I'm in that UCLA Extension class for screenwriting, and I turned in a couple of pages on my protagonist's backstory for homework last week. My instructor included a link to an Enneagram profile in her feedback. I vaguely remember certain people seeming very excited about their Enneagram -- it's the same people who feel invested in their identity as a member of one of the four Hogwarts houses.
My complaint with the personality tests is that they will just reflect the information you put into them. They're also not situation-specific. Like they want to know if you're confrontational, but they won't ask if you're confrontational around your boss, for example, vs around your employees. They assume a person will act the same in all contexts, and in my experience, that is obviously untrue. A test that included different contexts and one that used your input plus the input of people who know you well would be better.
Complaints aside, I found the enneagram helped me to nail down some strengths and weaknesses of my protagonist. Surely characters can't hold the multitudes that real human beings do (at least that's true of characters I write at this stage -- a real person would be too much to hold in my head). So a kind of flattened personality profile actually helps.
I ended up spending the $12 to take the test. I know, after my complaints and disdain for the Hogwarts people, I still gave in. Were the results surprising? No. Would I recommend it? Eh, if you want and aren't going to miss $12. But I will say that the relationship type combinations are interesting. I took my top result and matched it with the category I think Mitch falls into. We got some fancy results:
"No other couple is as vivacious or gregarious as the Three/Seven couple." And:
"Sevens bring breadth of knowledge and experience, boundless enthusiasm and good spirits. Threes bring a focus on goals, on staying practical and grounded, and on observing healthy limits. This can be a fun, articulate, generous pair, virtually sparkling with vitality and the joy of life. This can sometimes seem to others to be an almost magical couple."
Magical. That's right.
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