Harnessing the Power of The Enneagram in Fiction Writing

by Olivia Salter

In the world of fiction writing, creating multidimensional characters is paramount. The Enneagram, a powerful personality typing system, offers writers a rich framework to develop compelling and authentic characters. This ancient system categorizes personalities into nine types, each with distinct motivations, fears, desires, and behavioral patterns. By understanding and utilizing the Enneagram, writers can breathe life into their characters, ensuring they resonate deeply with readers.

Understanding The Enneagram

The Enneagram delineates nine core personality types, each representing a different worldview and way of processing emotions. These types are:

1. The Reformer (Type 1): Principled, purposeful, self-controlled, and perfectionistic.
2. The Helper (Type 2): Generous, demonstrative, people-pleasing, and possessive.
3. The Achiever (Type 3): Adaptive, excelling, driven, and image-conscious.
4. The Individualist (Type 4): Expressive, dramatic, self-absorbed, and temperamental.
5. The Investigator (Type 5): Perceptive, innovative, secretive, and isolated.
6. The Loyalist (Type 6): Engaging, responsible, anxious, and suspicious.
7. The Enthusiast (Type 7): Spontaneous, versatile, acquisitive, and scattered.
8. The Challenger (Type 8): Self-confident, decisive, willful, and confrontational.
9. The Peacemaker (Type 9): Receptive, reassuring, complacent, and resigned.

Crafting Characters with Depth

Using the Enneagram as a character development tool allows writers to delve into the psyche of their characters, understanding their inner workings and what drives them. Here's how to incorporate the Enneagram into fiction writing:

1. Defining Core Motivations and Fears: Each Enneagram type has a unique set of core motivations and fears. For example, a Type 1 character is driven by a need for integrity and the fear of being corrupt or evil. Understanding these elements helps in creating consistent and believable behaviors.
2. Building Relationships and Conflicts: Characters interact based on their personality types. A Type 2 (The Helper) might naturally clash with a Type 5 (The Investigator) due to their differing needs for emotional connection and personal space. These dynamics can fuel plot tension and character arcs.
3. Creating Character Arcs: The Enneagram provides a pathway for character growth. For instance, a Type 3 (The Achiever) might start the story driven by success and recognition but evolve towards valuing authenticity and genuine connections.

 

Adding Complexity and Flaws: Realistic characters are complex and flawed. The Enneagram highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of each type. A Type 8 (The Challenger) might be assertive and protective but also struggle with controlling tendencies and vulnerability.

 Types in Action

Let’s consider an example. Imagine a story featuring three main characters: a Type 1 (The Reformer), a Type 4 (The Individualist), and a Type 6 (The Loyalist).

• Type 1 (The Reformer): Jane is a principled lawyer fighting for justice. Her inner critic constantly drives her to perfection, causing friction in her personal life.
• Type 4 (The Individualist): Alex is a brooding artist, struggling with feelings of inadequacy and longing for a unique identity. His emotional intensity adds depth to his relationships.
• Type 6 (The Loyalist): Sam is a dedicated detective, often plagued by self-doubt and anxiety. His loyalty to his friends and duty drives his actions, but his suspicion can lead to conflicts.

Throughout the story, their interactions and growth reflect their Enneagram types, providing a rich tapestry of motivations and conflicts. Jane’s pursuit of justice, Alex’s quest for identity, and Sam’s struggle with trust and security weave together, creating a compelling narrative.

In conclusion, the Enneagram is more than just a personality typing system; it’s a valuable tool for fiction writers aiming to create authentic, multi-layered characters. By understanding and incorporating the Enneagram into character development, writers can craft stories that resonate deeply with readers, exploring the complexities of human behavior and relationships.

Also see:

• The Nine Enneagram Type Descriptions
• Enneagram Personality Test
• Books on the Enneagram at Amazon

The Enneagram: A Power Tool for Screenwriters by Judith Searle

 

The Enneagram: A Power Tool for Screenwriters

by Judith Searle

Judith Searle Books at Amazon

Experienced writers know that plot and character are like Siamese twins: if one is terminally diseased, the other is doomed. While a solid structure is essential to a good screenplay, it fails to guarantee characters whose behavior continually seems both inevitable and surprising.

The system of personality typing known as the Enneagram offers a powerful technical tool for developing original and dimensional characters. Familiarity with the nine basic types can help us sharpen conflicts between characters to make dramatic situations more compelling. Being aware of the connections between story genres and Enneagram types provides insights into why we are drawn to create thrillers, romantic comedies, science fiction or other kinds of stories.

THE NINE TYPES

The nine types are portraits of contrasting psychological attitudes, based on our habitual focus of attention and the fears that shape the ways we see the world:

* One (The Critic): principled, orderly, self-doubting, irritable. Ones fear being seen as evil or corrupt. (Example: Gregory Peck in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’)

* Two (The Lover): nurturing, seductive, emotional, proud. Twos fear being unloved and unappreciated. (Example: Susan Sarandon in ‘Dead Man Walking’)

* Three (The Achiever): energetic, practical, driven, vain. Threes fear being seen as losers or failures. (Example: Tom Cruise in ‘Jerry Maguire’)

* Four (The Aesthete): authentic, passionate, depressed, envious. Fours fear being seen as ordinary. (Example: Meryl Streep in ‘Out of Africa’)

* Five (The Analyst): observant, independent, cool, stingy. Fives fear being overwhelmed by others. (Example: Ralph Fiennes in ‘The English Patient’)

* Six (The Pessimist): loyal, authority conscious, suspicious, fearful. Sixes fear being unsupported by others. (Example: Sally Field in ‘Norma Rae’)

* Seven (The Optimist): enthusiastic, egalitarian, self-indulgent, dilettantish. Sevens fear being deprived and in pain. (Example: Andre Gregory in ‘My Dinner with Andre’)

* Eight (The Trail-Blazer): forceful, confrontative, excessive, vengeful. Eights fear being in a subordinate position. (Example: George C. Scott in ‘Patton’)

* Nine (The Connector): accepting, generous, distractible, indolent. Nines fear conflict and disharmony. (Example: Frances McDormand in ‘Fargo’)

Films and literature offer a vast panoply of examples that can be examined with the tools of the Enneagram to reveal the dynamics of character. Once we understand how this system works, we hold the key to a more sophisticated understanding of ourselves and others. In my workshops, where I teach the nine types, primarily through film and literary examples, I emphasize that each type may be heroic or villainous.

Great characters are recognizable Enneagram types. Blanche DuBois (a Four), Willy Lohman (a Three) and Mary Tyrone (a Nine) all show distinctive character arcs that are predictable under the Enneagram system. Star actors often give their greatest performances as characters whose Enneagram type is the same as their own: George C. Scott in ‘Patton’ (Eight), Susan Sarandon in ‘Dead Man Walking’ (Two) and Sally Field in ‘Norma Rae’ (Six), to name but a few obvious examples. Thus, writers creating a character with a particular star in mind would be well advised to pay attention to that actor's personal Enneagram type.

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Judith Searle began studying the Enneagram after two friends in succession suggested that its breakdown of nine personality types could be a valuable tool for her acting, writing and teaching. Now, after years of study and use, she has compiled an amazing book, ‘The Literary Enneagram.’ which provides actors, writers, teachers and the world at large with groundbreaking tools for human understanding, using character examples from great literature, stage and the movies. She also teaches the workshop, Judith Searle's 'Great Movies, Great Books and The Enneagram.'

 

Judith Searle Books at Amazon

 

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