Creating believable compelling characters–ones that come to life on the page and fully engage the reader–is key in writing fiction. After you first introduce a character, you want the reader to crave more, and then you must deliver more throughout the story.
Readers want to connect with the characters, so it is important to create an image for them early on. But describing physical characteristics is not enough. Other traits need to be gradually revealed throughout the story by way of dialogue, actions and internal thoughts. Characters are products of their actions, so it is important to know which actions are appropriate for each of your characters in order for them to be complete and well-rounded.
A tool I find helpful is the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicators. Developed back in the 1950s when they still called them personality tests, it was used mostly in business for classifying temperament and behavior patterns in people. The originators identified four continuums of temperament that when combined, resulted in sixteen combinations, each describing a person’s likely behavior. The four continuums are:
(I) Introverted – (E) Extraverted
(N) Intuition – (S) Sensation
(T) Thinking – (F) Feeling
(J) Judging – (P) Perceiving
These four continuums transform into the following sixteen distinct personality types:
ISTJ ISFJ ISTP ISFP
INFJ INTJ INFP INTP
ESTP ESFP ESTJ ESFJ
ENFP ENTP ENFJ ENTJ
I know this looks like gobbledygook right now, but bear with me.
In order to use this information, I created a spreadsheet that lists the various personality traits for each of these sixteen personality types. For example, here is how the ENTJ personality type is described.
Needs to be in control
Likely to be a leader
Ambitious and driven
Creative
Forceful
Optimistic
Career focused
Articulate
Often in sales
Decisive and resolute
Can be argumentative
This spreadsheet allows me to easily pigeon-hole each of my characters into one of the sixteen personality types.
So now I know what traits are typical for each of my characters, and as I am developing them in my writing, I can weave these traits into their actions.
Example: A character in one of my books is an ESTP. Myers-Briggs describes this type of person as someone who loves people, gossip, social activities, and entertainment. My character was all that, but what I did not realize was this type of person is often impulsive and a thought jumper, so I weaved that in as well, developing her into a more well-rounded and believable character, possibly similar to someone the reader actually knows.
So the next time you are stumped as to how to make a character more compelling, try this method. It may work for you, too.
This website http://www.personalitydesk.com/personality-types has the information you need to create a spreadsheet of your own.
For more information on the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicators, go to http://www.myersbriggs.org.
