Using Your Personality Type to Make You a Better Writer
By Marcy Kennedy (@MarcyKennedy)
The beginning of the year is a practical time to look back and learn from the year that has finished and to set goals for what we’d like to accomplish in the coming year. It’s easy to remember to do it now rather than at some other arbitrary time.
This year, for me, that analysis meant two things. Over at Janice Hardy’s Fiction University, I’ll be starting a series of posts about writing an author business plan. (You can see my introductory post “Three Questions to Ask Yourself Before Writing An Author Business Plan” already.)
And here, today, I want to show how learning about our personality type can help make us better, happier writers. I got the idea for this post thanks to my friend Jami Gold’s blog on “Wrapping Up the Year: What Didn’t Work?” After reading her post, I wanted to put my own spin on the topic.
Like Jami, I’m a huge fan of the Myers-Briggs’ personality types. My favorite site explaining the types is actually Dr. David Kiersey’s (I love his book Please Understand Me II), but 16 Personalities is also a helpful resource.
Before you continue reading this post, I recommend that you go take this free personality test at HumanMetrics, yet another good resource. Retake the test even if you’ve taken it before. One of the things I like about this particular version (as Jami mentioned in her post) is that it gives you percentages so you can know how strong you are in each measurement.
It’s important to know the strength of your preference on each measurement because, if you’re close to borderline on any quality, you might want to also read the description of the other type. Certain elements of that type might apply to you better, depending on the specific situation.
I’m going to use myself as an example below. I’m an INTJ (what Kiersey calls a Rational Mastermind). It’s one of the more rare types (less than 2% of the population), and it’s even more rare among women. I’d never met another INTJ until I started actively interacting with other writers on the Internet.
So once you’ve taken your test, read up on your type, and taken notice of which measurements you show stronger and weaker preferences on, how can that help you become a better writer?
#1 – It can guide you in choosing a publishing path.
Obviously, many factors go into choosing whether to self-publish, traditionally publish, or become a hybrid author, including time and finances. However, our personalities also need to play a key role in our decision because they influence whether or not we’ll be happy with our choice long-term.
My husband says I have problems with authority, but the truth isn’t that I’m anti-authoritarian. The truth is that, as an INTJ, I won’t follow traditional methods or established ways of doing things if they’re not the best, most efficient way of going about it. “Because I said so” is never a good enough reason for me, and I like the freedom to try new ways of doing things.
Independently publishing is a good fit for INTJs because we don’t like trying to fit within a mold and we don’t like arbitrarily being told what to do. We like to be able to ensure the quality of what we do, research alternative ways of achieving our goals, find the best way, and remain flexible (we’re contingency planners).
If you have a personality type (like the ESTJ or ISFJ) who prefers to follow the established way of doing things and figure you don’t need to reinvent the wheel to get things done, you’re not as likely to be happy with self-publishing. You’re likely to feel more comfortable with a traditional publication path.
#2 – It can help you find the most comfortable writing style for you.
I’ve tried writing by the seat of my pants (pantsing). I’ve tried a middle ground. Both made me miserable during the writing and more miserable as the rewrites added up.
I love planning out my books before I write them. I’m what’s known as a plotter or outliner. For me, plotting a book is like solving a puzzle. Plotting a book before writing also tends to save time. You end up with a cleaner first draft with fewer big picture problems. And plotting a book in advance of writing takes significantly less time than writing and revising multiple drafts as you try to figure out your story and fix problems.
Comparing this to my personality should make it obvious why planning is the best writing process for me. INTJs love problem-solving and hate inefficiency and what we interpret as wasted time. INTJs are known for their enjoyment of designing and executing plans. They don’t like to make decisions on the spur of the moment, without the ability to do sufficient research.
Contrast this to a personality like the ISFP (Artisan Composer). They’re more impulsive. They find planning or preparing tedious. They want to follow their muse, and “they climb the mountain because it is there.” In other words, they’re explorers. This tends to manifest itself in writers who prefer to write by the seat of their pants. They’re also called discovery or organic writers.
If you’re forcing yourself to write in a way that doesn’t suit your personality type, you will be less motivated to write and, consequently, less productive. Pure pantsing or pure plotting might not be right for you either. Carefully considering your personality type might give you ideas for what middle ground adaptation will suit you best.
#3 – It can help you spot areas of weakness in your writing.
I’m going to give you an example based on my personality type so you can see how to read through your own personality type with an eye to where you might be weak as a writer.
INTJs tend to prefer facts to emotions when it comes to decision-making. Emotions, to an INTJ, aren’t trustworthy and are too easily swayed. It’s not that we’re emotionless. It’s that we’re more like Vulcans. We have very intense, deep emotions that we like to keep a tight rein on. We’re very private people. We’re extremely uncomfortable with big, public displays of emotion, and we’re not entirely certain how to deal with emotional outbursts by other people because, to us, those often seem irrational.
As a writer, this means I have to put conscious effort into ensuring enough emotion makes it onto the page. What I interpret as a highly emotional scene can often come across to others as still needing more. By being aware of that potential weakness in my writing, I can dig deep, amp up the emotions on the page when necessary, and use beta readers and editors as a tool to tell me if a scene is still reading cold.
Each personality will have weaknesses that reflect themselves in what we write and in our writing process (in her post, Jami talked about how her perfectionism can make her a procrastinator). Being honest with ourselves about them can make us stronger, better writers in 2015 and beyond.
What personality type are you? I’d love to hear how you feel this has influenced your writing!
Interested in more ways to improve your writing? Deep Point of View is now available! (You might also want to check out Internal Dialogue
or Showing and Telling in Fiction
.)
Jan 08, 2015 @ 07:02:16
Thanks for the shout out, Marcy!
Like you, I’m a female INTJ–which apparently might not be as rare as we’ve been told (at least not among writers). LOL! But I’m also a pantser. O.o
I’ve mentioned before how ironic it is that I write by the seat of my pants, as I’m a planner in EVERYthing else. 🙂 However, I did the logical thing. I tried plotting first. It was only when that didn’t work that I tried pantsing, and I’ve had to learn how to adjust how much to pants or plan by balancing my pantsing muse and my planning in advance personality. It’s been, er…interesting. 😉
But I love how you point out how our personality can affect our writing life. Like you, I’ve struggled with emotions in my writing–it was the last big piece to click for me in my learning curve. So I really love your analysis here! 🙂 Thanks!
Jan 08, 2015 @ 14:13:54
I knew before writing this that you were both a pantser and an INTJ, so there are definitely exceptions to the norm. I think the reason it works for you is that you also have such an incredibly strong grasp on structure. That means that even though you’re pantsing the details (in other words, you remain flexible and open to change the way most INTJs like to), you’re also working within a planned framework so that you know when certain big milestones in the story need to happen. I can see how that format would work for an INTJ, even though it doesn’t work for me 🙂
Emotions were the last thing to click for me as well. Margie Lawson’s blog posts and classes helped quiet a bit when I was trying to figure things out. I know that’s always a spot I’m going to have to keep my eye on because, if I’m not careful, I can easily default back to my personal preference, and I’ll probably always have to increase the emotional level during edits.
I also think that there are different acceptable levels of emotional heat. Obviously, we all want to touch reader emotions, but the way we do that and the degree to which we do that is also part of our individual writing styles and voice.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Jan 08, 2015 @ 17:09:02
I agree that my grasp of structure keeps me on track *despite* my pantsing. LOL!
Getting emotions on the page aren’t quite such a struggle for me anymore (maybe because I’m borderline INFJ 🙂 ), but they’re still one of the areas I have to tweak the most in edits and revisions. That’s a good point, though, that genre, voice, and style can all affect the level of emotion in our stories too.
My first drawer novels weren’t romance, probably for that reason of my not being comfortable with the emotions. But now that I write romance, I have to up my game. 😉
Jan 08, 2015 @ 13:48:22
Marcy,
I eschew most taxonomies of human personalities. I aced my English course with N. Scott Momaday simply by adding the BS the TA wanted to see to every report and test essay–that’s an indictment of the TA, not Prof. Momaday, who even taught me to love poetry. Human beings are far too complicated to categorize. Maybe somebody will psychoanalyze me through my writing, but they’d better interview my characters and muses on a one-on-one basis instead. 😉
All the best,
Steve
Jan 08, 2015 @ 14:27:28
I have my bachelor’s degree in Social Psychology, so I’m on the other side of the divide–I love trying to figure people out and see if there are patterns 🙂 I’ve known many people who’ve taken the Myers-Briggs test, and I’ve yet to see it be far off base. I agree that we’re all unique and complex beings, but I also think there are similarities among us as well. Those similarities don’t have to feel constrictive. How we express those qualities depends on us. For example, at first glance, I might seem (and would be) very different from a male INTJ mathematician who grew up in a wealthy household, but when you started to really get to know both of us, you’d start to see those qualities that all INTJs share. I think you’ll also find in your own life that there are certain types of people who rub you the wrong way and certain types that you more naturally get along with.
I’d hate for someone years from now to try to psychoanalyze me through my writing though 🙂 I will often have a character express an opinion that I don’t share or act in a way that I hope I never would. But, at the same time, when it comes to themes, those are more likely to represent something important to me, and every character, no matter how different from me, should have something I can connect to and likely has some piece of me in them, even if I don’t want to admit it.
Thank you for such a thought-provoking comment 🙂 I love to hear when people take a different side on a topic than I do.
Jan 08, 2015 @ 18:05:21
Hmm, I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. That TA wanted everything to have Freudian significance, so it’s his fault. But I fail to see how plotter v. pantser signifies anything. I’m an ex-scientist, and analysis and synthesis were both part of my working life. However, I was a writer long before becoming a scientist. I never use an outline when I write. That’s an organic process where my story might become a short story, novella, or novel–an outline would be too much of a constraint.
So who am I? Maybe more of a mystery than the mysteries I write, methinks. Many have tried to categorize me, but I’d bet I could take any personality test a number of times and bias the results so much that the psychs would pigeon-hole me differently every time. “But you’re not answering honestly then,” you say. And I say, “Maybe my honest answers change by the hour and day.”
I do agree that my characters are liable to have strong opinions about certain things that I’d never proclaim in public–they do tend to have a mind of their own when I’m in the zone with my writing. So I misspoke: you probably can’t learn about me from my writing either. 🙂
Jan 08, 2015 @ 14:45:06
I’ve tested ISTJ (Guardian Inspector) for years, though I read the description and don’t feel as though it fits me a “tee.” (No pun intended.) So I tried tests at three of the sites you linked to, Marcy – and two out of three times, I got ISFJ (Guardian / Protector). And it makes more sense than ISTJ. 😀
I’ve never really considered how my personality type has impacted my writing… So, going down your list:
1) I’m more interested in being traditionally published than self-published, which fits your example for ISFJ in that final paragraph. 😉
2) I’m more of a plotter than a pantser. I like to start with a general outline, knowing roughly what’s going to happen and how the story will end but leaving room for surprises to pop up. Maybe that’s the middle ground you’d mentioned? I’m not quite sure what a typical ISFJ would do… Maybe they’d be a plotter?
3) Emotion is one of the first things I think of when I write. How does so-and-so feel about what just happened? How will she react? Character development is essential in storytelling for me. No surprise I’m an ISFJ, I guess. But I do want to say that while writing my WIP, I’ve been trying to keep the emotions and character development in check so I don’t forget to advance the plot.
One other trait of ISFJ is taking a steady approach to getting things done. That’s EXACTLY what my experience with my WIP has been like. I’ve been at the first draft for 2 years this month (good news, though: I’m almost done!); and when I read how other writers fly through their novel-writing or get down x amount of words in 30 minutes or an hour, I find myself comparing my slower progress to their speed and getting discouraged. Now I’m trying to teach myself to stop the comparisons and simply focus on what I need to do to finish my work – because for me, there’s nothing wrong with being a “tortoise writer”. 🙂
What’s funny is I’m planning to write a blog article soon on personality types of literary characters. Your article may not be totally in the same vein, but it’s close enough that it grabbed my attention and has the gears turning in my brain. So, thanks very much for sharing, Marcy! 🙂
Jan 08, 2015 @ 18:21:00
BTW, I think most fiction writers are very observant of people. Being observant of people’s behavior doesn’t have to mean categorizing them. In my reviewing life, I see too many characters who are stereotypes, which usually implies they seem to be caricatures, not human beings. What they say and do is “typical behavior,” a reader might say, but that’s not the character I want in my books.
This relates a wee bit to what I call “minimalist writing.” I like to describe a character with a broad brush, to use a painter’s metaphor, expecting the reader to react to that and fill in his own details. That allows the reader to participate in the creative process and reflect that old quantum mechanical principle that the observer interacts with the observed. If you write pages and pages of prose describing a character, I might read it as a reviewer (but not as a casual reader) and say to myself, “Duly noted and forgotten–let’s get on with the story.”
Sorry to be so obstinate about this…no, I guess I’m not. 😉
Jan 08, 2015 @ 19:31:06
Hi Marcy,
I took the test on two different sites.
The first said I was an ISFJ, and the second, an ESFJ. After reading both,
I’d say I’m a combination of both. You mentioned the ISFJ
would prefer to traditionally publish, but I like to be in control so
for now self-publishing is the route I’ll try.
Thanks,
Tracy
Jan 09, 2015 @ 20:09:09
Well this is interesting Marcy. As you know, I told you I was an EISTP. But I decided to retake the test and I’ve apparently changed over the last three years. Now it says I am a INFJ. lol. Hmm. Not sure about this stuff.
Jan 10, 2015 @ 00:07:39
Based on what I know of you, I’d say you’re still solidly in the ESTP camp. It would be extremely rare for you to essentially switch all your letters. You might want to try a test on a different site.
Jan 12, 2015 @ 00:14:19
Hmm,I hadn’t seen a Myers-Briggs test that gives percentages before. I knew I was near the cusp on the introversion-extraversion continuum but this test says I am only 1% E. I’m REALLY at the cusp. Otherwise no surprises. ENFJ. All the others were between 33% and 38%. Not sure what this means in terms of my writing but interesting that I have the same profile as always, but perhaps more toward the cusp than in my younger years.
Feb 04, 2015 @ 00:30:57
Well blow me down – I’m a female INTJ too!
I’m late to the party, but it’s such an interesting analysis I really enjoyed discovering how accurately the classification fits me, and I wanted to share.
As a writer, I began as a pantser, but these days I have an overall picture in my head before I start, and I think the puzzle-solving bit is where I figure out how to get from start to end with all the components in place, but without a detailed plan.
Thanks for sharing the link to the test – as Spock would say – fascinating!
Jun 09, 2015 @ 15:59:03
Hi Marcy, I enjoy to seeing how people look at their personality to determine ways on improving them and in your case linking it to writing, I must admit I never seen that before. You can sure get a lot by looking deep down and especially if you are a writer as all the good words come from the same place as where personality lives.I enjoyed this article.
Mar 10, 2016 @ 20:25:43
Interesting article. I am an ENFP. I write about a diplomat who brings about peace with unusual methods. So, yes, of course, you are right.
I understand that recent research shows that one is either an introvert or an extrovert. The pathways of thought taken by each in the brain are very different. (The acetylcholine for introverts and the dopamine for extroverts. There are a very few people who have both pathways)
Mar 11, 2016 @ 20:31:49
I’m not surprised at all that they’re finding differences in brain chemistry between introverts and extroverts. Fascinating stuff!