Hey everyone! It's been a while... I've been a terrible blogger the past month and now it's nanowrimo and Thanksgiving is in two weeks and I've been procrastinating writing a blog post.
Over the past month I've been going to this class at my former church about leadership and the Enneagram. I heard about the Enneagram when I first started going to Grace (they all are crazy about the Enneagram) and I honestly thought it was another one of those sort of dumb, overrated personality tests. Don't get me wrong, I love a good personality test, and I like the Meyer's Briggs personality test, but the Enneagram just seemed kind of weird... But after the first week of this class, the pastor teaching about the Enneagram had me hooked. I found it so fascinating and interesting and it's scary accurate guys. Like seriously, almost everything it says about my number is like 100% me, even the deep, personal stuff. Since the class is at church, we're learning about the Enneagram as a way to learn how God created us all uniquely and how we can learn more about our identity in Christ and grow closer to Him through learning about how He made us with a unique core (like our soul in a way) and personality and for a specific purpose.
But, so I guess I should explain what the Enneagram is. It's a personality test... obviously. But there's so much more to it. I wish I could tell you everything I've learned in the past month, but it's very complicated and would take a lot of explaining, so I highly encourage you to do some research on it, because it's seriously so cool and interesting! For now though, I'll keep it simple. So, there are nine numbers. You take the test, which costs ten dollars (though I found a free one that I think is pretty accurate) and it tells you which number you are. The pastor teaching the class explained the numbers as nine different ways of looking at the world and interacting with the world. These are the nine Enneagram types to just give you a small understanding of what I'm talking about.
Since learning about the Enneagram I've been researching it non-stop, trying to "number" everyone around me, especially my friends and family out of fun and curiosity and learning more about my number, the Four. I love researching the Four and learning more about myself and it baffles me how spot on everything I've learned about the Four is to me. It's amazing. But as the pastor was talking about each number I found myself "numbering" my characters and it made a world of difference. I started with my characters from Golden and then, as Nanowrimo was approaching and I was still feeling stuck on Delphi and the characters of Weapon Icean I decided to number them. Even though I wrote and published the first book, I still felt like I was trying to learn who these characters really are. My characters tend to feel very alive to me, like living breathing people and therefore, like living breathing people they're crazy complicated and complex and sometimes do things that don't make sense. Which makes it very important that I know my characters cores inside and out and what motivates them. From the list above, I think you can get why the Enneagram was so helpful to me. Because they give you motivations that are deep and meaningful and apply to real, life people.
For a Four, we're motivated by being understood, experience our oversized feelings and not being ordinary. A lot of what we do are impacted by that motivation. One of the ways the trying to be as unique as possible aspect of the Four shows for me, is the way I dress. Without even realizing it, I've always tried to wear clothes that other people don't. To stand out with what I wear, which usually means I wear a lot of Disney/Fandom stuff. I have a ton of Disney clothes and Marvel clothes and accessories. I think the thing that motivates us the most though, is to be understood. Which is a total paradox. We want to be understood and fit in too a point (at least for me anyways), but we do everything we can to not fit in and do things that some people just can't understand because we're also motivated to be as special and unique as possible.
That's just a small analysis of me as a Four. Imagine what you could do with a character?! For example, I numbered Delphi as an Eight. Eight's often get a bad wrap, especially female Eights because of how commanding and demanding and dominant they can be. I realized that I had been trying to grasp that and portray that in the first book with Delphi. How she doesn't listen to orders, never does what she's told and sort of tries to take over and be the leader even though she's not the leader and can't be the leader. She's intense and confrontational and is motivated by a need to be strong and not weak or vulnerable. Which makes sense, given her circumstances in the first (and second) book. They don't want to be controlled and they'll do anything and everything to stay in control of themselves and not let anyone tell them what to do. I feel like they can also be sort of self-destructive when they're unhealthy. But when they are healthy, they get stuff done. I feel like they're good leaders in the sense that they take command and know their priorities and never back down. They're resolute and they don't take no for an answer. I'd say that's a pretty good quality for a super hero.
The Enneagram can help you get an idea for every aspect of your character, from why she does what she does, what's her motivation throughout the story to what clothes she would mostly likely wear and how she interacts with other people. It can even help with character arcs. On that site that I linked to, at the bottom of each number's summary is a scale of levels from healthy to average to unhealthy. Personally, I found it interesting for myself, and as a writer I saw it as a tool for creating positive and negative character arcs. In book two, Delphi is going to start in a rather unhealthy place on the Eight health scale and slowly grow healthier and healthier on the scale as the book goes on. I've always had a hard time with character arcs, because despite being a writer, I am a very visual person and it's hard to visualize a character arc until it's sitting right in front of my face. That scale was the visual tool that I needed to wrap my head around character arcs and how to use that tool to my advantage. This Enneagram class came at the perfect time, in October so that I could prepare my characters and arcs and plot for Nanowrimo with the help of the Enneagram.
In my next blog post I'll share with you what number each character from Weapon Icean is and a small description of why I gave them that number. If you have trouble with getting to know your characters cores or motivations or creating character arcs, I highly suggest using the Enneagram. You don't even have to go through and do the quiz for them like I've done with the Meyers Briggs test. The Enneagram test is pretty long, so that would be tedious. But if you know each number well enough or have a good understanding of each of them, it makes it easier and faster to number each character. I also highly recommend the Enneagram for yourself. You'd be amazed what you can learn about yourself. Not just you good aspects and how you are when your healthy, but also your faults and what you do when your unhealthy and how to improve them and make yourself more healthy.
Any family member or friend of mine who's spent time with me in the past month is probably rolling their eyes and smiling at the fact that I'm writing a blog post about the Enneagram since I've been gushing over it nonstop since starting this class. Anyways, I hope this post as been interesting for you guys to read and I hope you do look into the Enneagram, at least for your characters because I think it's a really great tool and resource for us writers! Have great week everyone!!
Over the past month I've been going to this class at my former church about leadership and the Enneagram. I heard about the Enneagram when I first started going to Grace (they all are crazy about the Enneagram) and I honestly thought it was another one of those sort of dumb, overrated personality tests. Don't get me wrong, I love a good personality test, and I like the Meyer's Briggs personality test, but the Enneagram just seemed kind of weird... But after the first week of this class, the pastor teaching about the Enneagram had me hooked. I found it so fascinating and interesting and it's scary accurate guys. Like seriously, almost everything it says about my number is like 100% me, even the deep, personal stuff. Since the class is at church, we're learning about the Enneagram as a way to learn how God created us all uniquely and how we can learn more about our identity in Christ and grow closer to Him through learning about how He made us with a unique core (like our soul in a way) and personality and for a specific purpose.
But, so I guess I should explain what the Enneagram is. It's a personality test... obviously. But there's so much more to it. I wish I could tell you everything I've learned in the past month, but it's very complicated and would take a lot of explaining, so I highly encourage you to do some research on it, because it's seriously so cool and interesting! For now though, I'll keep it simple. So, there are nine numbers. You take the test, which costs ten dollars (though I found a free one that I think is pretty accurate) and it tells you which number you are. The pastor teaching the class explained the numbers as nine different ways of looking at the world and interacting with the world. These are the nine Enneagram types to just give you a small understanding of what I'm talking about.
- The Two: "The Helper": Warm, caring and giving, they are motivated by a need to be loved and needed, and to avoid acknowledging their own needs
- The Three: "The Effective Achiever/The Performer": Success-Oriented, image-conscious, and wired for productivity, they are motivated by a need to be (or appear to be) successful and avoid failure.
- The Four: "The Originalists/Romantics": Creative, sensitive, and moody, they are motivated by a need to be understood, experience their oversized feelings and avoid being ordinary.
- The Five: "The Observer/The Investigator": Analytical, detached and private, they are motivated by a need to gain knowledge, conserve energy and avoid relying on others.
- The Six: "The Loyalist/Faithful Person": Committed, practical, and witty, they are worst case scenario thinkers who are motivated by fear and the need for security.
- The Seven: "The Enthusiast/Adventurous Person": Fun, spontaneous, and adventurous, they are motivated by a need to be happy, to plan stimulating experiences, and avoid pain.
- The Eight: "The Power Person/The Challenger" Commanding, intense, and confrontational, they are motivated by a need to be strong and avoid feeling weak or vulnerable.
- The Nine: "The Peacemaker" Pleasant, laid back, and accommodating, they are motivated by a need to keep the peace, merge with others, and avoid conflict.
- The One: "The Reformer" Ethical, dedicated and reliable, they are motivated by a desire to live the right way, improve the world, and avoid fault and blame.
Since learning about the Enneagram I've been researching it non-stop, trying to "number" everyone around me, especially my friends and family out of fun and curiosity and learning more about my number, the Four. I love researching the Four and learning more about myself and it baffles me how spot on everything I've learned about the Four is to me. It's amazing. But as the pastor was talking about each number I found myself "numbering" my characters and it made a world of difference. I started with my characters from Golden and then, as Nanowrimo was approaching and I was still feeling stuck on Delphi and the characters of Weapon Icean I decided to number them. Even though I wrote and published the first book, I still felt like I was trying to learn who these characters really are. My characters tend to feel very alive to me, like living breathing people and therefore, like living breathing people they're crazy complicated and complex and sometimes do things that don't make sense. Which makes it very important that I know my characters cores inside and out and what motivates them. From the list above, I think you can get why the Enneagram was so helpful to me. Because they give you motivations that are deep and meaningful and apply to real, life people.
For a Four, we're motivated by being understood, experience our oversized feelings and not being ordinary. A lot of what we do are impacted by that motivation. One of the ways the trying to be as unique as possible aspect of the Four shows for me, is the way I dress. Without even realizing it, I've always tried to wear clothes that other people don't. To stand out with what I wear, which usually means I wear a lot of Disney/Fandom stuff. I have a ton of Disney clothes and Marvel clothes and accessories. I think the thing that motivates us the most though, is to be understood. Which is a total paradox. We want to be understood and fit in too a point (at least for me anyways), but we do everything we can to not fit in and do things that some people just can't understand because we're also motivated to be as special and unique as possible.
That's just a small analysis of me as a Four. Imagine what you could do with a character?! For example, I numbered Delphi as an Eight. Eight's often get a bad wrap, especially female Eights because of how commanding and demanding and dominant they can be. I realized that I had been trying to grasp that and portray that in the first book with Delphi. How she doesn't listen to orders, never does what she's told and sort of tries to take over and be the leader even though she's not the leader and can't be the leader. She's intense and confrontational and is motivated by a need to be strong and not weak or vulnerable. Which makes sense, given her circumstances in the first (and second) book. They don't want to be controlled and they'll do anything and everything to stay in control of themselves and not let anyone tell them what to do. I feel like they can also be sort of self-destructive when they're unhealthy. But when they are healthy, they get stuff done. I feel like they're good leaders in the sense that they take command and know their priorities and never back down. They're resolute and they don't take no for an answer. I'd say that's a pretty good quality for a super hero.
The Enneagram can help you get an idea for every aspect of your character, from why she does what she does, what's her motivation throughout the story to what clothes she would mostly likely wear and how she interacts with other people. It can even help with character arcs. On that site that I linked to, at the bottom of each number's summary is a scale of levels from healthy to average to unhealthy. Personally, I found it interesting for myself, and as a writer I saw it as a tool for creating positive and negative character arcs. In book two, Delphi is going to start in a rather unhealthy place on the Eight health scale and slowly grow healthier and healthier on the scale as the book goes on. I've always had a hard time with character arcs, because despite being a writer, I am a very visual person and it's hard to visualize a character arc until it's sitting right in front of my face. That scale was the visual tool that I needed to wrap my head around character arcs and how to use that tool to my advantage. This Enneagram class came at the perfect time, in October so that I could prepare my characters and arcs and plot for Nanowrimo with the help of the Enneagram.
In my next blog post I'll share with you what number each character from Weapon Icean is and a small description of why I gave them that number. If you have trouble with getting to know your characters cores or motivations or creating character arcs, I highly suggest using the Enneagram. You don't even have to go through and do the quiz for them like I've done with the Meyers Briggs test. The Enneagram test is pretty long, so that would be tedious. But if you know each number well enough or have a good understanding of each of them, it makes it easier and faster to number each character. I also highly recommend the Enneagram for yourself. You'd be amazed what you can learn about yourself. Not just you good aspects and how you are when your healthy, but also your faults and what you do when your unhealthy and how to improve them and make yourself more healthy.
Any family member or friend of mine who's spent time with me in the past month is probably rolling their eyes and smiling at the fact that I'm writing a blog post about the Enneagram since I've been gushing over it nonstop since starting this class. Anyways, I hope this post as been interesting for you guys to read and I hope you do look into the Enneagram, at least for your characters because I think it's a really great tool and resource for us writers! Have great week everyone!!
Comments
Post a Comment