Sometimes we spend so much time with our characters and stories that we think we know absolutely everything about them. That is, until something pops up on the page that takes us by surprise, either because we didn’t expect it or it feels just a little out of place. That can cause us to stall out on moving our stories forward. 

One of the things that has served as an incredible tool to help reignite my creative engine and get me past those moments has been exploring different personality types and tests. There are countless ones out there, but they all help give us a way to understand how and why we are the way we are. And they can do the same thing for our characters.

The main character of my novel, Abigail, for example, has surprised me more times than I can count over the course of the ten years I’ve been working on this project. Whenever I got stuck or got writer’s block and needed a creative boost out of it, I dove into her personality. These tests have only enhanced that dive so that whenever she runs into a challenging circumstance or has to make a decision about something, I know better what she’ll do even if I don’t necessarily agree with it. And there are many of her decisions that I don’t agree with. But, because of her personality and experiences, it all makes sense for her.

So, if you ever find yourself stuck on the next move in one of your stories and need a bit of a creative boost, try exploring different personality tests and types. Even take a few for your characters if you can to get a better understanding of who and how they are. But keep in mind, one size does not fit all and each test can tell you something different or enhance what you already know about your characters. The following are ones that I’ve used in the past and still use today:

Personality Test 1) Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

If you are unfamiliar with this test, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality test that is supposed to help users figure out how they perceive the world and how they make their decisions based on those perceptions. This is expressed through one of the 16 personality types that are a combination of four factors: Introversion/Extroversion, Intuition/Sensing, Feeling/Thinking and Judging/Perceiving. My personality type based on this test is ENFJ while many of my characters fall more into the ISTP/ISTJ categories.

What I use it for: How my characters perceive their world

This tends to come out in their dialogue and body language. But having a clearer window into how they view the world they’re in (whether they agree with it or not, or view it as something that is helpful to society or hindering), helps get me past those moments where I get caught up in how they’ll respond to something. For Abigail, who is an ISTJ, her perception of her world is the same as the authoritarian state in which she lives: for everyone to remain safe, everyone must remain the same.

Personality Test 2) Enneagram Test

The test my husband and our friends talked about on the way to the wedding was the Enneagram Test, which takes a deeper dive into a person’s motivations, desires and fears, and how all of those things drive our actions. There are nine personality types according to this test: 1 The Reformer, 2 The Helper, 3 The Achiever, 4 The Individualist, 5 The Investigator, 6 The Loyalist, 7 The Enthusiast, 8 The Challenger and 9 The Peacemaker. And while most people generally fit into one of these personality types, everyone also has what is known as a ‘Wing’ of another personality type that fully rounds them out. My number according to this test is a 5 with a 4 wing (5w4). My characters tend to lean a little closer to me in this test.

What I use it for: How my characters respond to their world based on that perception

I’ve learned that it is so much easier to determine what decision a character will make when you know what motivates them. And not just the circumstances they’re in (like if they’re running for their lives, for example), but their deepest desires and fears that drive that motivation. For Abigail, who leans more toward the Loyalist type, she has a deep motivation for security, but can have problems with suspicion, which is what her story revolves around.

Personality Test 3) The Five Love Languages

This was a personality test I hadn’t heard about until I graduated from college, but The Five Love Languages test has been used to give couples an insight into their romantic relationship and how they both give and receive love. 

As per its title, there are five love languages: Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time and Physical Touch. Now, I’ve used this test for far more than just romantic relationships as all of the languages, at least to me, can be applied to all types of relationships, just at varying degrees. For me, the way I like to receive love is through Quality Time and the way I like to give love is through Acts of Service. My characters, on the other hand, are all over the map.

What I use it for: How my characters exercise those responses on others

Character relationships in stories are just as crucial to driving the story forward as the action and the circumstances. So, figuring out how and why your characters respond to each other a certain way can help pull the entire narrative together. For Abigail, it is the Words of Affirmation she gives to others and the Acts of Service she expects in return that her perception of her world and her motivations illuminate.

All of these tests combined have helped me think so much deeper and more creatively about not only my main character, but every character in my stories as I’ve been able to not just watch them make decisions but name the why behind those decisions. And that has served as invaluable inspiration to create real characters and real stories that readers can connect with, regardless of the different worlds they belong to.

Jenn Walton is a writer, editor and storyteller based in Washington, D.C., whose fiction works are housed mainly in the speculative genre. She has completed her first novel project that explores, through the lens of a failing utopia, what happens when society gives in to its fear of the other. She previously wrote for a communications firm where she drafted and edited sponsored and organic content for top-tier academic institutions, Fortune 500 companies and leading philanthropic organizations that has run in The Washington Post, USA Today and the Atlantic. For more from Jenn, please visit her at her website or on Twitter.

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Why should I take a test to tell me about myself?

As a public-school teacher, I’m the last person on Earth who’d recommend a test as a definitive demonstration of knowledge or creative thinking. But personality tests aren’t used to prove yourself. They’re used to learn something about yourself. Every personality framework gives you more information about how you tick. The Myers-Briggs type indicator (MBTI) helps you understand how you make decisions. The Enneagram gives information about how you relate to others. The Five Love Languages test can improve communication in relationships, and the Four Tendencies helps you form better and stronger habits.

In one small but useful example, learning that I’m a natural under-buyer while my husband is an over-buyer helped me understand why we’re always disagreeing over our shopping list. Knowing that we’re coming from different ingrained viewpoints has diffused the argument. Now I understand that my role is to keep us on budget, while his is to ensure that we never run out of toothpaste. Similarly, taking the Five Love Languages test helped us to understand how best to show each other affection. It has had positive effects on our marriage and our relationships to our children.

When a quiz uncovered that I was a Lark (something I already suspected), I did some research into being a morning person. I realized that, like most Larks, I don’t have strong willpower or creative powers late at night. So I now allow myself to stop the clock at least ninety minutes before bed, no matter what, so I can properly recharge for the next morning’s deep work. This small adjustment has done wonders for my daily energy.

None of the above lessons changed anything about my personality. But they did help me define issues I was having with my work schedule and relationships, and give me permission to draw a line in the right place. I may wish I was the type of person who can work late into the night, but I’m just not. Better to adapt to my ingrained personality than to try and change to fit some ideal. It’s the ultimate in honoring your reality.

How can personality tests help me with my writing?

We all become better writers by refining our working process. Much of personality testing reveals the conditions under which we work best. The Four Tendencies test taught me that I’m an Upholder, which means I respond well to both inner and outer expectations. but I also experience “tightening,” which means that I have an innate desire to allow my habits to strengthen over time. I often over-schedule myself and end up burning out. Learning that I’m prone to tightening has helped me watch for the signs, and be careful when I create new habits.

Personality tests can especially help your writing life if you enjoy writing memoir or other creative nonfiction. You can use pieces of personality discovery to inform your stories. Or, if you’re a fiction writer, you can use these tests to assign traits to your characters. In the early stages, all of my characters receive at least an MBTI and one of the Four Tendencies.

Which personality tests do you recommend?

The following four tests are a great place to start. Please know that the background and construct of each test is more complex than I’ve indicated here; I’m only giving a brief overview. For more about how each test works and why it was created, review the information in the connected website.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

This is probably the most famous of all personality tests. Based on Jungian philosophy, it assigns four categories over the spectrum of Introversion-Extraversion, Sensing-Intuition, Thinking-Feeling, and Judging-Perceiving. The test has been criticized for being too rigid, but I’ve found it to be a great jumping-off point for other, more open-ended tests. (I’m an INFJ, which is known to be rare: only 2-3% of the general population are that type, though INFJs tend to be creative, so it’s probably higher among the DIY MFA readership!)

The Enneagram

This comprises 9 different types, which can be assigned in decreasing levels of dominance. Sometimes the combinations seem to contradict each other. One of my highest score profiles includes the phrase “aggressive leader,” but another includes “caring, helpful person.” You can see these contradictions as being vague, or you can use them as evidence of your complex personality.

The Big Five

This was created by a team of psychologists and is thought to have high accuracy. It scores you in the categories of Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Each category contains a spectrum of personality descriptors. (Unlike the other tests recommended here, I have not found a completely free version online. You can get a complete profile through Psychology Today for $6.95. I thought it was worth the cost, but if you’re not sold, skip this one.)

The Four Tendencies

This is the newest of these frameworks and was created by writer Gretchen Rubin, who extols the power of knowing yourself better in order to refine your good habits and make your life happier. Each Tendency reveals how you respond to outer and inner expectations, and Gretchen’s book Better Than Before (as well as her podcast Happier and her blog) gives great advice on how to use your Tendency to your advantage in creating happy, healthy habits. You can be an Upholder, Obliger, Questioner or Rebel. (Appropriately, Questioners are the least likely to take this test in the first place!) 

Special Event!

Have these or other personality tests helped you know yourself better? Has this knowledge improved your life in any way, big or small? We at DIY MFA want to hear about it! Join me (@sowulwords), the DIY MFA team, and fellow Word Nerds for a Twitter chat on Wednesday, August 9th at 8PM ET. Use #DIYMFA to share your personality type, and discuss how knowing ourselves better affects our writing lives.

Leanne Sowul is a writer and teacher from the Hudson Valley region of New York. She’s the curator of the website Words From The Sowul and authors the “Be Well, Write Well” column for DIY MFA. She writes historical/literary fiction and memoir; her work is represented by Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary Agency. Connect with her at leannesowul(at)gmail(dot)com, or on Twitter @sowulwords.

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