My Favorite Method for Building Characters' Personalities

well-storied.com/blog/character-personalities

September 24, 2015

Episode #22: My Favorite Method for Building Characters' Personalities

Kristen Kieffer | The Well-Storied Podcast

Exploring the Myers Briggs Type Indicator...

The Myers Briggs Type Indicator is a personality assessment compiled by Katherine Briggs
and Isabel Myers-Briggs (hurray, ladies!) to make the work of psychologist C. G. Jung available
and applicable to the average person. This assessment classifies participants into one of
sixteen personality types based off of the most relevant indicators of four dichotomies.

Confused? Let's break that down. Essentially, the MBTI assessment defines a participant's
personality type by asking them a series of questions surrounding four "this or that" pillars.
Check out this direct breakdown from The Myers & Briggs Foundation website :

Favorite world:
Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or on your own inner world? This is called
Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I).

Information:
Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or do you prefer to interpret and
add meaning? This is called Sensing (S) or Intuition (N).

Decisions:
When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency or first look at the
people and special circumstances? This is called Thinking (T) or Feeling (F).

Structure:

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In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided or do you prefer to stay
open to new information and options? This is called Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).

You may have noticed the letters in parentheses beside each indicator. These letters are used
to make up a personality type.

For example, when I assessed my own personality type using the MBTI, I discovered that I was
INFJ. This means that I am generally an introverted, intuitive, feeling, and judging person.
Obviously, my personality goes beyond just four words, but those words serve as the basis of
the more complex personality description I received in my MBTI results.

I learned so much about the way I think and feel and act from taking the test, and it can do the
same for your understanding of your characters!

Nailing Down Character Personalities...

Before we move on to talking about your characters, check out a quick summary of what each
of the sixteen personality types entail. Keep in mind that this is just a quick overview. You'll
learn a lot more by taking the test!

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 How does engaging with other people affect you?

How do you process new information?

How do you make decisions?

How do you prefer your life to be structured?

Each of these questions leads to an answer that directly influences your character's portrayal.
Knowing these answers will help you define your character's relationships, the actions they
take to achieve their goals, how they handle setbacks, and more.

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Not convinced that knowing their personality types will make writing well-developed
characters simpler? Take a look:

Unsure of how your character will handle being put in the spotlight?

Discover if they are introverted (I) or extroverted (E).

Unsure of how your character will react to a shocking revelation?

Discover if they are sensing (S) or intuitive (N).

Unsure of how your character will make a tough decision?

Discover if they are thinking (T) or feeling (F).

Unsure of what steps your character will take to achieve their goal?

Discover if they are judging (J) or perceiving (P).

See what I mean? There is hardly any character-related problem you might face during the
writing process that can't be solved by knowing your character's personality type. Simply take a
look at your character's MBTI results, and you'll know what decision to make.

Utilizing the MBTI Assessment...

So, how can you get to know your characters' personality types? First, you'll need to take the
MBTI assessment. The official test from The Myers & Briggs Foundation will set you back $50,
but there are several free, unofficial tests that are just as professional and insightful. My
personal favorite is the one offered at 16Personalities.com.

In addition to the identification of a personality type, 16 Personalities offers an extremely

insightful overview of what it means to be a certain type. You can learn about each
types' strengths and weaknesses, what careers best suit them, how they act and what they
need from certain relationships, and more.

I recommend taking this test from the perspective of any character who serves as the POV
characters or whose actions directly affect the plot. In order to achieve the best results, focus
on what you already know about each character. When the questions appear, your gut instinct
will be to answer them according to your own preferences. Try your best to push this instinct
aside and think of your character instead.

Once you've completed the assessment, make sure to mark down your character's type and
key insights in an easy-to-access place, such as the reference guide section of your Novel
Planner, so you can easily refer to it as you write. Repeat this process as many times as
necessary to get to know all of your major characters.

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Applying the MBTI Assessment
Finally, consider how you can implement your characters' personality types throughout your
story. Here are few of my favorite ways:

Making decisions.
When presented with the same predicament, not everyone will make the same decision.
Knowing your characters' personality types — and specifically whether or not they are thinking
(T) or feeling (F) — will make their decisions clear.

Identifying goals.
Some people like to live on the wild side while others prefer the security of a traditional
lifestyle. Knowing whether your characters are judging (J) or perceiving (P) will help you define
their story goals.

Interacting with others.

Some people are free with their emotions and opinions, while others are more guarded and
prefer to converse emotional and mental energy until opportune moments. Knowing whether
your characters are introverted or extraverted will help you decide how they will interact with
others.

Dialogue.
Not everyone says what they're thinking. Getting to know how all of the elements of your
characters' personality types work together will help you identify the difference between their
thoughts and words, as well as what makes up each.

Internal monologue.
Ever wonder what's going on in someone else's head? Your readers want to know the same
about your characters. Understanding their personality types in full will help you identify their
worries, how they process tough situations, and the steps they plan to take in order to move
forward.

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Quirks.
Everyone has their oddities. By giving your characters quirks, you're setting your readers up for
an interesting and relatable read.

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