Character development is my absolute favorite part about writing. I get so excited (just on the inside) when I start a brand new novel and can start new characters from scratch. It's beautiful to start with a blank piece of paper and be able to create this human being (or some other creature). I have character sheets that I make and they are my favorite to fill out. I get to choose a name, an age that fits with the time/type of novel I am writing. I get to pick hair color, eye color, skin color... And as I write I add onto those character sheets. Hobbies, personality quirks that I didn't know about at first, character traits, their fears... It's fun to create a person. It's fun to get to know that person you created as you write your story.
One of my favorites things to do is take a personality test for my character. I usually use this one. Sometimes it's hard to answer the questions before you have even started writing your novel. Sometimes their personalities change half-way through the story. But answer the questions as accurately as possible to give them a result. Then if you don't know much about their MBTI result, research it extensively. Don't always just read a little bit about it. You can find out what that personality type's triggers are, their irritations, what that type strives for the most, how they usually go about fulfilling goals and dreams. The personality type doesn't take away from the individuality of your character, it will help you develop them more and make them stronger.
So why figure out your characters' MBTI?
It Makes Them More Real
Every person has an MBTI type. Everyone fits somewhere into one of the sixteen types. No, not everyone will fit their personality to the "t", but they will be pretty close. There's subtypes in the personalities which makes them more individual. When you know what type they are and what subtype they fit into, then researching those extensively will help you find what that type does like, doesn't like, what irritates them, what motivates them, etc. It will make them seem more real to the readers, and to yourself.
The Characters Will Relate to the Real World More
As I said above, everyone has a personality type. Whether your character lives on pluto, or a steampunk England, they have to relate to the real world somehow. It kind of goes back to making them seem more real. Yeah, they're fiction, but how do you think Fandoms are made? They're made because the characters seem so real to the readers, that the readers never want them to die out. Sherlock, Supernatural, and those anime shows help the readers relate in a way that they love the characters. They make fanfics, memes, gifs, and quote the characters all the time to help keep them in their life more. They made a connection that they don't ever want to lose. Wouldn't it be awesome for your story to one day have a fandom? I think so.
Creates a Personal Connection with Your Readers
The artistry behind the MBTI and EMBTI's are scientific. They're proven to be accurate. There's great information out there about personality types. You can find out all the information you want about certain types. Sure, you can make personal connections without knowing your character's MBTI results. It's how you write them. Unless you say so, the readers won't know the personality type exactly. Though, when you yourself know exactly what it is, you can more accurately write that into your story. Then readers with the same type will be like "They're like me! I know I am an INTP and she acts just like me." That makes readers so ecstatic about finding out that their new favorite character has the same type as them. Have you ever heard someone say, "I have the same personality type as Sherlock" or "I have the personality type as Harry Potter"? If that's their favorite character, they will be thrilled to know that. Sure you can write the story and never know what their personality type is and leave it up to your readers to try and guess what that might be exactly. It doesn't make it quite so personal or real anymore.
It only takes a couple minutes to take a test for your character and find out their type. If the test is too hard to do for your character, then wait until you've written some of your novel and gotten to know your character better. If it takes a full rough draft before you're able to answer all the questions from your character's perspective, then that's okay. When you go to do another draft, you can fix any inconsistencies.
Do you know what your characters' MBTI is? Do you think it helps make your characters more real? What kinds of things do you like doing when you are developing characters?
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