Sneak Peek

Writing is an odd profession. The first time I attended a writer’s conference, I remember walking through the dining hall at lunchtime and catching snatches of conversations here and there. It took me a moment to realize the attendees weren’t talking about real people and situations; they were discussing their fictional world and characters with the same passion as if they were family members.

Maybe writing is an odd profession because writers are odd people. I confess this with both affection and embarrassment. We live in a world of make believe, and it’s very difficult to discuss this fake world with non-writers. At least it is for me. We create characters and storylines from nothing and then think about it relentlessly until it all comes together into a plausible book. By the time I submit my newest novel to my publisher, I have spent more time with my characters than any real-life people. Now, that’s odd!

I took the plunge into the world of personality types last week in preparation for my next book. I don’t know how other writers pull it together, but I tend to have a vague idea of the storyline—so vague, it doesn’t become real until I get a sense of the characters who will live it out and how their brokenness will pertain to the situation in which they find themselves. Why does that matter?

If I were to plop my husband and his type 9 enneagram personality into any story, it wouldn’t play out very well. Chris is a peacemaker. Probably the most well-adjusted type 9 I know. Well-adjusted people don’t make for good conflict. I actually tried to base a character off of him very early in my writing career. I took the story to the mentor teaching the clinic I was participating in, and she dismissed it. “This character is too nice,” she said. “Your readers won’t believe he’s real.”

Around the same time, I entered a writing contest in order to get feedback on my writing style so I would know where to start on the process of honing the craft. It was a short story, and I used my own past for the rising conflict. One of the judges came back with a low score and wrote, “The conflict is over the top. No one will believe a character would go through all this.”

These experiences taught me two things: broken people make for better reading and stay away from true life when mapping out a story.

One of the main characters in my new book was actually inspired by a real person. Two of my novels in the Apple Hill Series were inspired by real events, but I’ve never taken a real-life person with his personality type and some of his background and plopped him into a fictional story. This is the type most often seen in a side character or villain. I’m excited with the challenge of taking this in-your-face character and infusing the heart of his brokenness so the reader will fall in love with him and cheer him on.

Every personality type is two sides of the same coin. We will all default to certain behavior patterns when we aren’t emotionally and/or spiritually healthy. It’s that process of sanctification that allows us to be the best God has created us to be. What’s true of my characters are true for all people. We are a sum of our past experiences and how they draw us closer to (or further from) God. This is the message I hope to convey in this new book. It will be, thus far, my most challenging project.

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