文章|16人格

在本系列文章的第五部分中，我们探讨了了解读者的性格类型可以帮助小说作者与观众建立联系的想法。我们还讨论了通常与性格类型不同的特定主题，例如文化和宗教，以及在涉足这些领域时如何考虑不同的性格仍然有用。

在本文中，我们将探讨如何应用人格理论而不考虑主题——吸引读者人格类型的更广泛的策略。

邀请更多读者参加聚会

小说作品是作者的宝贵心血，通常是想象力、创造力和个人表达的乐园，如果故事背后有真挚的讯息，那就更是如此了。为读者的性格类型写作的想法似乎限制了这种创造力——但事实并非如此。

故事的构思或信息可以独立存在，在自由、不受限制的心理空间中酝酿。个性理论可以让更多读者进入这个空间，欣赏作者的创作——在不削弱创造力的情况下增强沟通。

从实际角度来说，作者可以通过添加特定元素或以特定方式构建场景来考虑读者的性格类型，而不是在创造世界时限制自己。

示例：杰克是一位精通人格类型理论的作家，他意识到他的中世纪奇幻故事中的恶毒战斗场景可能对那些倾向于重视同情心和善良的人没有吸引力。然而，杰克并没有减少暴力来带来他想要的兴奋，而是决定探索暴力的其他方面和后果。

展示主题的更深层次，例如暴力画面，可以使其人性化，使其因不同原因而对许多类型的人产生兴趣。小说不必完全符合每个读者自己的道德观。请记住，这个想法是邀请并促进精神和情感的参与，而不一定是批准。

继续我们的例子，除了详细的屠杀之外，杰克还描述了战士们的感受，他们的肾上腺兴奋与痛苦混合在一起，以及他们的勇敢因对同胞的恐惧而受到锻炼。战斗结束后，他们深刻地意识到自己的损失。对于一些人来说，这变成了遗憾的内省，而对于另一些人来说，这变成了对敌人纯粹而简单的仇恨。

战斗场景的目的——展示战士的凶猛并提供替代性的刺激——仍然如杰克所愿。但杰克也承认这些因素的严重影响，证实了不喜欢暴力的读者的观点。

当作者描绘出更全面的人性时，人物就会变得更有吸引力。一些读者可能会钦佩杰克的战士们的大胆行为，而另一些读者可能会欣赏看到比“干得好，小伙子们！”更深刻的东西。可惜所有的人都死了，但现在我们要去夺取那把魔法符文钥匙了！”态度。

这是一个例子，说明考虑到不同性格类型的写作不一定需要审查制度，而是需要巧妙的细微差别（无论如何，这可能是一个目标）。一个具有人格理论意识的作者，可以通过更深入的探索，吸引更多的人进入他的视野。

想要帮助不同的客人在聚会上感到受欢迎的主人不需要放弃制作他们著名的迷您肉丸食谱，但他们可能还想准备一个丰盛的蔬菜托盘。作者可以通过思考加法而不是减法来欢迎更多的读者加入他们的聚会。

为读者提供一些可以联系的人

深入探索故事元素可以创造更广泛的吸引力，但角色也具有强大的吸引力。无论读者觉得他们与自己有共鸣还是有有趣的不同，特定类型的角色可能会引起共鸣。

让我们看一下作者可以使用人格理论来增加读者与故事中的角色产生联系的可能性的一些方法。

展开字符补集

接触不同读者性格类型的一种方法是包含对生活、与他人交往的方式和个人价值观有不同看法的多个角色。当人物表现出不同性格类型的特征时，读者可以选择自己最喜欢的，并享受他们之间的对比深度。

例如：在关于一群青少年在山地徒步旅行中迷路的成长故事中，莎拉不仅为角色分配了角色：恶霸、善良的和平缔造者、讨厌自然的书呆子、受伤的人一、《白痴的愚蠢让每个人都陷入危险》等等。

相反，莎拉还小心翼翼地赋予每个角色清晰的个性类型，以及独特的声音、风格和特质驱动的行为。为了增强其深度和复杂性，莎拉还兼顾了刻板印象——恶霸也是聪明人，其主导的自我是由巨大的智力和知识推动的。

Strong and varied character traits create multidimensional opportunities with which different types of readers can relate. And readers don’t only like characters similar to their own type – those who represent their aspirations, hopes, or hidden desires can also be attractive. Portraying multiple character personality types makes any such positive overlap more likely.

Expand the Characters

Increasing the appeal of a main character with a specific personality type for readers of various types is as simple as pushing the boundaries of that character’s behavior. It can be very compelling when a character’s tendencies are laid out clearly and realistically – and then they battle their own instincts, perhaps as part of the plot.

Example: In a story about a troubled family of two, a shy, sensitive teen boy wishes he were more confident and popular among his peers. He begins to imitate his highly successful father’s aggressively charismatic style, even going so far as to borrow some of his fashionable clothes and mannerisms – with entertaining results.

Meanwhile, the father, who has chronically neglected his son in favor of making big deals, regrets being so out of touch. Deciding he can “win” parenting as he has other areas of life, he takes a vigorously intellectual approach, trying out the advice of numerous self-help books in an amusingly ham-fisted series of attempts to bond with his increasingly baffled son.

Many people strive to overcome undesirable aspects of themselves and will relate to characters who attempt behavior that is outside the norm for their personality type. Readers of similar types may identify with the struggle, and types with the traits the character is trying to attain may feel validated. Either way, the appeal of the character is enhanced.

When a story’s cast of characters displays a wide spectrum of perspectives and behaviors, it tends to welcome readers of many personality types, especially if the characters are vivid and realistic. And, as we discussed in the first four parts of this article series, using personality types to create characters makes them more believable – and relatable.

Authors can capitalize on the interplay between characters with starkly different personality types, whether they’re in conflict or yin-yang symbiosis. Playing up such differences – and maybe even having characters call each other out on them – may appealingly echo readers’ own experiences with contrasting personality types.

Bull’s-Eyes or Barn Sides: Personality Type Target Size

Authors may want to be clear in their own minds about scope: which types they’re specifically writing for, which types they’re writing with some consideration for, and which types they’re essentially ignoring. There’s nothing wrong with the latter choice, as seemingly less-compatible types may still connect with a work – probability isn’t certainty.

Let’s look at reader personality type targets in three basic tiers.

Everybody!

A classic goal, writing with consideration for all types has the potential to reach lots of people. This might seem easy because whatever you write will likely appeal to at least one of the 16 personality types, but randomly hitting “the broad side of a barn” isn’t the same as writing for everybody.

If the goal is to reach every type, then our “addition, not subtraction” strategy applies: include something to appeal to each personality type. This is a challenge, but it’s not 16 times harder than writing for one type, thanks to personality trait overlap, or in other words, Roles.

Roles

Our personality Role groups are a helpful way to view the types in coarser resolution, giving authors an easier target size. Each type within a Role shares certain common traits, enabling authors to compose character and story elements that are attractive to the Role as a group. Because of this focus on shared traits, authors may want to consider how those traits relate to the story and characters.

One Personality Type

It might seem an odd choice to write to a single personality type, but when a story or underlying message is likely to relate to a particular perspective, narrowing the focus can be valuable. This doesn’t preclude other types enjoying the work – there’s often lots of auxiliary appeal, especially for similar types.

Example: In Sarah’s wilderness survival story mentioned above, Sarah assigns the main character (in this case, it’s The Injured One) the same personality type as that of the intended reader she’s targeting – and writes the story from their perspective. Because Sarah wishes to express a message about finding the strength within, she can write the story from the perspective of a single personality type that often struggles to act confidently and decisively.

Deciding on a type target size can help authors apply their knowledge of personality theory to an intended goal – and help prevent a sense of being overwhelmed by too many considerations. Whether the goal is to share an inner vision (or just a good story) with as many diverse personality types as possible, or to reach certain readers with a specific message that will resonate powerfully in their own hearts, minds, and lives, knowing who you’re writing for and why can increase the chances of making a connection.

In our next installment, we’ll explore what some personality types prefer in the fiction they read and the traits behind those preferences. There are statistical correlations between what people indicate that they like about books and their personality type, and we’ve got the lowdown – or at least the broad strokes of probability.

Until then, we’ve got some more optional “homework”:

Reread this article, noting any characters mentioned in the example sections.
Reread the description of their personality and behavior, no matter how brief. Pay attention to the circumstances and story as well – context can mean a lot.
Decide what you think their personality type most likely is, based on our personality theory and their behavior.
Decide which (oh, let’s say three) reader personality types each character would most likely appeal to, and why. The possibilities are endless, so just shoot for the most obvious broad probability.
Share your evaluations with us in the comments below. See what other people think, and be open to everyone’s interpretation. The fictional characters mentioned in this article have specific traits but are deliberately vague to allow for multiple “correct” answers. The point is to inspire creative interpretation, so have fun with it!

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小说写作中的人格理论 VI：扩大吸引力