MBTI thoughts on fanficcers
Apropos of the poll here, which I'd still love people to respond to if they're willing, and supplementary to aiwritingfic's discussion of MBTI and writing styles.

Only included are MBTI-types for which discernable patterns are discernable. SORRY ISTJS.


INFJs: annotated_em, muzivitch, morphaileffect, thesundaywriter

(IxFJs/INxJs/people in this category group: grumpychild, branchandroot)

I think the first thing I noticed about this is that all the INFJs were extremely recognizable names to me; a good number of my favourite writers, it seems, are INFJ (okay, so a lot of these people write Rikkai; maybe it's just the Yukimura effect?). Majority of the people here are reasonably prolific; in general I think of them as very well-rounded writers, particularly in their ability to evoke emotional dynamics. A few of the writers here are very wide-ranging in the thematic and conceptual content of their work.


INTJs: thephoenixboy, ilanabean42. I'm going to steal from the other MBTI polls and borrow the names of aishuu, issen4, fyredancer, ontogenesis, and haruyuki for the generalisations.

In general, ridiculously prolific. These writers rule the multiparters, and are, in fact, the masters of the conceptual fic. Well-researched, canonically grounded, and in general, intellectually-heavy, possibly to a fault at times. In contrast with the, uh, overwhelming Rikkaization of the INFJs, I'm astounded by how many Hikaru no Go fandom staples seem to be INTJ.


INTPs: giving_ground, petronia, tarigwaemir, half_sleeping. Me!

...verbally and conceptually precise. Can be pretty obsessive about detail; fond of understated description, understated humor, and in fact understated everything - why say something directly when you can be very, very slanted instead? Occasionally, (and I'm digging at my own shortcomings here, this doesn't apply to ALL INTP writers) it feels like there should be more movement to their work. It sometimes feels like INTP-fic heads towards static perfection; rather aiming to tell a story, their writing tries to capture a scene, a mood, or a particular moment in time. Rather like photography, really; I was going to note that within Prince of Tennis fandom, the INTPs do seem to gravitate towards Fuji and write him well, but then Liz broke my analysis. AS USUAL.


INFPs: ....I really want to talk about these people, since MBTI-types always peg the INFPs as the writing-types, but only dshae47 responded to my survey and she mainly writes in Spanish! Of the INFPs on the other polls, there were virtually no writers that I read on a regular basis, other than canis_m, so it's hard to make generalisations. I think in general they evoke emotion and character interaction well, and that there is considerable animation and flair to their writing, but there's not much else I can say without more data. If anyone would like to weigh in I'd really appreciate it.



ISFPs: lilacfield, star_flare, airairo, aviatrix8

/thoughtful/ While these make up a minority of writers on LJ, when they do write I do like their writing very much. Good visual details and imagery; they evoke scenes very well, and produce some absolutely brilliant lines that I just want to quote back at them endlessly. In general they seem fond of ficlets and character interaction scenes, but - particularly in contrast with the INTJ fics, which always have some sort of overarching system - I'd like to see more conceptual organisation driving their fics at times.


ISTJs: ....break my brain. At least because 3 out of 4 of the ISTJs who have responded have given me at least one different MBTI result in the past, which is possibly why I can see no discernable pattern in the fic here. WILL GET BACK TO YOU ON THIS ONE.



ENFPs: ...the main Extraverted writing type, apparently, with aiwritingfic, axtar and sandrock ( who is CHEATING on the MBTI but I'll accept her self-analysis anyway.)

These people, like the INFPs, evoke character interaction well. They're very good at capturing the right feel for a particular scene or situation; I'm thinking in particular here of sandrock's Death Note ficlets, with the astounding voice she creates for L and Misa. Some of them are very prolific, but tend to be less ambitious in scope than the INxJs; about a zillion ficlets appears to be the norm. I'd say that they are also very good at improvisation and writing off-the-cuff.