The first chapter of this book is so interesting I’m finding it hard not to quote the whole thing. Maisel, who holds degrees in philosophy (B.S.), psychology (B.A.), creative writing (M.A.), counseling (M.S.), and counseling psychology (PhD) discusses what a personality is, the traditional psychologist’s theories, clinicians and experimenters, and how little is actually known or provable from a scientific stand point about personality.

He asserts “Fiction writers have a leg up on psychologist when it comes to understanding personality and character. To put it differently: Fiction writers are our real psychologist.” I love this perspective and after reading Maisel’s take on the failing of psychologist to actually define a personality theory, I’m fascinated.

Writers get to make up characters, defining who they are, what motivates them, how those characters interpret and respond to their world. And while what the writer creates is artificial, it is a depth of understanding human motivation and personality that rivals what psychologist have tried to understand and theorize about because we get to be inside the characters head.

Though there are plenty of theories of personality, they don’t hold up to the real scientific rigor of analysis. A real theory is provable and results reproducible, human personality theories are not. Freud, the father of psychoanalysis in the late nineteenth century, led the psychology movement down the path to experiments which led to a plethora of theorist. “...Gustave, Jung, Adler, Horney, Kelly Erikson...” their major ideas have not led to any one conclusive theory. In fact, “...no psychologist, psychiatrist, family therapist, or clinical social worker, could say, except guess, what caused depression, anxiety addiction psychosis or any of the other ailments that befall people.”

Without a concrete theory that explains why we suffer from these psychological maladies, “...health care professionals are left with three ways of dealing with our emotional health.” Medication, clinical methods(psychoanalysis), or behavioral changes. “Or they could do what natural philosophers have done for thousands of years, use their common sense and their understanding of human nature– and a lot of wit and warmth– to affect behavior changes.”

There are plenty of health professional who work this way. “There turned to be all the difference in the world between standing behind a theory and having insight into human nature. The first could be called pseudo-science: the second, wisdom.” To me, it this wisdom of noticing and being in touch with humanity that gives writers the basis for building characters that are alive and real on the page.

Maisel goes to discuss academia, the problems with diagnosis, and testing. Basically he wants you, the writer, to realize that professional psychologist are no more an expert on why humans do the things they do than you are. In fact writer have the advantage of being able to get inside the subjects head and know why a character is behaving the way they do, what exactly is motivating them and their secret wishes and desires. No therapist can do that.

The majority of the book is Maisel’s “personality quizzes for analyzing your characters.” Scenarios are proposed, such as “At the Airport” and questions asked with answers provided. The answer you pick for your character have a small synopsis explaining what that might reveal about your character. The first question about the airport is about waiting, if you chose the answer, “A. Restless?” you’d find out “ Waiting restlessly is consistent with type A character whose appetites, ambitions and high energy level make it impossible for him to relax.” While I found them interesting, they ended up not serve a purpose for me in this study. I was more intrigued by his ideas of personality and the writer than any of the exercises. Though I wouldn’t hesitate to try out the exercise if I ever feel stuck or wanted to do character building exercises for practice.
( )

I love this book. Its not a guide you use daily to write. Instead, it is a book you go to whenever you want to delve deep into your character's psyche. The scenarios help you realize how your character would react in particular situations and what makes them tick. ( )