I want to thank the many posts to my "where do I start?" query. Rather than scribbling out a series of outlines about the travails of one or more psychologists, however, I've focused on generating loglines. One about the good news/bad news a school psychologist must deliver to a family (unfortunately, that's most often the job description) and others about clinical psychologists in hospital settings and private practice. My favorite, probably because it is a completed novel, reflects how a psychologist gets conned...and no, the patient is not a manipulative psychopath as you'll see in most stories. Several are paranormal treatments. Sometimes my fondness for paranormal stories feels like cheating. Does anyone else feel that way about the genre?
Screenwriting : Adding to the "psychological (fill in the blank)" genres. by Lawrence R. Kotkin
Adding to the "psychological (fill in the blank)" genres.
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Is it my imagination or has the word psychological generated more character-based depth in storytelling than any other word? I feel rather inadequate to add to it though I know.. or rather, believe I can add a little to that depth. My fear is that I will not give enough attention to the story and characterization, and work too much at being "psychological." Fortunately, I've cut my teeth on novels(hope remains I will get some up on shelves soon) before beginning to learn the craft of scriptwriting.
You could go for the "unreliable narrator" concept (think Usual Suspects), where the subject under therapy is telling the psychologist what they want to hear about their treatment, situation, family life, etc, and you could even flash back to said scenarios. The paranormal thing may have had its day for the moment, but keep those on the fire, just in case.
Thanks, Sten. That may be a wise choice for now. One thing I might point out is that there are as many different styles and forms of therapy as there are therapists. There's the psychoanalyst who sits behind the patient with no eye contact, to the family therapist who joins the family (see if you can get a Carl Whitaker training video... he's fascinating), or the cognitive/behavioral therapist who speaks oh, so rationally. I won't comment on them, being trained in all of these. I'm looking around for collaborators who will support me in whipping it into shape. The novel and short story versions are complete so I can work from them.