The Fiction Writer’s Guide to Psychology

"In the old days villains had moustaches and kicked the dog. Audiences are smarter today. They don't want their villain to be thrown at them with green limelight on his face. They want an ordinary human being with failings."—Alfred Hitchcock

By Scoti Springfield Domeij

Need Psychology Information for Your Fiction?

• Does your character need psychotherapy?
  
• Looking for the psychology behind a really great villain?
  
• Wish you could ask a real clinician your psychology questions?
  
• How can you make the psychologist in your fiction sound like a real shrink?
  

Before you lobotomize your character or send her off to electroshock therapy, check out Archetype: The Fiction Writer's Guide to Psychology.

Archetype Features

• Disorders: Articles on psychological disorders.
  
• Jargon: Help your characters sound like shrinks.
  
• Real Research: A few (in)famous psychological experiments.
  
• Muses: Includes idea generators, visual prompts, and information on ways to beat writer's block
  
• Assessments: Descriptions of some of the most common psychological "tests," including the "inkblot test."
  
• Q & A: Ask the psychologist your own writing/psychology questions and read responses to others' questions.
  
• Media Portrayals: Learn what Anakin Skywalker's diagnosis is and check out mistakes from movies, television, novels, visuals, and nonfiction.
  
• Articles & Resources: Articles on strong writing, characterization, genre writing, editing and feedback, agents and publishing, and using psychology in your fiction.