Three Cs

The Myers-Briggs personality test is one of the most popular personality tests available today. After taking it and doing some research, I learned several years ago that I am an INFP. One hallmark of this personality type is the desire to be creative in some way. For me, and many other INFPs, my primary way of being creative is through writing.

There are a lot of pros about being an INFP writer. One of them is that we tend to have strong imaginations, so inventing fictional characters and worlds in our heads can come naturally. Typically, INFPs also enjoy putting time into something we are passionate about. So if we come up with a story idea that excites us, we can work on it for hours or days without losing our enthusiasm.

Another quality that can help INFPs with writing is our ability to empathize with others. This helps us put ourselves in our characters’ shoes and create characters that we find compelling (and hopefully readers will, too). As introverts, we need time alone to recharge as well, and writing is a great way to do this while satisfying our need for creativity.

With all of that being said, as an INFP, I also face some major challenges when it comes to writing. I’ve compiled a list of the five biggest struggles I encounter as an INFP writer and how I deal with them.

1. INFPs hate feeling too restricted.

We INFPs like our freedom. That’s why experts recommend that we find jobs where we are allowed quite a bit of flexibility and are not micromanaged. Personally, I don’t like feeling constrained even if the one doing it is me. That means committing to a strict writing regimen, like writing for thirty minutes every day, makes something I love feel like a chore.

The problem with this is that many professional authors recommend writing every day. They say developing the habit of writing daily helps you finish your WIP (Work-In-Progress) in a timely manner. As an added bonus, it helps you practice your craft and become a better writer.

Forcing myself to write on a day I absolutely don’t want to makes me miserable, so I compromise by setting writing goals for myself and trying to meet them. For example, I might decide I want to finish the next two chapters of my novel in one month or that I will complete my short story by the end of the week. This gives me some flexibility but prevents me from only writing when the mood strikes.

2. INFPs have no desire to work on things they’re not interested in.

As eager as INFPs can be to work on things we are passionate about, that’s how distasteful we find it to work on things we don’t find interesting. Once we’re finished with school writing assignments, you’d think this wouldn’t cause any problems. After all, we can choose to write about whatever we want, right?

Well, yes and no. If we’re only writing for our own enjoyment and not hoping to be published, yes. We are free to write about anything and everything. If we do want to be published, we have to think about our target audience, word count, current trends, etc. In addition to all that, INFPs are known for moving on from something as soon as they lose interest. I sometimes become uninterested in a story I already started writing, especially if I end up taking long breaks while working on it.

To combat this, I try to only write stories if I am really excited about my idea. If I come up with a good idea that doesn’t make me want to drop everything and write, I tend to abandon it. I also try to only spend time developing an idea for a story in detail if I think I could find a publisher interested in it. Sometimes, I throw caution to the wind and write a story that I know has a low chance at publication, but since I know that, I’m not as disappointed when it is rejected.

3. INFPs tend to have a lot of ideas at one time.

Because INFPs have such active imaginations, we often come up with one story idea, then have another idea before we have a chance to finish writing the first one. This is especially true with longer works like novels. For some people, this isn’t an issue. They’re fine bouncing back and forth between stories until all of them are completed.

As an INFP, starting one story before I finish another can be a huge problem because it can cause me to lose interest in my first story. Which brings us squarely back to the the second item in this list. If I’m not interested, I might end up never finishing the story. Trying to write multiple stories at once if you don’t have a set schedule for writing can also lead to it taking a long time to complete a single story.

4. INFPs tend to get their hopes up.

INFPs are known for being idealistic and hopeful. This can lead to a lot of heartache when it comes time to submit stories or manuscripts for publication. I know it has for me. When I first started submitting, I had a tendency to get my hopes really high (we’re talking stratospheric) when I submitted stories. The inevitable result was plummeting back to earth and feeling crushed when a story was rejected.

Though I’ve had a number of successes, the number of rejections I’ve received over the years far outnumbers the acceptances. I talk about my experiences with that in my post The Value of Perseverance and Revision. Rejections are part of becoming a published writer. There are few, if any, who avoid it.

Story and manuscript rejections are difficult for everyone, but I think they are particularly hard on INFPs. We put so much of ourselves into our work that we have difficulty separating ourselves from it. The result is that it feels like magazines and publishers are rejecting us, not just our work, when we receive a rejection. My way of dealing with this is to curb my natural tendency of getting my hopes too high by reminding myself of how slim the chances are of publication each time I submit.

5. INFPs tend to take things personally.

This one ties into what I just said about INFPs having trouble separating ourselves from our creative works. When someone criticizes our writing, no matter how constructive the criticism may be, we feel like we are being attacked and take it personally. This is a huge problem for INFP writers because one of the main ways you become a better writer is by having people read and critique your work.

What helps me most when dealing with criticism is to try to receive it only in written format so that I can read it alone. If it upsets me, I find a way to release my emotions, like having a good cry or going for a walk. When I feel better, I look at the criticism again and try to decide if I want to take the advice or if I like my story the way it is. This doesn’t necessarily make the criticism less painful, but it at least prevents anyone else from getting hurt by my reaction and possibly helps me improve my story.

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As an INFP, those are the five challenges I find the hardest to deal with when it comes to writing. If you’re an INFP writer, would you add any struggles to this list? If you’re a different personality type, what struggles do you face? Let me know in the comments.

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