Jill here!
It’s so exciting to be back for another year of blogging. At the top of my To Do list is a short novel for Sunrise Publishing that will kick off the Blood of Kings Legends series. Each time I write a new book, I experiment with the process and try to incorporate new things I’ve learned. This time around, I’ve decided to use the same method of brainstorming that our team used last February when we went to Florida to create the series. And I thought you might like to see how it works. This method was created by Susan May Warren from her book The Story Equation.
I’ve used character brainstorming charts for years. And I continually modify them. While Susan created a worksheet on which you can brainstorm a great deal of character information, you can also simply list the answers on a sheet of paper. The questions are the same ones I’ve had on my own homemade character charts, but if you read The Story Equation (SEQ), you can learn how well they all work together.
When I created my characters for this story, I started with something that isn’t part of The SEQ at all. I wanted to know each POV character’s Enneagram type.
If you’ve been a Go Teen Writers reader for years, you might remember that I used to find each of my characters Myers Briggs type. Like I said above, I’m constantly changing things up when I write a new book. And over the past few years, I’ve read a lot on the Enneagram. You can learn about the nine different Enneagram types here. The reason I like to start by giving each POV character an Enneagram type is because it instantly gives me a wealth of information about that character. I can look up how that particular type behaves during conflict and what types of attributes are common.
Now, since this project is a contracted project and based on characters from my Blood of Kings trilogy, I cannot yet reveal the names of the characters I’m writing about. We are keeping that secret until early 2024. So I’m simply going to call my characters Guy and Girl. You would have to be an incredible fan of the trilogy to figure out who these characters are based on what I’m going to talk about today. If you come up with a theory, feel free to email me. Haha.
Guy
Okay, so, let’s start with Guy. Guy is an Enneagram 4, and 4s tend to be sensitive, dramatic, artistic, and sometimes withdrawn. Many artists are Enneagram 4s. This particular character didn’t have the best childhood, but he discovered music long ago, and music has always been a way for him to express himself in a safe way.
Now, part of Susan’s Character SEQ is to think about your character’s backstory, particularly their Dark Moment Story. A DMS is a time in childhood where something happened that left a deep impression because of the way the situation was interpreted. Your child character often misinterprets a DMS event because they were too young to be able to understand what was really happening. So, while sometimes the DMS wasn’t actually true the way the character remembers it, sometimes it was. That’s up to you.
In Florida, Susan actually had our team brainstorm three DMS stories. There is the childhood one, which is the true Dark Moment Story that shaped a lie that the character now lives by. Then there was a second event, usually in adolescence, that reinforced the lie from that childhood DMS. And then a third, recent event that happened shortly before the story starts. Each of these stories should come out in the course of the book, though at strategic times. And if you’re writing a romance, the character should eventually tell their childhood DMS to the love interest, and vice versa. This is important!
So, for Guy, here are my three DMS stories:
- Guy’s mother died when he was very little, and he lives with his uncle. He does not remember his father. His uncle moved in with a woman who had two boys older than Guy. Guy’s uncle worked in the army, and he was gone a lot. Whenever his uncle was away, the older boys bullied Guy. One day, his uncle told him he was leaving for a longer time period, and Guy begged to go with him. Guy said he could help, and his uncle told him he not strong enough to be a soldier. What help could he be? He couldn’t even take care of the horse. His uncle left, and he never came back. Guy is a small person, and he grew up believing that only the strong are chosen. The weak are abandoned.
- When Guy was about ten years old, he found a puppy that had been abandoned. It had been the runt of the litter and wasn’t expected to survive. Guy nursed the puppy back to health, and it became his best friend for the next two years. He still lived with the woman and her sons, who were now ruthless at ages fourteen and sixteen. One day when the boys were beating on Guy, his dog tried to defend him, so the boys turned their aggression on the dog. The dog was killed. This tragedy reinforced Guy’s deep belief that only the strong survive, and that he was not strong enough to save his loved ones.
- Fast-forward to a recent event that pressed against his old lie. In the Battle of Armonguard, Guy had no experience as a soldier, so he was made to carry an Armonguard flag. This was meant to be an honor, but when he looked at all the other men dressed in armor and carrying swords, Guy could not help but feel less than the rest. To him, his position as flag bearer was proof that he was not strong enough to fight.
So, there you have my three Dark Moment events for my character Guy. Before I move on to Girl, I want to list the other terms that The Story Equation suggests you figure out.
Adjective and Noun (He sees himself as a): Abandoned runt
External Short-Term (Start of Story) Goal: Meet other musicians
External Long-term (Story Plot) Goal: Stop an assassination
Greatest Dream: To be chosen for the knighthood
Lie He Believes: He is not enough.
Greatest Fear: Not being strong enough to save someone he loves.
Flaw: He hesitates (to act, to speak up)
Competence: He blends in. Can be stealthy. He’s also excellent with animals.
Wound: Abandonment
Competing Values: Significance vs. authenticity (I also like protecting himself vs. protecting others)
Moral Center: For the sake of BEING WORTHY he will do anything.
Mantra: “Only the strong survive.”
Okay, so that’s Guy. I now know quite a bit about him because of the time I’ve spent answering these questions. And I also know the names of his uncle, his dog, and the woman and her sons. I know where they lived and what happened to him as he grew older. I know enough about him to write his POV well.
Girl
Now let’s look at Girl. This story is NOT a romance, but it’s meant to set up a future romance story for these characters. So, I want this short novel to show that they like each other, but they are both certain a relationship would never work out.
Girl is an Enneagram 7. Typically, 4s and 7s are not great matches. But that doesn’t mean they never can be a good match. And I know Guy is a 4 and Girl is a 7, so that’s what I have to work with. Thankfully, you can google “Enneagram 4 and 7 in relationship” and you’ll find all kids of fun advice for such a pairing. You can look up similar information for any Enneagram combination. It’s super helpful.
Enneagram 7s are all about the fun. They are spontaneous, easily distracted, and get bored easily. They like to be the center of attention. They like life to be exciting.
You can probably already see how a 7 might find a 4 boring, right? I have my work cut out for me with these two. 😉
Here are Girl’s three DMS stories:
- When she was little, her mother got very sick. Her father was so worried, he not only refused to let Girl near her mother for fear she would get sick too, he wouldn’t let Girl leave the house. Her mother died, and Girl held it against her father that she didn’t get to say goodbye to her mother. She came to believe that she cannot trust people because they will want to control her and ruin her life.
- Her father grew even more overprotective, and when she was a young girl, she was invited to be a lady’s maid for some visiting noblewoman. Her father forbid it. She tried to sneak out, but he caught her and locked her in her room. This reinforced her belief that people who control her will ruin her life.
- Recently, Girl fell in love with a minstrel and followed him to Armonguard. She thought they were running away together, but along the way, she realized he had a girlfriend. She was livid and swore not to waste another breath on that fool. From her old wound, she interpreted this situation to mean that hard relationships are wrong. Only when relationships are easy are they meant to be.
Okay, now let’s figure out the rest of her SEQ:
Adjective and Noun (She sees herself as a): Liberated stray (now that being a stray is “popular”)
External Short-Term (Start of Story) Goal: Sing at the prince’s wedding
External Long-term (Story Plot) Goal: Stop an assassination
Greatest Dream: To be a famous singer and songwriter and to be rich and happy.
Lie He Believes: Hard relationships are wrong.
Greatest Fear: Being controlled by someone who seeks to deprive her of her freedom.
Flaw: Impulsive, flaky, can appear self-centered
Competence: Optimistic, fast learner, highly adaptable to new situations
Wound: Isolation (restricted opportunities)
Competing Values: Freedom vs Happiness
Moral Center: For the sake of SATISFACTION she will do anything.
Mantra: “Seize the moment.”
So that’s how it works! Now that I have my two POV characters all worked out, I’m ready to do the next step in the Story Equation: work out my plot. I will do that with you all next month.
In the meantime, see if you can give this method of character creation a try. Take one of the characters from your work in progress and run them through this list. Did you learn something new about them? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms, and the author of several young adult fantasy novels including the Blood of Kings trilogy. She loves teaching about writing. She blogs at goteenwriters.com and also posts writing videos on her YouTube channel and on Instagram. Jill is a Whovian, a Photoshop addict, and a recovering fashion design assistant. She grew up in Alaska without running water or electricity and now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two kids. Find Jill online at jillwilliamson.com or on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
How do you go about deciding their enneagram? I might have to try it upfront.
I have learned a lot about the SEQ and understand it in theory. I struggle a lot with putting it together while brainstorming. The DMS does not come easy for me, let alone as the first thing. It’s like I ask characters and they say. “I hardly know you!”
I’ve started to wonder if SEQ evolves for me and/or is more of a second and third draft thing? Initial brainstorming and character backstory is difficult for me. I don’t really know why.
Here is something I do when I struggle to come up with the back story of my characters:
I pretend to *be* the character themself.
If you picture that you are the character and then go through what their everyday life would be like in their household and world, then it is easier to pick out the ways that their DMS would harm them, and pick out what their DMS would be. It also helps me to remember that the character isn’t who they were when they were young. All characters grow up from that point, even though that moment still defected them. Their personality would develop and they would grow from that first DMS, even though it still affects them.
This is the tool that helps me with backstories, but it doesn’t work for everyone. I hope this helps with the backstory brainstorming!
Great advice, Amiko! That often helps me too. 🙂
I will try it, thank you!
I have spent a lot of time studying the Enneagram, so I have lots of notes on each type. When I am thinking about writing a new story, I often have a general idea of what kind of characters I need. Sometimes I don’t. But I’ll usually read over the Enneagram type descriptions, while asking myself, “Is this him?” I might narrow it down to one or two types. Sometimes, I know right away. And if I can get one of the POV characters early on, then I will sometimes read the relationship pairings to see which ones sound like the best fit. Or sound like they would make the most interesting conflict.
The first time I tried to use The Story Equation, I failed. It wasn’t until I spent a week watching Susie May Warren guide my authors in developing their characters that it began to click. It’s still not always easy for me, but it is getting easier. I think, with the dark moment story, the key is not to always look for the most tragic thing. Often times it’s something simpler. And sometimes I have a general idea of the lie that my character needs to believe, so then I go about brainstorming different dark moment ideas that might lead to such a lie.
But it very well could be that the SEQ does evolve for you. And I think that with any new system, it gets easier over time with lots of practice. And since Susie invented this system and has written over 100 novels and helped brainstorm dozens more, she is the best at it. Also, every writer has things that come easily and things that are a challenge. It could be that initial character brainstorming is a challenge for you, which can be super frustrating. Have you tried Amiko’s method of “being” the character yourself? I do something similar. Put on my acting hat and pretend to think about my life and goals and such. I have often found that helpful in getting to know new characters.
Thanks! I’ll keep working towards learning it. I’m glad I’m not the only one who initially struggled with the SEQ.
This was really helpful. Thank you! I’m always looking for new ways to make my characters what I need them to be, and this showed me something I had never heard before.
The three stories thing are useful, and the Enneagrams are defiantly going to help with character development. Thank you!
You are very welcome! I’m so glad you found it helpful, Amiko. 🙂
This post is really cool. I had no idea about the character types! I will definitely be looking into this. Also, I have read Blood of Kings… and I have no idea who these people are! Can’t wait to read this new book!
Yes, the Enneagram types are fun. I will try and create a post about them and maybe a series of social media posts for each one too.
Yay! Glad I didn’t give anything away. 😉