Enneagram Authors: Type 7 – The Enthusiast

About the 7

Description from The Enneagram Institute

Sevens are extroverted, optimistic, versatile, and spontaneous. Playful, high-spirited, and practical, they can also misapply their many talents, becoming over-extended, scattered, and undisciplined. They constantly seek new and exciting experiences, but can become distracted and exhausted by staying on the go. They typically have problems with impatience and impulsiveness. At their Best: they focus their talents on worthwhile goals, becoming appreciative, joyous, and satisfied.

  • Basic Fear: Of being deprived and in pain
  • Basic Desire: To be satisfied and content—to have their needs fulfilled

My sister is a 7, so she’s this week’s interviewee!

Interview with Sophia

Hi, Sophia! Can you share a little bit about yourself and what you write?

I’m a Christian homeschooled teen and I enjoy music and video games. I sort of write a range of stuff, but mainly just variations on speculative fiction. My NaNoWriMo project was a historical fantasy, and my other projects so far are portal fantasy.

What is your enneagram type, and how do you feel about it?

I am a 7w6, and I mostly enjoy both. I appreciate my dramatic ability, my goofy personality, and my ability to think ahead and be prepared for the worst case scenario sometimes. However, I obviously still have flaws, and the two things I tend to most get frustrated with myself over are my inability to know what I’m feeling or why, and the fact that oftentimes if I don’t feel like doing something I just don’t do it.

Do you find that your enneagram type impacts your writing process? How so, or why not?

I definitely feel like the part about me where I just do what I feel like comes into play. When I decide that I really want to develop a particular character or part of the world, I may dive deep into it, while I kind of try to avoid the parts that I don’t want to develop as much. I also find that the 7ness of starting a ton of projects and never finishing them definitely applies to my writing.

What strengths do you find in your writing or process that tie in with your enneagram type?

I truly cannot think of anything in particular. XD Most of the stuff that I didn’t suck at were because of other authors’ writing advice and not because of me or my enneagram type. XD I suppose my imagination comes into play a lot when I’m starting new projects. Often a story idea will come from something basic like a journal I own.

What weaknesses do you find in your writing or process that tie in with your enneagram type?

Definitely my habit of starting a project and then leaving it for months and months before I’m like, “oh yeah, that was a thing.”

Do you think your type impacts how you create characters?

I definitely have a tendency to create 7 characters (unintentionally). I like characters that are fun and upbeat, and I probably subconsciously do it in part because they’re, of course, easier to write because I am a seven, so most of their thoughts and reasoning will be similar to my own.

Do you think it impacts how you worldbuild?

I mean, it impacts how I don’t worldbuild. Because I don’t want to because it’s really hard. XD Um, probably some in the fact that I tend to mostly come up with interesting flora and fauna that I think are cool (often things that I think are cute, too, lol), and not much of anything else because I don’t find it as fantastical.

Do you think it impacts how you outline?

You might expect me to be a pantser, being a 7, but I actually do outline my stories. XD I mostly just do the main plot beats though and fill in the rest as I write, so I do tend to keep it fairly loose, largely because I get excited to just write the book already, which definitely does sound like a 7’s excitement and enthusiasm over a project. ;D

Do you think it impacts your prose or writing style?

I feel like I don’t really have a particular writing style, which is a little unfortunate. I try to write like the character talks (I usually write in third-person limited) when I think about it, but I usually just… write words that show what’s happening, for the most part. So I can’t really think of any way my enneagram type affects my prose.

Do you find that many of your protagonists are a similar type to yours, or very different?

I think a lot of my main characters are 7s, and even when the main character isn’t one I often find that the 7 characters are my favorite.

If you have a strong wing, how does it impact your writing process, if at all?

My 6 wing may influence the fact that I do outline, as I feel like I have to know where I’m going so that I don’t crash and ruin the story. I’m not really sure how much of it is 6 wing though, because the main reason I outline is because I tried writing a story once where I had absolutely no idea where it was going, and it’s still a mess and I still haven’t been able to bring myself to try and pick up its pieces yet.

What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the writing process (plotting, writing, editing)?

The planning is probably my least favorite. I tend to have a hard time developing the world, and the characters, and sometimes the plot too. While I haven’t reached this stage yet with my novella, which is the one story I’ve actually finished, I feel like I tend to enjoy editing. I’ve gone back over some of my old writing and am always picking out things that I should have done differently, and I really enjoy it. So I’d say that planning and pre-writing is probably my least favorite, and editing is my favorite part of the writing process.

What are your favorite and least favorite aspects of the writing craft (setting, characters, theme, plot, prose, etc.)?

My favorites are probably character and plot (they kind of go hand in hand), and my least favorite is probably setting.

Do you have any writing “rituals” (drinking tea, lighting a candle, putting on music) to get you in the mood to write?

I don’t. Usually I just sit down and write, but if I’m having a really hard time getting into the story and knowing what to write, putting on an ambience that matches the tone of the story or the particular scene I’m trying to write usually helps me.

What most inspires you to write?

Ordinary things around me often inspire stories. The thing that keeps me going and sticking with my story ‘til the end (because as I mentioned earlier, I tend to just sort of abandon projects and never come back to them) is other writers. I have a group of online writer friends who encourage me and help me a lot with my writing when I need it, and Abbie and Kate Emmons’ YouTube channels help me remember that I’m working on a story, and they remind me why it matters and why I should be writing it.

What is your reason for writing?

As difficult as it can be at times, I largely do it because it’s fun. I first got into it because you’d been writing for a while and once I could read and write I was like, “ooh, she writes stories! I want to do that too!” The reason I stick with it is because it is fun, and when it’s hard it’s a learning experience. I’m learning how to write better, and I’m building some level of diligence and discipline for sticking with it when it’s hard.

Anything else you want to share?

I think you pretty much covered everything!

About Sophia

Inspired by her older sister’s love of story, Sophia has been writing since she was 6 years old. She spends most of her time working on her music, playing video games, or baking something sweet. She’s been homeschooled her entire life and strives to make Jesus her biggest passion.

5 thoughts on “Enneagram Authors: Type 7 – The Enthusiast

  1. I liked this post! I’m an enneagram seven (and I can’t remember if I’m a winged 9 or 4) and I could relate a lot to this. :D

    1. Your wing will be one of the types on either side of your core type, so for a 7 it would be either 8 or 6. If you have 9 or 4 as your *secondary* type, that would be part of your tri-type rather than a wing. :)

      I’m glad you enjoyed the post! ^-^

  2. Thanks for writing this post! I’m a 7w8, and I have the same problem of ditching my projects for months.

  3. Thank you so much for doing an interview Sohpia, it was really interesting to hear your experience. Honestly, this has given me an idea for a character. I tend to be more of a 1. I follow plans and I am really strict with myself. Posts like these are so helpful so that I can write characters who are more free. And by the way, I totally relate to the not world building thing. i like to discover my worlds while I am writing as well!

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