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Enneagrams~~
Enneagrams
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Recently I have been OBSESSED with enneagrams as a writing tool. They're a personality-typing tool which doesn't really work for real people (because people are, you know, complicated) but works great for characters!
There are 9 enneagram types, split into 3 triads.
Heart types struggle mainly with their emotional needs. Type 2s fulfill this need through devoting themselves to other people; Type 3s do it by craving attention; Type 4s do it by emphasizing individuality.
Head types struggle mainly with anxiety revolving around physical survival. Type 5s cope by retreating into their minds; Type 6s cope by clinging to an ideology; Type 7s cope by ignoring their problems.
Gut types struggle mainly with perceived injustice. Type 8s cope by completely asserting their dominance; Type 9s cope by just going with the flow; Type 1s cope by creating strict moral standards.
Basically, most emotionally driven characters can fall into one of these types.
So this thread is about that! Do you have in-depth analyses of a type that you want to share? Or do you want me to expand on a type? Suggest fictional characters to type & analyze!
I'll start—what do you think Percy Jackson's type is? He's always emotionally read a lot like a type 2 because he really wants to get approval from his father/friends, but his story is more like a type 9—learning to assert his own opinions. I really don't know.
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submitted by Ditto, formerly Rainbow Riot
(December 29, 2024 - 11:54 pm)
(December 29, 2024 - 11:54 pm)
ooh, I've been doing sort of the same thing, only with MBTI types! I didn't know much about enneagrams, it's so interesting to learn more about them :) I think one of my most recent characters is probably a Type 3??? she wants to feel approved-of and appreciated by those around her (though by the end of the story she learns that she doesn't need others' approval to have a happy life).
I looked up Percy Jackson (since I've never read the books lol). Based on just a few paragraphs of info, he seems like he might be a 6? Because he seems fairly anxious to protect himself physically, like how he becomes scared of drowning - and then his loyalty to his family/friends could be the ideology he's clinging to. That would also explain why he's so loyal to them but not always considerate toward other people; his loyalty doesn't spring from actual generosity, but from fear for his own safety. It also makes sense given that he had an abusive stepfather as a child: he would've grown up being concerned about his own physical safety.
What about August (from Wonder)? I would say he might be a 5 or a 9 because he usually seems pretty chill; when things upset him, he kind of just deals with it in his own way.
By the way, @Ditto, since you mentioned you use enneagrams to help with your writing, I wondered if you use them to help figure out which characters to ship? Because like I've been using MBTI types to create ships... (If two of my charries are shipped, I like them to share the introversion/extroversion characteristic (so for instance, they'd both be either introverts or extroverts) but all the other traits (S/N, T/F, P/J) are different. That way they both end up having a lot of similarities and preferences, but they also have different traits that balance each other out and help them to complement each other.) I was wondering if you can do something similar with enneagrams :)
(December 31, 2024 - 10:12 am)
Omg!
I like your take on Percy; I can definitely see him as someone who has to let go of safety.
I really don't know about August! I want to lean towards saying that he doesn't have an enneagram at all; I agree with your point about how he's chill & just deals with things as they come. I think he's more of a flat character used to teach the other characters in the book a lesson; Julian is obvi a 3 (he really only cares about popularity and respect from adults and he's willing to step over Auggie to do it) and Via is a 9 or a 2 (she spends most of her life repressing herself for Auggie's sake), and both of them learn stuff from him.
I don't really ship with enneagrams as a tool specifically tbh because I feel like you could put any two of them together & have an interesting dynamic. I DO have some favorite enneagram dynamics to ship though :) 3&8, 5&7, 6&6 are some of my favorites. I also really like using MBTI types! I actually have kind of a different thing I do with them; I try to make them the same either p/j or s/n, and then make all the others different. I think it's interesting because it results in people who seem very different externally, but actually share a lot in common. I've never actually tried making them both e/i though; I have to try that!
(January 1, 2025 - 9:04 pm)
Oh, also, I was going to ask but I forgot. Do you usually come up with characters ideas first & MBTI after or MBTI first & character after? I'd love to hear more about how you use the MBTI, since I'm not as well-versed with it :)
(January 1, 2025 - 9:33 pm)
That's an interesting point about Auggie! He definitely seems flatter than the other characters. I agree about Julian and Via too. Actually, it just occurred to me that Miranda might be a Type 4 - because she responds to her family struggles by getting a new image and trying to stand out. Maybe she's more of a 3, though. Btw the Wonder characters are some of my favorite charries in all of literature :)
Your enneagram and MBTI ship dynamics sound so fun - I'd love to try them sometime, especially the enneagram ones. About your question, I think it depends. Sometimes I come up with the character idea and the MBTI both at once: like for one of my latest short stories, I wanted to write about an ENTJ and an ESFP, but I also knew what I wanted them to be like in other ways (appearances, names, backgrounds, all that) so I just sort of combined all those ideas. I find the MBTI especially useful if there's a particular dynamic that I've been looking for, like in a ship, because it can help me to clarify the specifics of the character and get a better idea of how he/she would be likely to act. It can be my inspiration for the character itself, but in general, the character idea usually comes first and then gets fitted together with an MBTI. I don't always use personality type, though :) What do you prefer - character idea first or enneagram?
Iffy (my captcha) says <bunyz>! Maybe she's trying to talk about bunnies.
(January 2, 2025 - 3:58 pm)
Ooh that's interesting! Yeah I can definitely see MBTI being helpful for how people typically act since I feel like enneagram doesn't really do that.
Honestly it depends? I think I usually have a character concept first (vibes are very important for me lol) and then I'll find an enneagram that makes sense with what I have in mind. I think it would be cool to try writing something entirely starting from enneagram though, because then you can kind of make everything fit perfectly together.
I haven't read Wonder in a while, so I'll have to go back and re-analyze! I also really like the characters in Arcane. Have you watched it?
(January 2, 2025 - 6:32 pm)
interesting! Vibes are very very important for me too lol. Names are really useful in that regard - sometimes a name can suggest a whole character to me. Or if one of my characters is already established but he/she needs a name, it's fun trying to find a name that gives off exactly the right vibe.
I haven't watched Arcane, but the name sounds familiar... I took a look at it online, and it sounds vaguely like the SOCS Boarding School RP on Kyngdom lol. (Btw, Kyngdom's been revived!! It's been active again for a while now, ever since around April 2023 :D) Do you have a favorite TV/streaming series? One of my favorites is definitely All Creatures Great and Small - it's so exciting that the fifth season is about to start!
Back to enneagrams, I recently found out that you can actually combine them with MBTIs - that might be a really interesting concept to explore. Like what about an ENTJ (usually very assertive and energetic) who happened to be a Type 9 (going with the flow)? You could get some fun combinations that way...
(January 5, 2025 - 12:33 pm)
(December 31, 2024 - 11:22 am)