What’s in a personality?
Have you ever taken those quizzes on line to discover what your personality is. Are you an INFP or ESTJ? Huh? You say. If you don’t know what these acronyms stand for, I’ll let you in on the mystery. These stand for personalities as defined by taking the Myers-Briggs personality test. I stands for introversion and E stand for extroversion. Just a simple test can tell you all about your personality type. It’s interesting to find out that I’m an INFJ making me a gentle, caring, complex and highly intuitive individual. I’m artistic and creative, and live in a world of hidden meanings and possibilities. I found out that only one percent of the population has an INFJ Personality Type, making it the most rare of all the types.
What does this have to do with writing? Well, for me, it’s been extremely beneficial to use this type of personality test, along with the Enneagram, a test to discover who you are before you can fully realize how to make yourself an even better person. It’s all about transition to a higher level of being. Works well when I have two flawed people who are going to change and grow by the end of the book. I can see where they start and how they will end by looking at the nine personality types and plugging in their flaws and strengths, seeing how they react and what motivates them to act the way they do. In fact, the Enneagram as a tool for constructing characters for me has been invaluable. There are tons of books about the method. In case you’re interested, I’m a nine – the Mediator. No surprise there as I’ve assumed that role not only with my siblings, but also in all aspects of my life. For me, I just want everyone to get along.
But the Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram catalog personalities that lend me a rich field in which to make my characters seem real even though they aren’t. It’s fun to take the test and pretend to be my character. Fun to discover who they are and how they’re going to fit into my story.
So, if you’d like to take the time to find out about yourself. Check out the Myers-Briggs at http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html and the Enneagram at http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/ or just fool around with this site http://www.queendom.com/tests/testscontrol.htm?s=73 that gives you the opportunity to find out a lot about yourself.
Let me know about your experiences and I’ll give away one book to one poster by Wednesday, April 9.
Until next time.
Best,
Karen
