By now you've probably heard of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as a tool for personality typing. Years ago, my school teacher mum was interested in it to help her understand the different behavior and needs of the children in her class. These days you'll often hear about it in relation to fictional characters. I've decided to use it in the development of the characters in my WIP.
As well as generating plausible and rounded characters, I think it's useful to spark ideas for conflict, plot and background stories. I'm going to run through the main ideas over the next few days, for those who might want to use this method. I didn't use it when writing the Scarabaeus series, whose evolution was a lot more (I hate this word...) organic, but I'll retrofit the MBTI for those characters as I go.
The MBTI is based on the Jungian approach and describes 4 pairs of traits. Everyone sits somewhere along a sliding scale of each pair, to generate unlimited subtleties in overall personality. Note that the official designations (e.g. "extrovert", "judging") for some of these traits may generate the wrong impression of what they actually mean - the words have special meanings here. You can type yourself fairly accurately just by choosing one option from each pair, Choose based on your preferences, not on whatever your job or lifestyle may impose on you.
Regarding your outer/inner world:
E - get energy from active involvement, excited around people, like to make things happen, a people person (Extrovert)
I - get energy from ideas, prefer doing things alone, reflect before acting, appear reflective and reserved (Introvert)
Regarding information:
S - pay attention to information gathered through the senses, concerned with reality and facts, see the practical use of things, learn by hands-on experience (Sensing)
N - pay attention to the patterns and possibilities in information, learn by thinking through a problem, think on the future and possibilities, enjoy symbols and abstract theories (Intuition)
Regarding decision making:
T - analyze pros and cons then make logical decision, try to be impersonal, enjoy technical and scientific fields, want to be fair (Thinking)
F - weigh people's feelings and points of view before making a decision, try to maintain harmony, tact more important than cold truth, caring and tactful in relationships (Feeling)
Regarding your lifestyle structure:
J - like to have things decided, life appears planned and orderly, task-oriented (Judging)
P - like to leave options open, appear flexible and spontaneous, more playful (Perceiving)
Your type is described with four letters, e.g. ENTP, and there are 16 possible types. Here are descriptions of the 16 types from the Myers-Briggs Foundation. Tomorrow I'll start looking at the 16 types in relation to what kind of fictional characters they are useful for, and where my own characters fit in.
5 comments:
Ooh, looking forward to reading all this :-) I've tried archetypes before, but hopefully Myers-Briggs will have something new for me to learn :-)
I have problems with Myers-Briggs because of two personal things: first, a childhood trauma dramatically changed my observed (not just remembered) I/E component (which partially changed back after therapy decades later...and this is not supposed to be possible, but happened), and second, M-B is rather negative on having "balanced" score, which I generally do, situationally wandering back and forth. Of course, this may only mean that I'm not suitable as a character in anyone's book...
I do see that this can be a useful tool for writers who aren't character-first writers, and would offer only one caution: if your readers can easily "type" your characters by M-B or any other system, some will spend their time doing so instead of following the story. Disguise 'em a little.
I get the impression from forums that people who are "in to" this sort of personality typing often believe it can change, regardless of what Jung or Myers/Briggs thought, especially if you don't have extreme scores on the traits.
I don't actually know if I'm INTJ or INFJ because I always score halfway on F/T, or slightly one or the other, and the descriptions both (mostly) suit me. I think I'm INFJ but my adult interests either changed or brought out more of my T side.
Also important to remember that the layman descriptions such as introvert and extrovert don't mean exactly the same thing here. I'm 100% introvert but that doesn't mean I can't hold a conversation at a party (I'd just probably rather be somewhere else) or be assertive.
I think later research into PTSD has shown that--particularly with regard to I/E--sufficiently severe trauma can cause at least apparent changes. There are some pretty reasonable neurological changes occurring that could not be known until the field had advanced. Previously outgoing, engaged children become withdrawn, reluctant to engage, or develop a pattern of alternating preferences.
In terms of creating fictional characters (now that I'm looking at some of mine with post-typing--and thanks for this, because it suggested the exercise) it's clear I often have one or two of the four pair set very close to the middle of the scale, so there's a likelihood of "wobble"--of the character not being typical of any one type, with the potential to react against expectations.
My way of building characters is very different (note: not better, just different and much less categorical.) What works, works, and the kind of mind the writer has suggests the method that will work for that writer.
Yes, as a compulsive list maker I'm predisposed to creating characters in this mechanical way - although I didn't actually do that with my previous books. Just thought I'd try it this time, to generate ideas and kickstart the latest WIP. I've also used the Hero's Journey to check my plot structure, and in this case I'm using it to help with creating plot because I had a void in act 2.
Some of this comes naturally but as a novice I'm perpetually concerned with being asked for massive rewrites because of pacing or motivation or whatever. I'm attempting to become a more efficient writer... Then again, maybe my personality just isn't made that way...
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