Want to learn a new method for crafting well-rounded romance protagonists? And for using the differences between your protagonists’ personalities to drive your story’s conflict, and avoid having contrived plots push around your characters? This workshop will give you an overview of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a psychometric tool designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions, and will explore how to use MBTI to craft romance characters with individual personalities. We’ll also practice using MBTI insights about our protagonists to develop character-driven conflict.
In preparation for this workshop, you might want to check out one of the online MBTI-like questionnaires—complete one to find out your own personality type, or take it on behalf of a character you have in mind, to find out hers/his.
You can find sample questionnaires online at:
• http://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
• http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
• http://personality-testing.info/tests/JUNG.php
Jackie C. Horne (INTJ) has held a myriad of book-related jobs, including typesetter, children’s book editor, English professor, book reviewer, blogger, and independent scholar. She is the author of several books and many scholarly articles about children’s literature, and blogs online at Romance Novels for Feminists (www.romancenovelsforfeminists.blogspot.com). She is currently in the midst of writing her second historical romance.