Let's try a personality test

Following on from another great read (Crafting Unforgettable Characters by K.M. Weiland) and a day out of the office in project workshop my mind turned to personality. In the book, Weiland describes many of the facets that make great, unforgettable characters, and she ably describes the pains that many authors come to when crafting their own.

I've often wondered if there are ways to make my characters more interesting, less predictable, but most of all more lifelike. Writers often talk about one-dimensional characters. I've often found that description more abstract than useful. To me, one-dimension means that you have characters acting but you haven't given them reasons for doing so. So motives might give you something more, perhaps two dimensions. But even then, characters can still seem... off.

I think the issue with this is that we want our characters to be as real as actual people, and actual people don't simply have one motivation or one reaction to any of those motivations. Personality is a very complex thing, hence why some of the finest minds in history have dedicated themselves to the study of it. While we might not have direct access to those minds, and most writers don't even have access to a psychology undergrad, there are resources we can use.

The aforementioned project workshop was an opportunity to engage with co-workers, but also involved a personality test called working styles. I'll bet most of you are saying "my characters don't have office jobs", which is great, because the life behind a desk does not make for good reading. But in her book, Weiland does talk about character occupations - what is it that they do. It makes sense that if they have a job of some sort, then they will have a working style - that is a behaviour preference that can be used to describe how they work and interact with others.

I should say that I am definitely not counted as one of the people that believes in these tests as a useful business exercise, as I don't really agree with pigeon-holing people based on their preferences. I am, however, of the belief that they can help us get a better grasp of our characters. Over the next week or so I'm going to test that belief by using online personality tests, starting with www.16personalities.com, to see if they can help flesh out my characters. Check back here in a few days time for the first set of results.

If you've used personality tests in the past, either on your characters or on yourself (or someone else, if you're into unusual punishment), then please leave a link in the comments and I will add it to the list that I will be checking out.