Last week, I published part of the transcript of our discussion where Dani covered Enneagram Types 1-3. You can read that here.
In today’s post, Dani goes through Enneagram Types 4-6. The post for Types 7-9 will be published next week but, if you can’t wait that long and want to find out about all the different types of Enneagram now, head over to YouTube to watch our whole conversation.
Enneagram Type 4 – The Individualist
Dani Abernathy: The 4 is the Individualist and the 4 wants to be significant, they want to be important but they fear they’re not. They also feel they have this deficit internally. 4s use mystery and intrigue and these curated emotions to draw people in. They’re part of this heart centre and they need people to reflect back to them their specialness, their uniqueness.
4s are the most comfortable with their dark set emotions. 4s think, ‘If I have needs, if I am broken and vulnerable, then people will be drawn to me and they will help me and they will love me.’
4s, unlike the 2, which dwells in its happy place, are like, ‘I’m going to use my sadness to form relationships and find love.’ As a writer, the 4 is very comfortable writing these deep, dark, intense, intellectual things but they very much follow the muse and so if the muse no longer wants to write this, then they’re not going to do it anymore. They’re just going to abandon it.
The 4 really feels misunderstood easily, so if someone, whether that’s a critique partner, or their partner, or a reader, or their editor, doesn’t get it and they don’t feel heard, then the 4 will withdraw and often abandon the project.
Emma Dhesi: I’m hearing myself in a lot of that. Especially the dark side, wallowing in the dark, that’s fun.
DA: It’s so fun to wallow in the dark.
Enneagram Type 5 – The Researcher
DA: Next we have the 5 and we’re moving into the head centre, which is all about intellect and using knowledge to navigate through the world.
The 5 is the Researcher. They want to understand the true nature of everything. They fear they won’t have enough to navigate the world and so they gather knowledge as a way of figuring out how to move through the world.
All the head types – 5, 6 and 7 – do this but 5s can be hermits. They can really go into their research hole and not come out. They want to observe without changing what they’re observing and, just like 4s can go to this deep, dark, emotional place, 5s can go to this deep, dark, mental place. They can be like, ‘This is the truth of what’s happening and it’s really terrible,’ but they’re also experts and scholars.
The 5s I work with are often fantasy writers and so they build these huge worlds. 5s and 9s both tend to do this, they get lost in the world building and they build these intricate systems and histories and all these things because that’s what’s fun for them.
They want to understand how everything fits together. They also tend to write to explore, express something they’re interested in or exploring or have learned.
ED: I’m thinking sort of epic fantasy people, like George R.R. Martin, somebody like that.
DA: Or J.R.R. Tolkien.
ED: That’s actually a question I was going to have for you. I wondered if you have noticed different types prefer different genres or is there a broad spread?
DA: It might be a genre thing.
Enneagram Type 6 – The Loyalist
DA: 6 is the Loyalist. If you hear people talk about 6s, you often talk about how they are afraid but the 6 does not identify with being afraid. The 6 is actually afraid of being afraid and so the 6 wants security in their life, they want assurance but they don’t trust themselves to know what’s right and so they look to other systems or people to help them find that certainty and to tell them what to do, how to behave.
The 6 is constantly scanning and assessing and thinking forward to, ‘Okay, what might happen here and how do I deal with that?’ because they don’t want to be afraid, they don’t want to be caught off-guard. So they’re always scanning, doom-forecasting, looking for danger, they’re kind of the alarm system of the Enneagram because they can be like, ‘Hey, did anyone notice this huge thing over here that might come and kill us all?’
They tend to be us versus them. They find their group that makes them feel secure and they really cling to that but they’re also constantly testing it to see, ‘Is this true? Is this real?’ but also if that is threatened, if someone threatens their group, then they are going to, from the back, rally the troops to go attack that thing.
They have this kind of hot and cold feeling. They can be one moment really bold and facing the danger and then at other moments, really fearful of it. The 6 themselves have the most rapidly changing emotions, which is interesting. Often, if they test as a 6, they’re like, ‘No, I’m not a 6,’ because their experience is so dependent on the circumstance in that moment.
I suspect I work with more 6s than I’ve realised they’re 6s. They have a hard time committing to a story because they can see so many possibilities and they feel they need to speak to every person who might read their book. They need to read all the caveats. It’s hard for them to narrow in and be okay with just saying the one thing because there are always so many possibilities and options and caveats. That can be challenging for the 6 and they also tend to doubt themselves a lot.
Live Workshop: Using the Enneagram Personality System to Develop Unforgettable Characters
DA: In this workshop, I’m going to tell you all about the Enneagram and I’m going to tell you about the types in detail. I’m going to give you some examples but I’m also going to give you tools to think about based on what you’re writing or who these characters are, how you can find their Enneagram types and use them to deepen your story, to write a more impactful story.
Workshop details:
The Personality of Fiction: Using the Enneagram Personality System to Develop Unforgettable Characters
When: Thursday, July 25, 2024
Where: Live on Zoom
Time: 11am Central Time, 5pm UK time, 2am Australian time (a replay will be available).
How to register: https://emmadhesi.thrivecart.com/enneagram/
If you love personality stuff and you’re the person who takes all of the personality tests, come to the workshop, you’re going to love it and it’s going to give you some new tools and also some new insights into yourself.
This workshop is going to revolutionise the way you’re writing, so sign up here: https://emmadhesi.thrivecart.com/enneagram/
Find out more about Dani Abernathy at www.daniabernathy.com.
If you want to find out about Enneagram Type 7-9, the next in this series will be published next week or you can watch the whole of our conversation over at YouTube now.
Emma Dhesi
Emma Dhesi is a Certified Author Accelerator Book Coach and bestselling author who helps writers let go of perfectionism, self-doubt and writer's block through her signature programme, Unlock Your Creative Block.
She is the host of the YouTube Channel, Emma Dhesi, where she interviews debut and experienced authors alike.
Through her 1:1 coaching programme, Emma helps new authors start and finish their first novel.
Emma provides personal written feedback on their pages and guides them through the emotional rollercoaster that is writing a novel!
