi-dimensional characters and continuing through to rewrite. Finally, he includes a wealth of information about contests, fellowships, and film festivals.
Espousing a new, character-based approach to screenwriting, this engaging, insightful work will prove an essential guide to all of those involved in the writing and development of film scripts.
Press Reviews:
"I have been searching for a book such as Horton's for years—and finally it has arrived. Horton's penetrating analysis and graceful writing style open up the key topic of characterization as no other book has. . . . I recommend it highly."—Paul Lucey, University of Southern California
See the publisher website: University of California Press
> From the same author:
Play It Again, Sam (2022)
Retakes on Remakes
Dir. Andrew Horton and Stuart Y. McDougal
Subject: Economics
Screenwriting for a Global Market (2004)
Selling Your Scripts from Hollywood to Hong Kong
Subject: Technique > Scriptwriting
Three More Screenplays by Preston Sturges (1998)
The Power and the Glory, Easy Living, and Remember the Night
by Preston Sturges and Andrew Horton
Subject: One Film > Remember the Night, The Power and the Glory, Easy Living
Russian Critics on the Cinema of Glasnost (1994)
Dir. Michael Brashinsky, Andrew Horton and William Rothman
Subject: Countries > Russia / USSR
The Zero Hour (1992)
Glasnost and Soviet Cinema in Transition
by Andrew Horton and Michael Brashinsky
Subject: Countries > Russia / USSR
> On a related topic:
Character is Structure (2023)
The Insider's Guide to Screenwriting
by Ted Wilkes and Phil Hughes
Subject: Technique > Scriptwriting
The Defining Moment (2022)
How Writers and Actors Build Characters
by Christopher Riley and Kathy Riley
Subject: Technique > Scriptwriting
Rem Koolhaas as Scriptwriter (2025)
OMA Architecture Script for West Berlin
Subject: Technique > Scriptwriting
Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect (2025)
Subject: Technique > Scriptwriting
Save the Cat! Writes Horror (2025)
The Ultimate Guide to Creating Monster in the House Stories
by Jamie Nash
Subject: Technique > Scriptwriting
Scriptnotes (2025)
A Book About Screenwriting and Things That Are Interesting to Screenwriters
by John August and Craig Mazin
Subject: Technique > Scriptwriting
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