Ultimate Story & Character Development with the Enneagram

When I first encountered the Enneagram, I immediately thought of character development. At the time I had been slightly disappointed with the characters I was developing with other inner conflict diagrams and character sketch methods (including my own) and I realized it was because not all the parts of my characters always matched. They needed consistency in their motivations as well as flaws and fears that would naturally come from the wounds they had experienced.

Maybe you’re lucky and, unlike me, you actually have a good intuition about people and how they’re put together, (strangely that sort of thing is helpful in character development). But if you sometimes don’t understand people’s motives, especially those you yourself would not share, or even if you just want to explore characters with a deeper understanding, the Enneagram can become your most essential tool.

What is the Enneagram?

The Enneagram is a group of nine personality types, not just a set of static types, but an interactive system of dynamic types that respond differently in times of safety and under stress (defined by Stress and Security points) and take on varying amounts of the traits of their neighboring types (called Wings). Each type has a gradient of behaviors and emotions from unhealthy to healthy (according to the Levels of Development) and is motivated by different emotions and wants (determined by its Triad).

The make-up of each type and their arrangement around the Enneagram are not arbitrary. The patterns and overall shape of the symbol itself as well as the positions of each of the types can tell us exactly what each type is made of. Looking at these shapes and patterns are a great way to use the Enneagram and examine each of the types more deeply. Just like it’s easier to remember and provides more understanding to study how the periodic table is arranged rather than just memorize the qualities of the various elements. The positions themselves on the table tell you everything you need to know about each member.

Many patterns can be found in the shape of the Enneagram, most importantly its ability to break down into three different sets of three. Philosophically this mirrors the “Law of Threes”, the Enneagram symbol itself even being made of three shapes (circle, triangle and hexad).

How is the Enneagram a tool for writers?

The Enneagram is ripe for character development. It takes into consideration a person’s backstory, wounds, fears, flaws or weaknesses, motives, how they interact with others, what they want and need and why as well as a guide for the future in how to discover the true self, which is the essence of what the character arc in any story should be. This path towards growth is even insightful for negative arcs where characters do the opposite of what they would need to save themselves. All of these things are the points we try to cover when developing our characters, so why not look to a system that already explores them for inspiration?

I can hear an answer and let me say this:

Don’t worry about writing formulaic or unauthentic characters.

Don’t worry about stifling their natural development in the story.

The Enneagram can help us structure solid character arcs, see the true internal conflicts of our characters and keep them consistent throughout the story. There are lots of starting points we can look at when it comes to applying the Enneagram to our story and characters. It won’t force our characters to be anything other than they already are, but it might help us see things in them that were clouded before. No matter what clues we use to narrow in on our character’s type, in the end the benefit should be the same. To discover what exactly is the best sort of character to explore the struggles your story is about and create a focused through-line where the external and internal conflicts intersect to form the central conflict.

Characters are not real people, and just as good dialogue is meant to capture the flavor of real speech, not copy it verbatim, so should characters just be good representations of people. Real people are messy, as are their lives and this can make it difficult to formulate a coherent story, but with the aid of the Enneagram, we can see just what parts of people should be whittled away, leaving us with efficient, functional characters to live out the stories they were born to. Stories with classic structure also give us the opportunities to see all the sides of a character’s personality, something that isn’t so obvious in real life. We can gain first hand understanding of a character through internal monologue and, unlike real people, can truly know their motives. Just like every person is unique yet can gain some deeper understanding of themselves with the Enneagram, so it can be with your characters.

Character Sketching with the Enneagram

Here I will mostly refer to a book called The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson (also authors of Personality Types). This book could be the ultimate handbook to character development and perhaps the only one you would ever need. Chapters 3 and 4 are particularly applicable to character development in general and I have created a chart below that correlates the Enneagram terms into common character and story structure terms you are probably already familiar with.

The Wisdom of the Enneagram Terms (Chapters 3 & 4) to Character Sketch and Story Structure Terms

The Wisdom of the Enneagram	Character and Story Structure
Childhood Wound or Wound	Wound, Ghost or Scar
Unconscious Childhood Message	Lie
Basic Fear	Fear
Basic Desire (and its Distortion)	Want/Motivation (Flaw)
Lost Childhood Messages	Theme/Need?
Spiritual Jump Starts	Flaw
Core Identifications	Character Sketch
Invitation to Abundance	Need

Notice that the Flaw in Enneagram terms is called the Spiritual Jump Start. This points out that a character’s flaw is not only an obstacle or a “bad thing”, but an opportunity for growth. Our characters realizing where they have failings and either overcoming or giving in determines the sort of arc they are on and story you are telling.

I was excited to find that all of these terms matched the points of the Internal Conflict Triangle I’d been working on as shown below. Here I will focus on how this structure relates to the Enneagram.

These points are fairly general, even when you look at unique the Fear, Lie, Flaw, Want, etc of an individual enneatype. You will want to zoom in from there within the context of your character’s story and determine a more specific Wound, Fear, Lie, Flaw, Want and Need. For example, what is the exact backstory that shows us the Wound your character received? How did he internalize this experience and come out with the Fear and Lie that he did? How do these manifest in the current Flaw and Want that he lives with and what Need could bring a cure to this long unhealed Wound?

The Enneagram can be especially helpful in making sure all the points of your character’s Triangle match. Otherwise it can be easy to loose sight of the through-line in your character arc and pick a Flaw and Fear or some other points that don’t really match each other. When guided by the nine types, it is easy to see where to dig into the psyche of each character and find what conflicts lie buried there.

A whole person is a blend of all types in varying proportions, but the one that is considered the base type is the one that is most dominant. There are many ways you could use the Enneagram to find your protagonist’s type. Try taking a free test and answer as your character. Or look at plot, theme or other knowns about your story and grow your protagonist from there. Think of the most defining element of your story and consider what characteristic would be most important in your protagonist to support that.

Or you could build your character from the inside out by examining the Enneagram as it is broken down into various groups. Start with the point of the character triangle most vital to your story, or whatever you have, even if only an impression, and piece by piece work your way out from there until you’ve completed the character triangle. If you are unsure about settling on one of the nine types or can’t decide which is the best fit, it might be easier to narrow it down first to one of the various groups. Even if you’ve already decided on an enneatype, try exploring the possibility of a different type through this process.

Building Character From the Inside Out

The word “personality” is derived from the Latin word for “mask”, (also where we get “persona”) and “character” comes from the Greek meaning “engraving into stone”. So personality is not who a person really is, but rather a way that have come to interact with the world. When we say someone has a great personality, we are really referring to the layer that protects their true character from their fears. The protagonist will be forced to see this mask for what it really is when it proves inadequate protection in the conflict against the antagonist.

Character sketch templates that include a line for personality can make it difficult to dig deeper and first develop the core of the character. It’s too easy to think of very shallow and external qualities such as how they behave around others without any thought to how those behaviors came about. Personality, in the way we commonly think of it, is best when it emerges naturally later on and trying to define it first can make a character flat or even inconsistent with their inner selves.

In this overview I will avoid calling the nine types by their featured quality or listing a rundown of each type. Instead, I will focus on dissecting the Enneagram and briefly examining its patterns. If you want a list or chart summarizing each type I recommend going to the Enneagram Institute or opening to the introduction of any book on the Enneagram (The Wisdom of the Enneagram includes an in-depth chapter for each type).

There is nothing wrong with defining the types in this way, but I think growing a character from scratch (or even re-examining an existing character under the lens of the Enneagram) with the building blocks that make up each type will help you understand your character more deeply and arrive at the type best suited to your story and other characters. It can be easy to become swayed by the superficial descriptions and it is for this reason that tests to help determine your own type provide a series of questions with no mention of the individual types. Even the most honest and self-aware can easily mistype themselves and mistyping doesn’t necessarily mean we are lying to ourselves, but it can happen when stereotypes come to mind or we have slightly different connotations for the words used to describe the types.

Start with an open mind and imagination. As you build, your character will become more unique and well suited to her particular story, the antagonist and other characters.

Divided by Thirds

Most commonly, the Enneagram is divided into its Triads, but it can also be divided into three Hornevian groups and three Harmonic groups. Each of these three ways breaks down the overall shape of the Enneagram into thirds and groups the types according to different qualities they have in common. Many patterns can be seen when looking at the Enneagram this way and its a great starting place to explore the very root of a character.

When it might be difficult to decide between two similar types (especially if you are looking at their behaviors more than their motivations), comparing them by their differences can make things more clear. The questionnaire in the beginning of The Wisdom of the Enneagram, the Riso-Hudson QUEST, works this way. The two questions ask you to choose one of three paragraphs from two groups that best describes you. The paragraphs in the first group each fit the types in one of the three Hornevian groups and the paragraphs in the second group each fit the types in one of the three Harmonic groups.

By selecting one paragraph from each you can arrive at a specific type similarly to running along the rows and columns of a multiplication table to the one box that holds the answer. It’s often much easier for us to pick one paragraph each from two groups of three than it is to compare nine different types all at once and try to determine which characteristics are most important and should guide our decision. We can easily cling to a type or deny other types because of a single line we interpret a certain way.

The Triads

The Triads are usually called the Body, Heart, and Head types. (Sometimes other names such as Instinctual, Feeling and Thinking are used.) The Body types are Eight, Nine and One, the Heart types are Two, Three and Four and the Head types are Five, Six and Seven.

These names should not suggest that these are areas of strength for the various types. Actually the opposite is true. The types in each Triad primarily identify with this part of themselves rather than the other parts. In Enneagram terms, this indicates a weakness or vulnerability in the true self where ego has stepped in to fill the gap. In story terms, this weakness was caused by the wound event and in order to heal it, a character will have to let go of this identity with the ego and learn that they can rely on their true self.

The more “flawed” a character is, the more obvious his enneatype may be. A very centered and self-aware person is not likely to give us many opportunities to see the sort of problems his type is prone to. The internal conflict of every story will only resolve when the protagonist realizes his own inner strength, and no longer relies on the ego to protect him in this area.

The most defining differences among the Triads are their emotional motives and what they want in order to satisfy this emotion. Body types are driven by anger and want autonomy for protection and to feel safe in their bodies. They want to be able to effect their environment without being effected by it themselves, in this way maintaining their own self-defined ego boundaries. Heart types are driven by shame and want attention to feel loved. They put their efforts in creating a self image that reflects the way they want to be seen, since they struggle with love of themselves, they need the love and appreciation of others to feel validated. And Head types are driven by fear and want security to bring them peace of mind.

(Note that autonomy and security are not the same thing. Someone can easily give up their autonomy to be protected by someone else and feel secure. Also security and attention are not the same thing. Just because you have many admiring friends does not mean they will be able or willing to help you in time of need.)

Everyone has all the same emotions, but depending on our type, some of these are easier to ignore or simply experience rather than act upon than others. Each Triad is partly defined by the emotion that is hardest to ignore and is the most motivating for those types. They are also the emotions that the types of each Triad repress and identify with the least (with the exception of the Reactive Harmonic group). These emotions are what they struggle to manage, suppress and what makes them feel exposed and vulnerable when the emotion shows. The emotions of each Triad are not the only ones experienced by those types nor do the types experience these emotions any more strongly than the other types, but the types of each Triad are most motivated to action by the particular emotion of each Triad. Just because a type is in the Body Triad, doesn’t mean they never experience fear or shame. They do feel these emotions just like everyone else, but anger is the emotion that will motivate Body types to action the most.

Here is a more detailed overview of how each type in each Triad tries to achieve their wants and avoid their fears. This will be reflected again later on in the Hornevian Groups.

Body

Eights direct their control outwards, physically controlling their space and possessions, even loved ones which they often view as extensions of themselves. Ones enforce control inward, shunning thoughts and feelings they don’t identify with and encouraging those that they do see as part of themselves. And Nines fight on both fronts, attempting to keep their physical world in order and also maintaining the peaceful mindset they wish to have.

Heart

Twos do things for others in order to be seen and loved. Fours create an imaginary self of how they wish to be and attempt to present it to others in a mysterious or alluring way. And Threes bring balance, both striving for accomplishments that people will notice and admire, but also grooming an imagined self image they wish to attain.

Head

Fives fear the world and are insecure about their abilities to cope in it, so they retreat into the mind to wait for a time when they believe it will be safe for them to come out again. Sevens fear their own insecurities and negative feelings, so they launch into activities that will fill their lives with pleasant and fun experiences, thus evading their inner fears. And Sixes are afraid in both areas, so are constantly alternating between running from inner fears and then back again, retreating from outer fears (this is the Six’s phobic/counter-phobic cycle).

The Triads each have their own perspective on time as well. Body types focus on the present, Heart types on the past and Head types on the future. This makes sense when you think about the main driving emotion for each Triad. We tend to get angry about the present (Body), shameful about the past (Heart) and fearful about the future (Head).

Being a Head type myself, I was constantly working out rational motivations for my characters and overlooking emotional ones, particularly emotions that tend not to motivate me. It seems perfectly reasonable to me that everyone could be motivated by fear and want security. Here, the Enneagram can be a great help to us in understanding emotional motives we don’t necessarily relate to.

Consider your protagonist. When something happens to him, what is his immediate reaction? Does he first think, feel or act? Which emotion will trigger the most violent response? Fear, anger or shame? Think about which area, when in conflict, causes the greatest turmoil inside your character. Where does she feel weakest yet conceal and compensate for the most? What makes him feel most vulnerable even if revealed only to himself?

The Hornevian Groups

The three Hornevian groups (named after psychiatrist Karen Horney) show us which method each of the types take to satisfy their main driving emotion and want of their triad and how they see themselves relative to others.

Each group is connected by an isosceles triangle composed of two neighboring types and the type directly across the circle. Types Eight, Seven and Three are Assertive, types One, Two and Six are Compliant and types Five, Four and Nine are Withdrawn. Each of these types already have these tendencies, but when put under stress they will cope with their main driving emotion and attempt to gain what they want by becoming even more assertive, compliant or withdrawn.

Ironically, this usually just makes their problems worse, possibly even making their worst fears realized. For example, a Four feeling shame and withdrawing in the hopes of attracting the desired attention will likely be seen as abandoning those she would hope to attract, and become shunned as a result. An Eight struggling with anger and becoming more assertive in order to control his situation will likely end up creating more enemies who will rise up and attempt to neutralize him. Unless your character realizes and can cope with the fact that they have been the cause of their own worse fears and are willing to change in order to overcome their struggles, there will be no happy ending.

Types that seem similar on the outside because of their coping style, can actually have very different emotions and motivations driving their actions. The neighboring types within each group react for similar reasons, but the member of the group across the isosceles triangle is the odd man out, acting in a similar way but for different reasons, often opposite reasons. For example, types Eight and Seven assert themselves from a position of self-confidence whereas Threes assert themselves to compensate for their uncertainties and reliance on other’s views of them, something that Eights and Sevens care little to nothing about. Fours and Fives are consciously drawn to their imaginary worlds whereas Nines end up drifting or driven there. Ones and Twos are compliant in order to prove their value to others whereas Sixes are also driven to comply by feelings of insecurity.

Assertive

These types increase and strengthen ego boundaries to maintain their sphere of influence and protect what they want. They can have trouble processing emotions, so they take action instead. The odd man out here is Three, acting confident as the Eight and Seven but with a lack of self assurance and needing to feel they are seen as confident by others.

Compliant

This group can sometimes struggle to recognize exactly what they want deep down, often thinking of what those around them or the society as a whole values first. They are not necessary compliant to the wishes of people around them, but to their accepted expectations of them, and they seek ways to be responsible and help others. This position subtlety, even unconsciously, gives them a feeling of being better than others. The odd man out is Six, also struggling with feelings of inferiority and more consciously motivated by their efforts being reciprocated.

Withdrawn

These escape into the mind and an imagined world. Fours and Fives distinctly feel different than others so are more readily drawn into the mind. The odd man out is Nine, who would gladly participate in activities with others, but can end up drifting into thought or driven to withdraw by conflict around him.

When placed under stress, does your protagonist tend to fight back, go along with things or hide? It might be easy to say any protagonist must fight back in order to make the story worthwhile, but many protagonists would rather keep the peace or run away if they could. Only when they have no choice do they fight, and this internal conflict can make an even more engaging story than one with a protagonist that is always ready and willing to fight.

The Harmonic Groups

Whereas the Hornevian groups tell us how each type goes after what they want, the Harmonic groups indicate how each person copes when they do not get what they want. Every story will have as many setbacks as successes, if not more, so this part of your character will play a big part in how he reacts to the antagonist force.

The Harmonic groups are arranged by skipping every other type around the circle of the Enneagram. Each is centered by one of the three triangle types (Three, Six and Nine), and flanked by the two types that are often similar in their reactions to disappointment. They are the Positive Outlook group (Seven, Nine and Two), Competency group (One, Three and Five) and Reactive group (Four, Six and Eight).

Positive Outlook

This group will try and see the good side of things even in the face of disaster and they believe that feelings (their own and/or other’s) are important. Twos do this because they truly believe in the value of seeing the positives and want to help and encourage others. Sevens are more motivated by their own comfort when handling emotions and will shun negative thinking in an effort to avoid experiencing unpleasant feelings. Nines being the center of the group represent balance in that while they are motivated by concerns of personal comfort, they also genuinely want the people around them to get along and be happy. This determination towards positive thinking, mostly in Nines and Sevens, can lead to living in denial, no longer providing a helpful optimism.

Competency

These types react to difficulties by becoming more logical and objective, putting aside their personal feelings. Ones try to view the world the way others have defined it in a desire to be seen as upstanding and they think others should as well, while Fives readily reject the ideas of others if they disagree. Threes take a balanced approach, appreciating the system others have set up and working within it for the sake of their image, but they aren’t afraid to break the rules if it can lead to a strategic gain.

Reactive

These are much less able to deny or detach from their emotions, which instead come out in some form of action. When Eights feel strong emotion and can no longer conceal it, they will react by attacking (not necessarily physically) those they feel provoked the emotion to compensate for the feeling of weakness. Fours will either withdraw to nurture their fantasies or try to express themselves and hope to elicit sympathy, either way their efforts are an attempt to provoke some sort of action. Sixes maintain a balance, letting off steam without necessary directing it as an attack. If in a phobic cycle, their complaints may be an attempt to gain sympathy or if in a counter-phobic cycle, their outlet of emotion maybe an attack.

Look to the Harmonic groups for the defining characteristic of your protagonist, since this will determine how he responds to defeat and shows what he’s made of and what’s important to him at key moments throughout the story. The methods of pursuing goals (as show by the Hornevian groups) and the coping styles when goals are not met (as show by Harmonic groups) may indicate a pattern your protagonist will need to break in order to achieve inner growth and the main goal of the story.

Putting it All Together

Considering each of these three sets, the Triads (what they want and why), Hornevian (how they go after it) and Harmonic groups (how they respond when they fail), think of your character’s backstory and wound. What is the driving emotion motivating her to act out the way she does? What method of obtaining her wants does she employ? What emotion is going to be the most difficult for him to struggle with throughout the external conflict? How willing is he to face a fight and how will avoiding or attacking the conflict make it worse?

The wants, motivations, methods and reactions of these groups are the generic, basic aspects that are common to lots of people, but thinking about your characters within the limits of these groups will help you keep their actions and motives consistent, and allow them to make specific choices in the story that are true to who they are. These specific choices will be the pursuit of goals that, in the context of the character’s world, provide either Autonomy, Security or Attention and one of these must be dominant in the story.

For example, we know a Heart type will always care what other people think of them. They won’t suddenly throw this motivation out the window to go after a goal that may alienate their friends. If your story requires this, your protagonist can still be a Heart type, but this will be a constant conflict for them and a strong counter-motivation will need to be present. This can actually be a very effective way to emotionally rip your character in two directions, greatly fueling internal conflict. Just because each type is primarily and innately motivated by one emotion does not mean they cannot be motivated by other emotions.

Motives are perhaps the single most defining characteristic, in fictional characters especially, for determining enneatypes. We are lucky with characters in that we are usually pretty well informed as to their motives, something that makes attempting to type real people a problem. You can never really know what someone else is thinking or why they do what they do, they may not even be certain themselves without some introspection, but we can always be pretty sure about what’s going on inside our characters.

Follow the “Multiplication Table”

Looking at the types this way, we can let go of the commonly used labels for each type and avoid stereotypes. We understand the mechanics, what the character is made of, not just what they look like on the surface. The stereotypical images might be helpful at first to remember the various types, and they definitely provoke a more immediate picture, but they don’t necessarily show us why these types behave the way they do and how all the types blend into a gradient along the circle. Now, we see an Eight as more than “the Challenger”, but as an Assertive, Reactive person concerned with the Present, trying to achieve Autonomy and dealing externally with Anger.

Look over the chart below, keeping in mind your answers to the questions throughout the sections above. What sort of person does your protagonist need to be?

Type | Triad Emotion — Hornevian Style — Triad Want — Harmonic Response

One	Dealing internally with Anger, Complies to earn Autonomy and responds Logically.
Two	Dealing externally with Shame, Complies to earn Attention and remains Positive.
Three	Dealing inside and out with Shame, Asserts to demand Attention and responds Logically.
Four	Dealing internally with Shame, Withdraws to gain Attention and Reacts strongly.
Five	Dealing externally with Fear, Withdraws to gain Security and responds Logically.
Six	Dealing inside and out with Fear, Complies to earn Security and Reacts strongly.
Seven	Dealing internally with Fear, Asserts to demand Security and remains Positive.
Eight	Dealing externally with Anger, Asserts to demand Autonomy and Reacts strongly.
Nine	Dealing inside and out with Anger, Withdraws to gain Autonomy and remains Positive.

If you are torn between two types, think about how they are different rather than how they’re alike. Use the various groups to compare them. Neighbors in different Triads should stand apart from each other particularly well this way as they will have different wants and motives. If they are in the same Triad, use the Hornevian groups to think about the differences in how they tend to go about getting what they want or the Harmonic groups to compare how they react if they fail. Each Hornevian group has a pair of neighboring types, but members of the Harmonic groups are never neighbors so this can group can be a great tie-breaker between two neighbors. (Your character can still incorporate attributes of the neighboring type as a Wing. More below.)

There are also certain defining, almost signature, characteristics unique to each type. Don’t ignore first impressions. If you notice one of these in your character, consider that type.

• Ones have an Inner Critic. They are especially hard on themselves and can’t stand to make a mistake, even a small one that anyone else could shrug off.
• Twos are Empathetic with others. They want to be busy and always look to the needs of others to see what they can do.
• Threes believe they are their Achievements. They are natural charmers and great with people, able to get on with anyone to achieve their goals.
• Fours nurture a Fantasy Self. They live through imagined futures, enjoying every nuance of their emotion, which they experience at the slightest provocation.
• Fives have a Personal Battery. They are highly conscious of the limits of their energy, and avoid socialization not because they don’t enjoy friendships, but simply because it leaves them drained and they need solitude to recharge.
• Sixes have an Inner Committee. They are filled with self-doubt, and their minds are constantly running a commentary of what friends and family might say or advise.
• Sevens live for Freedom. They love to have fun and are always seeking excitement and chasing their dreams.
• Eights have a Big Presence. They always want to be in control of the situation and they usually are.
• Nines are often Chameleons, able to change themselves to suit those around them and find an unassuming role to fill.

Typing a character solely off of these defining characteristics can be misleading, as a matter of fact they can be the very things we use to mistype ourselves or others. However, they are a great starting place to try out an enneatype and see how it fits.

So, You’ve Found Your Character’s Type…

Once you have decided on the type best suited to your character, there are several ways you can “check your work” to see if that type holds true.

Stress and Security Points

Look at the Stress and Security points of your character’s type. Does this type react under stress as your character does in the story? This means, when under stress in the internal conflict, facing intensified fears and more distanced from wants, does your character take on some of the behaviors of the stress type (particularly those defined by the Hornevian groups) when he has exhausted his base type’s tactics? This can be a brief moment, but is usually a time of desperation or collapse for your character and will often make his problems worse.

At stressful points in you character’s story, when he has pushed the limits of his type’s strategies as far as they will go and still not achieved his goal, he will either slip down a notch on the Level of Development (usually only an acute trauma will cause this, more below) or adapt to take on some of the behaviors of his Stress type. This is an unconscious reaction rather than a calculated change of strategy and usually happens after long time of chronic stress.

The character does not “turn into” another type. A person’s base type never changes, so their fears, motives and wants remain the same. A Two, for instance, reacting to stress and shifting to Eight behaviors does not suddenly want autonomy instead of attention, but is changing tactics and becoming more aggressive and assertive in their attentions to others in an attempt to force others to appreciate them. Usually, these stress tactics fail, but sometimes under mild stress they will work often enough to establish the habit.

The change in your character will be more obvious to others around him than to himself. It might make others ask him something like, “What’s gotten into you?”.

Consider your character’s reactions concerning the Security point as well. Types not only move to the Security point during times of safety or personal growth but may move there under times of stress when around trusted people. This brings great diversity to your character’s reactions and makes his relationships feel more real. Moving to the Security point under stress will not bring in the best qualities of that type, but usually those found in the average or unhealthy range. This can also be great to use in the midpoint, when your protagonist is feeling low, but is trying to open up to other possibilities and ways of being.

Not all character’s types will be obvious if their full range of emotions and behaviors are not expressed. Try using the Enneagram to push your characters and see how you can use the story to get them to show the full gamut of their type. Explore having them spike to their Stress point over little things as well as heavy stress. Even when characters are under chronic stress and living in their Stress point, they can still have good days and moments of healthy behavior. Give them flashes of awareness through their Security point at such times as the midpoint. Even when a character has achieved their inner goals, they are not invincible to stress and negative thinking. They can still have bad days and maintaining the self they have worked for will still be an everyday effort. Consider this when planning sequels.

Finally, think about the climax and resolution of your story. What strengths will your protagonist need to evoke in order to be victorious in the final battle? If these are the best of the qualities from your chosen type’s Security point, this may be just the type your character needs to be to fit the story.

Levels of Development

For each type, there is a unique range of nine states your character can exhibit depending on how they are handling the hurdles of their type. This is indispensable for developing your character’s arc and understanding how he views himself relative to his world at various points along his journey. What is the lowest point (probably somewhere between the midpoint and the climax) he will reach in the story? Do the lower levels of your character’s type mirror this scene? What about the midpoint when he recognizes, if even for a moment, that this ladder to a better self exists? Only after this can he accept his inner journey and start climbing the rungs and by the end should reach the point of liberation, the top rung, level one.

As the Lie is gradually taken apart, its opposite, the Theme will come to light. But, depending on the type of character arc in your story, your protagonist may never accept this journey, never start climbing and will tragically fall to the bottom of the ladder and fail to resolve his inner conflict. He will continue to believe his Lie and never learn the lesson of the Theme that would have saved him from himself.

If you can’t help but think that some types are better than others, it’s probably because you’re impression of certain types are those types at their worst and other types at their best. All types can be good or bad, though it is true that some types tend to make their problems other people’s problems and some suffer alone, but all types can be the villain or the hero.

You might find that the types you thought were the best have the potential to go down the darkest paths and the types you thought had the most problems can become some of the most admirable people at their best. Most people spend most of their time in the average range, and this is probably where you want your protagonist to start at the open of the story. Also, think about how dark your characters could plausibly go within the context of your story. Not all character arcs need be so dire.

The Importance of the Wing

Consider the two wings of your chosen type. Does your character display some amount of these characteristics as well? Will the qualities of one wing in particular be useful to this character in his quest? Sometimes it can be helpful to choose a type based more on what two wings your character has and how they mix to create the base type. For example, even if your character doesn’t seem distinctively Fourish, but can preform for a crowd if need be and also seeks solitude to contemplate problems, you can accept that this character is a Four because of the expression of the Three and Five wings.

After you have confirmed the best type for your character, carefully consider the wing as well. Characters can be “pure” types but more likely they will have little variations that make them slightly different from others of their type. The wing is the most important in providing this augmentation and depending on which wing you choose, you might end up writing an entirely different story. For example, Gone With the Wind would have followed and entirely different course from beginning to end had Scarlett O’Hara been a Seven with a Six wing instead of a Seven with an Eight.

Choosing a wing outside of the base type’s Triad, can bring in variation to the type. At the same time, you might reinforce the flaws and strengths of the type by choosing the wing within the same Triad. The Triangle types (Three, Six and Nine) are unique in this way. Being centered in their Triads, both their wings must be of the same Triad. Because of this they tend to have the problems of their Triad reinforced in them, no matter which wing they have.

Whether this is true for real people or not, I’m not sure, but I’ve noticed among characters that one wing tends to be expressed externally, and the other wing internally. The external wing is considered the dominant wing, and is used as an additional shell of persona to protect the character from their fears. It may become stronger when the character is on their guard and then relax, exposing the base type when the character feels safe. The internal wing, however, works its way into the character’s thoughts to create an internal monologue. This may be things the character would tell himself when nobody is around and would only be shared with the most trusted of friends, and then only during a time of crisis.

For example, Scarlett O’Hara and George Bailey are both Sevens, Scarlett has an Eight wing and George has a Six wing, both expressed externally. Scarlett becomes more controlling and manipulative to protect herself and get what she wants, and George becomes more loyal and hardworking to secure his needs. Internally however, both of them have the recessive wing effecting their ways of thinking. Scarlett worries, imagines worst case scenarios and strategized like a Six. Only the denial tendencies of her Seven base type break this cycle of worrying. George, on the other hand, is plagued by the feeling that he has no control over his life, that he is trapped and had to let his life dreams die. Only reaching his Five security point allowed him to appreciate what he had in his life and let go of regret.

Here’s another theory about how wings may effect the character’s base type. It once occurred to me that the wing may have some effect on the Stress and Security points, perhaps causing them to shift slightly accordingly as well. After I quick search online, I found that others have noticed this as well. Picture the circle of the Enneagram not simply as a connect the dots of separate points, but as a gradient of all the types smoothing together. A personality can exist anywhere on the gradient and the arrows that indicate the Stress and Security points move with it as a fixed shape. For example a Six with Seven wing would no longer have Stress and Security points Three and Nine as a “pure” Six, but rather a Stress point Three with a Four wing and a Security point Nine with a One wing.

The Instinctual Variants

Separate yet integrated into enneatypes are the instinctual variants: self-preservation, social and sexual. Every character will be one of these in addition to their enneatype and even if you choose not to follow the Enneagram, it can be helpful to think of characters in these terms.

Instinctual variants stand independently from the types, but combined with them cause each to act in three slightly different ways creating the appearance of three subtypes. Because of these three instinctual variants as well as the nine enneatypes there are sometimes said to be twenty seven distinct personality types (Even more than that if you look at other personality sets aside from the Enneagram. The most I’ve seen is in the hundreds). However, I believe thinking in terms of twenty seven distinct types can make exploring the Enneagram more confusing (for the same reason that I prefer to break down the nine types into groups of threes instead).

My favorite and perhaps the easiest way to think about the Instinctual Variants is by imagining your character just walking into a crowded room, where some gathering is taking place, for instance. What will your character notice first?

Your character walks into a room and the first thing he notices is…

Self-Preservation

The temperature of the air is pleasant and it looks like there are lots of comfortable places to sit. Refreshments are on a table nearby and there are restrooms in the back as well as another exit apart from the door he just came in.

Social

The host is greeting guests and lots of people in the room are talking. Some people have noticed him and others have not. He quickly feels out the politics of the room and determines who to befriend to become accepted by the group.

Sexual

One person draws his attention. This person seems interesting and exciting and he wants to get closer to this person for no other reason than the emotion of the moment.

This upon-entering-a-room scenario is not the only way to define the Instinctual Variants. Self-Preservation types will also fret over matters of money and irregular mealtimes, anything concerning their comforts and survival as well as those of their family. Social types will want to see their efforts reflected in how others value them and will check in with others regularly to feel this sense of security. Sexual types are not particularly interested in intimacy any more than other types, but rather are the thrill-seekers of the three and need excitement and intensity to feel alive.

You can probably see already how these variants can temper or reinforce existing qualities in the various types. For example a Social Three will be even more interested in self image than a Self-Preservation Three. A Self-Preservation Five will be even more concerned with his ability to survive in the world and a Sexual Seven will be even more drawn to excitement and new experiences. You can use this to reinforce qualities that you feel should be strengthened or become signature in your character or use it to dampen down certain qualities that seem too strong or would contradict the story.

The Enneagram and the Writer

In exploring the Enneagram, we can hardly help but wonder about our own type. If you are curious, there are many test you can take to determine your type, or you may know already after having read about the types. Either way, it might be interesting to consider your own type when applying the Enneagram to your characters. It can make it much easier for you to think like your characters if you share their mindset, emotional motivations and methods of reacting to the world around them.

Should your protagonist share the same type as you? What about your antagonist? It might not be a bad thing to know your antagonist even better than your protagonist and it is always a good thing for your protagonist and antagonist to have something in common. Even if they are not the same type, they should at least both be members of the same group or the Stress and Security types of each other. Having your protagonist and antagonist share the same type can be a great way to give them those similarities that will fuel conflict between them and show them both to be two sides of the same coin. If this is your type as well, don’t be afraid to dig deep inside to explore the inner turmoil and need of your protagonist and the flaws and dark motivations of your antagonist.

It’s been my observation that the most popular and long remembered characters are those that have distinct enneatypes. Maybe this is because not only are they more complete and dynamic that way, but we can all identify with them because we share these common types.

My goal is for you to never have to pick up a template to write a complete and compelling character. I want you to be able to, at any time, conjure up an image of the Enneagram in your mind and find truths in it that you can use to apply to your characters. I want you to be able to type any character, know why you came to the conclusion you did, and discover things about that character that you wouldn’t have otherwise seen.

I hope this article will help you type your characters and maybe you will be glad to never see them in quite the same way again!