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infj writer

The Best Way for INFJ and INFP Writers to Work with Fictional Characters

When writers are first learning the Intuitive Writing method one of the immediate shifts that happens is the way they work with characters. Instead of characters existing to serve you, you exist to serve them. This can be hard for intuitive writers to do, initially. Most of us are so used to assuming that we “decide” what our characters do, and their motivations and choices should come from a place that makes logical sense for the story.

Well, in the Intuitive Writing method we don’t assume that we know what is best for the story, or that deciding what our characters should do is necessarily helpful. In Intuitive Writing, we let the characters take the lead and set the pace. We concentrate on building our emotional connection with them. Our creative process shifts from achievement-oriented (trying to finish our book as fast as we can) to relationship-oriented (focusing on the characters and letting go of expectations). Continue Reading

Why Traditional Writing Methods Don’t Work for INFJ and INFP Writers

Over the past seven years I’ve coached and taught hundreds of INFJ and INFP writers and I can say one thing with certainty: most traditional writing methods just don’t work for us.

The sad thing is, most INFJ and INFP writers think that the problem is with them, not with the approach they’re using. So, they end up feeling horrible about themselves and their writing. I can’t tell you how many intuitive writers I’ve talked to who have told me, “I guess I’m just not cut out to be a writer,” when nothing could be further from the truth. Continue Reading

Why It’s So Hard for an INFJ (or INFP) Writer to Show Anyone Else Our Writing

As an INFJ, I live inside two worlds. There is the world outside of my body, made up of people and buildings and trees and things, and then there is the real world: the world inside my soul.

When I tell people this, I know that they think they understand what I’m talking about. I’m a dreamer, and an idealist. I’m that girl, who always has her head in the clouds. They would be right. I am those things. But when I say that, for me, the real world exists inside my soul, it goes way beyond that. Continue Reading

Why it’s No Coincidence so Many INFJs (and INFPs) Are also Writers

I have a really weird thing that happens to me whenever I receive a bit of emotionally disturbing news. Whether it’s something small (like someone tells me I said the wrong thing at the dinner table) or something big (like getting hit with rejection or betrayal) my system immediately goes into shut-down mode. I freeze like a panicked animal, my throat, chest and stomach lock up, and the rest of me feels totally numb.

This numb feeling can last a few minutes, or it can last a few days. Continue Reading

INFJs and the Myth of the Dream Job

INFJ personality types are idealist personality types, and this extends to all areas of life. When an INFJ personality type focuses on what type of career they would like to pursue, one of the first things they consider is how well a potential job lines up with their idealist values.

Many INFJ personality types (and INFP personality types) have an idealized vision in their mind of what their dream job would look like. This idealized vision is strongly tied to the value system of the INFJ or the INFP, and because this is so important to INFJs and INFPs, they often overlook red flags that the job may not actually be a good fit for them. Continue Reading