Musings On Personality Type & Writing Style (ISWG)

Back when I worked in the HR team in corporate la-la land, one of the things I did was put people into boxes. Not literal boxes – that would be weird, even for me. And cruel – unless you put air holes in the boxes.

Instead, I helped people figure out what personality type best fit them using a variety of psychometric instruments, including the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator (MBTI). One of the things I like about MBTI is that you can put yourself into a tidy little box based upon your personality type. Orderly grids appeal to me – probably a reflection of my own MBTI type (INTJ by the way).

MBTI draws on Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types and provides a way to understand your own personality type based upon four dichotomies:

• Favorite World – Do you prefer to focus on the outer world (Extraversion) or your own inner world (Introversion)?
• Information – Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in (Sensing) or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning (Intuition)?
• Decisions – When making decisions, do you prefer to to first look at logic and consistency (Thinking) or first look at the people and special circumstances (Feeling)?
• Structure – In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided (Judging) or do you prefer to stay open to new options and information (Perceiving)?

Based upon your preference for each dichotomy, you can decide which personality type best fits you and climb into your own box, which is labeled with a handy-dandy four letter code. For example, I’m an INTJ – I prefer Introversion, Intuition, Thinking and Judging. {Note: The code for Intuition is the letter “N” as the letter “I” is used for Introversion.}

Lately, I’ve been happily sitting inside my box (complete with air holes) on the upper right hand corner of the grid, munching away on Oreo cookies and reflecting on the link between personality type and creativity, and more specifically how being an INTJ affects my writing style and finishing the draft mystery novel I’ve been working on. Here’s some of the things I’ve been thinking about – maybe some of them ring true for you too.

1 – I really can’t talk about it.

My husband will often ask me how the writing is going and want to chat through the characters, plotline etc. I’m really lucky to have someone who is so wonderfully supportive, but I just don’t have anything to share with him – yet. One of these days, I will. But not just now. I think this is due, in part, to the fact that I have a preference for introversion. I like to process things internally. I need to figure absolutely everything out in my head before I can talk about it. Until then, I’m not really able to articulate anything because things are still evolving.

I was one of those people that wasn’t really great at brainstorming exercises at work. You know the ones where everybody has to shout out their ideas, no matter how random or ill-formed. We were all supposed to feed off of each other, build on each others’ ideas to create something fabulous together. Yeah, that’s not really how I work. I’m much happier creating everything inside my head by myself. Then I’ll be happy to share.

2 – I don’t really want to hear what you think.

The downside of an introverted approach can be that once I’ve figured everything out, once my characters are fully developed and my plot is fully formed, then I have closure. I’m finished. I’m done. Things are neatly tied up with a pretty bow. I’ll happily present my ideas to you, watch you untie the bow, open the box and await your feedback. Provided your feedback consists of “Well done!” and “It’s perfect!”

That’s where my preference for Judging comes into play. I like closure. I like to have things decided and done with. Once I’ve figured everything out, then I can have a hard time opening myself up to new ideas and input on how to change things for the better. Intellectually, I know that all novels go through a gazillion rewrites and what you end up with can be markedly different then what you started out with. I also know that getting feedback from others will help immensely. But, I know this will also be a struggle for me because I don’t really like to change things once I’ve finished them.

3 – Do I really have to spell it out for you?

One of the strengths of INTJs can be their ability to weed out information and detail that isn’t useful. However, sometimes this can result in a narrative that’s too sparse. Writing that’s sparse can be wonderful – it’s crisp, to the point, keeps the action moving forward and allows the reader to fill in the detail with their own imagination. But, at times, it can leave the reader at a loss. There isn’t enough of the right kind of detail for the reader to engage fully with the story.

In rereading some of my earlier drafts, I’ve noted a tendency towards a bit too much sparseness, especially when it comes to describing where the action is happening. My novel takes place at a marina and involves some mysterious happenings on a sailboat. Readers that know a thing or two about sailing and boats probably don’t need too much detail to understand what’s taking place, but non-sailors will probably be clueless. So, that’s something I’m currently working on – providing enough detail to engage the reader, but without becoming tedious and distracting from the story line.

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Well, that’s probably enough reflection from inside my box. I’ve run out of Oreo cookies and the air is becoming a bit stagnant in here, so I’m going to get out, go for a walk around the marina and get some inspiration for my next writing session.

If you want to learn more about MBTI, check out the Myers & Briggs Foundation. If you’re interested in exploring your own preferences, you might want to check out one of the free questionnaires available on the internet, such as this one and this one. For a deeper understanding, you might want to use the official MBTI instrument administered by a qualified MBTI user who can help you understand and interpret your results.

Want to have some more fun with MBTI? Then check out this list of MBTI types of famous authors and this post about MBTI and character development (it also has a fun Star Wars MBTI type table if you’re so inclined).

Do you know what your MBTI type is? How does it affect your creative pursuits, everyday life and approach to work?

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