How personality impacts writing habits (one case)

Be warned. This blog post is written more for myself than for others and is quite self-centred. Nevertheless, you may find it interesting and you’re welcome to read my ramblings. By publishing this post on my blog, I am aiming to grasp the content myself. My productivity with writing from this point on will prove whether or not I do so.

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I could be working on my writing project right now. But I have in my hands a new-to-me book. I would like to return the book tomorrow so of course I am reading it today. Wouldn’t you do the same?

I am sitting in a quiet corner of the library. Yesterday I sat at a high desk by the window, watching sulphur crested cockatoos dip and soar, landing from time to time on a hook-shaped light pole. Today, however, there is a man who has a nasty cough sitting over there.

Behind me, though out of sight in a separate section of the library, I can hear young children playing with what sounds like piles and piles of Lego. (On my way out, I will realise that it is, indeed, a ‘Lego Club’.) The high-pitched chatter of little people and the deeper voices of the men and women who care for them provides a comforting backdrop as I jot these words. 

This blog post comes from Dubbo. I came here for almost a week to meet with a writing coach, catch up with a few friends, and otherwise focus on my writing away from the distractions of my everyday life. This is a privilege. I don’t take it for granted. 

Grasping the concepts in the book which is before me will make me a more productive writer. Hence this blog post. Let me bounce some of my ‘aha’ moments off you. Just ‘talking them through’ (on the keyboard) will help me ‘own’ them.

The book

The book is called ‘Writing & Personality’. It was written in 1995 by a couple of American academics, though pitched at the general public, so should be reliable and not just somebody’s ideas. It was published by a company which is a division of ‘Consulting Psychologists Press’ so again, carries a sense of ‘validity’.

Sometimes I feel like I need a psychologist to help me overcome my aversion to starting a big project. It makes no sense. Over and over again, I find myself leaving a writing project until the last possible moment, then scrambling to get it done. Rarely do I leave myself enough time to edit well.

I am hopefully on the cusp of being accepted into a doctoral program which I will undertake part-time over the next six years and I NEED to overcome this frustrating flaw. Not to mention my heartfelt desire and sense of call to turn my master’s thesis from last year into a useable resource, which was the impetus for this trip.

This book could be helpful.

Personality types

There are many ways to categorise personalities. Some people don’t like to be ‘put into a box’ by being assigned a combination of letters or numbers. I take their point but also find it liberating to realise that I’m wired a particular way. I can live wholeheartedly the way that I am without feeling ‘guilty’ that I am not different. Except, of course, when I really do need to overcome the flaws in my personality in order to be godly. 

This book is based around the Myers-Briggs personality type profiles. I first took that test back as a college student in 1993 when living on campus in a busy and stimulating community. At that time, I officially tested as an ‘ISTJ’ (introverted … just, sensing, thinking and judging). I took it again in 2012 when living alone and serving in a leadership role and was not part of a close-knit team. Not surprisingly, I had changed. The environments I lived in at those different times were quite different, I had been impacted by years of living in Asia, and (surely) I had matured. In 2012, I officially tested to be ‘ESFJ’ (extraverted … just, sensing, feeling and judging … just). As I read the book on personality and writing in 2022, I find that I now resonate as much with the ESFP descriptions as those of the ESFJ. 

The labels don’t matter, actually but the insights gleaned through resources such as the book I’m reading are helpful. Those gems will, hopefully, enable me to overcome my absurd reluctance about getting stuck into a big project. 

Practical tips

Here are a few of my ‘Aha’ moments from the book.

1. TALK

Rather than sit in front of a blank document open on my computer screen, people wired like me would be wise to talk. Talk with anyone who will listen. Talk with the cat. Talk into a voice recording device. Talk to the computer with the ‘dictate’ option enabled. Just talk.

That should get me over the hump of starting. 

2. PERFECTION IS NOT THE GOAL

Don’t try to write perfectly. Writing is a process. Pre-writing activities such as mind-mapping or note-taking are valid parts of the process. Revisions are a necessary part of writing which will inevitably take far longer than the initial writing itself. Ignore my ‘inner editor’ when I write my first draft and just get something down.

3. SMALL DISTRACTIONS

Little distractions … LITTLE … can be helpful for certain personalities. Allow myself breaks, perhaps to do a household chore or go for a walk. In fact, after puzzling over something for a while, it may be helpful to consciously forget about it for a short time. My unconscious mind will probably figure it out while I do something else. Background noise, like that of a cafe, may help too. Music can help get me ‘in the mood’ as well. I am reminded of the role music plays in the writing of the prolific author Alexander McCall-Smith – see this article if you’re interested: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/lifestyle/editors-choice-book-reviews/a553062/60-seconds-with-alexander-mccall-smith/

4. BREAK IT DOWN

Break big projects down into smaller sections with REAL deadlines. It’s hard to impose my own deadlines, because I know that they’re not real. I’m going to need to hold myself accountable to a coach or supervisors to create so-called ‘deadlines’, even if they are still somewhat artificial.

5. ‘KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE’

Recognise that my natural inclination is to put off committing pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) until the last possible minute. Naming ‘the issue’ is the first step in overcoming it. If I want to be a writer, then I need to actually WRITE!

Action

Thank you, family and friends who have persevered through this blog post, for the care and concern you show towards this would-be-writer.

I have everything I need to get this done. Generous supporters enable me to pour time into this (and other projects) that would not be possible if I had to work full-time to pay the bills. A writer-friend is coaching me through what will effectively be case studies in the thesis-to-book project. With her help, somewhat boring stories are already turning into pieces that will communicate lessons far more effectively than pages of theoretical explanations. Another friend is hosting me while I’m here in Dubbo on this little ‘writer’s retreat’. I have been given tremendous educational opportunities that I could never have taken advantage of in a country without government assistance for education. ‘To whom much is given, much will be required’ (Luke 12:48).

And now I have read another helpful book which has given me some pointers about how to practically go about writing. 

It’s time for action. 

Write!