Best type to write novel with?

[trugate]

What personality type would be more prone to develop an idea with an intp? Best to bounce ideas off of? Someone that, once committed, sees it to the end?

All theoretical, of course.

 

[JoeJoe]

My guess would be Ne dom or aux.

so XNXP. But P's are less likely to see something to the end, even if they're really committed at the beginning.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

I think an INTJ would be perfect for ideas and getting the work done but there could be some perspective issues.

 

[EditorOne]

" But P's are less likely to see something to the end, even if they're really committed at the beginning."

So you make it digestable chunks. My goal is one chapter of 1000 to 2500 words every time I sit down. Next day I read and edit what I wrote and it jump starts me for the next chapter.

The next book will have an outline, a first. Those I've done already embodied an idea and "a place where it will all end up," with a major goal being how to have people FEEL at the end. Yup, I can think it through and literally create an effect.

I'm not peddling on this forum, but if you want to see that an INTP can actually do 90,000 or so word novels, here ya go.

https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/books

I think that will work for everyone even without a password; sometimes the technology defeats me.

I have another book finished but waiting for a friend to do illustrations. I have a sequel to "Swain's Folly" started but languishing. I've got a great idea based on a childhood story: We moved into our house in 1952 and the neighbors all swore, vaguely and darkly, that the previous owners had been German spies. Nonsense, but there were some real-world things that kinda make a novelist wonder: Why did they have two flagpoles on the property, 140 feet apart? Why is there an amateurish wooden drop ceiling in the living room of the bungalow? Why did my family recently find a model 1911 Army Colt pistol rusted and hidden in a cranny of a massive old coal furnace that had been disconnected and left to rot long before we bought the house?
My mother still won't let me tear down that drop ceiling, so to get even I'm going to write a novel in which it is going to be a prominent feature.

See, writing is fun. I can't seem to disconnect from the journalistic need to at least start with some real-world situations, but it's not holding me back.

When I buckle down and go -- when I'm not having knee surgery, chronic pain, attending funerals, or dealing with college-related crises involving my youngest son -- I can whip out a novel in three months. For the next one ("the drop ceiling novel") I'm going to try to regularize the daily routine and not allow my focus to soften. I should be able to start writing (I'm researching now, erratically) in January, when it's too damn cold to do much around here anyway.

Hope that helps.

It is, by the way, my belief that INTP personalities CAN do anything if they work at learning how to make every day new and different, to keep the "Meh" factor at bay.

 

[trugate]

Thanks for the replies, good information all the way around. I know I've got a lot more to learn when it comes to the building blocks that make up the different personality types.

EyeSeeCold, my older brother is an ISTJ, and it always seems to me like he would be perfect to write with, but he never wants to commit to it (as he doesn't regard himself as a writer, and ISTJ's won't commit to something they're not 100% sure about or an expert on). I know he tests as borderline S/N, though he typically behaves like an S. When I get him using his imagination though, he's pretty amazing, and I get *so* frustrated (internally) when I can't persuade him. I'm sure it's because he's my OLDER brother, but we behave as equals.

He took FOREVER to come around when it came to playing rpg's, for instance. My interest in Final Fantasy was always met with animosity, then I come home from school one day and he's playing it like it's his business. One day it just bit him (a result of absolute boredom), and he became some sort of rpg-playing elitist after that.

The same thing happened with the book I started. It took a lot of pushing and shoving to get him to read my work, but now he's my biggest fan of ongoing material. I wonder if I should push him more about the writing? Of course, pushing a gamer to play an RPG isn't too difficult, along with pushing a reader to read a book within their genre, but a guy who counts beans for a living (well, manages the counting of) probably won't up and try another profession when they've got it figured out. But anyway.

EditorOne, as someone who's completed a project, how do you keep yourself from wanting to constantly modify and alter your previous works? Working with an ISTJ from out of state (email correspondence only), we've gotten to around 53k words. We're on a break, as he's back to school for his PhD and time is minimal, and reading through it, I can't help but look and say, "Wait, why didn't I do this? This would be perfect!" but the change would force at LEAST half of the book to be completely re-written. And this isn't the first time I've wanted to change something, by any means.

Looking forward to your replies.

 

[gruesomebrat]

I don't think that wanting to change parts of a novel are exclusive to INTP's. My sister does some shortstory writing, and wants to get into the novel scene, and while I don't know what type she is, she is most definitely not an INTP, or even an NT, for that matter...
Anyway, the point is, she goes through the same process when reading over her work. I wonder if this trait isn't more of a writer-specific thing, than a type-specific? Just my two cents.

 

[trugate]

Well, I definitely agree, it just seems like I want to re-do everything, all the time. Big, cataclysmic changes that are really counter-productive. It might not be a type thing, I might just get bored really easily once I've figured something out.

Are there any S types that would be more prone to chewing on an existing idea to discover new possibilities?

 

[EditorOne]

How to keep rewriting from stealing your ultimate success:
1.Discipline. Limit rewrites the same way you set a daily goal rather than a final goal.
2. Prioritize. Yes, you could go back and make something different and, within its own terms, better. But ask yourself if it makes the final result better. To some extent perfection is the enemy of completion. There's a somewhat sarcastic but nevertheless valid observation about work that isn't necessarily as perfect as it could be if you spent another year on it: It's not just good, it's good enough.
3. Know where you're going before you get there. Stick to it.
4. Don't let the characters take over the story too much. Some, yes, but remember where you want them to be on the last page of the book, and make sure everything you write supports getting them there rather than some other goal.
5. Keep it simple. If it's your first book, just make it about one thing and stick to it.
5A. Corollary: If you get a really good idea for changing things halfway through, don't. Just write down that really good idea, then Write Another Book.

Hope that helps.

Remember, I had the benefit of decades of print journalism, writing things in simple, digestible chunks of 300-1200 words. While that might sound like it doesn't support novels, consider this: "The Count of Monte Cristo" and other early novels weren't written as novels, they were written as serials appearing in the newspapers. If you go back and read each chapter in that and other serial-written novels, you can see that the Dan Brown-and-others technique of making every chapter ending leaving you hanging is in the most literal sense nothing new and something any INTP can do with a little thought.

 

[trugate]

Thanks for the advice, EditorOne. I've been trying to make myself write around 2k words a day, and for a solo project I got to around 10k, so that gives you an idea of how long that lasted for. But I agree with the theory, making writing a book a bite-size ordeal.

I think if I had an actual deadline to be afraid of, I'd (hopefully) be more productive as well. I'm trying to using NaNoWriMo for that, but it's not going well.

If you're interested, I'll give a brief history of my history, I'd be happy to hear any more advice about it from an INTP who's actually completed something!

Basically, I've been building on a huge horror/fantasy world here and there for a little over ten years. While talking to a friend of mine about wanting to write a book, he pointed me to a friend of his (ISTJ) that was experienced in publishing sci-fi short stories. After introductions, I went on to explain the world through email correspondence, over the course of two months (sadly, the most I'd ever written at that point), and he was really interested in working with me.

I sent him what I thought was a decent first chapter, and a week later he sends me his version of chapter one based off of my own. In short, from there I sent him summarized outlines/ideas for each chapter, one at a time, and he would write them in his own fashion. It's written in the first person perspective, and in the style of a journal or recounting (like Crichtons' Eaters of the Dead), and since he wasn't aware of what was going to happen next, it had a really neat 'here-and-now' effect.

He's on hiatus until his PhD studies are over, but I would LOVE to take over the writing (which he's okay with, as long as he's involved in the re-write). The main character is about to have an alternate personality take control, which would be perfect for me to start narration, but I want more experience before I try to fill his shoes.

So, I have a lot of short burst experience to do a solo project in small bites, but I don't have anyone but me waiting for anything to get done. Again, I got to 10k on my own solo book within the same story world, but there's not any urgency in it. It's not like I want to lean on anyone exactly, but it seems like I need someone that is expecting me to send them something in a timely manner. Thus, the desire to seek someone out to work with, brainstorm aloud with, etc.

Thanks again for your input so far.

 

[JoeJoe]

I think if I had an actual deadline to be afraid of, I'd (hopefully) be more productive as well. I'm trying to using NaNoWriMo for that, but it's not going well.

One inactive member from here is a lot into NaNoWriMo, saffyangelis. AFAIK last year she wrote 75k words or so...

I tried it myself and failed miserably...

 

[trugate]

Yah, with the current circumstances of life, it's just not going to happen for this year's NaNoWriMo.

Well, I believe in talking about all of this with you guys that I've come across the answers I needed. Thanks again.

 

[Taniwha]

INFP.

Their ability to see what comes next is extraordinary. Most of my favorite writers were and are INFPs (except for Stephenie Meyer). The emotion behind their writing will probably complement the logic behind ours, resulting in a balanced piece of literature.
I have the most fun working with INFP's.