Why INFJs don't write

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One Hundred Live and Die (1984) by Bruce Nauman

I have run a writing group for nearly ten years. We write each week. I edit it. And we read what we wrote out loud when we meet. The people who sign up are a wide range of personality types, but the people who actually write are INFJs and INFPs. I can tell which is which when I edit.

As a long-time blogger I am a master of making crappy writing into good writing because I can’t stand using all my self-control to sit down to write and getting nothing for it. In my own writing this means I cut and cut and cut until the only thing left are sentences that are fun or interesting.

An INFP writes really long, and invariably I cut 90% until there’s an engaging piece of writing. The INFP argues with me about what’s interesting. Says I don’t understand. Then the INFP reads the unedited version out loud and never does that again.

When an INFJ writes, every sentence has perfect cadence and it reveals something but not too much, and there is nothing to edit. There’s nothing to edit because there is no rough edge, no scary jump into the unknown, no sentence that came out of nowhere.

Those are the things INFJs love to read — the messiness of life, and the organizing solutions. But it’s hard for an INFJ to produce that material. Just like its hard for an INFP to produce an very organized, rehearsed, subdued piece of writing.

I have found, though, that an INFJ who can let loose a bit is very engaging. That means seeking out one’s own rough edges and showing them. It could be fiction — The Great Gatsby is an example of exposing oneself through fiction. It could be nonfiction - When Dan Gilbert published his career-defining research on happiness his last chapter was about his own tenuous happiness, and it’s widely seen to be his best chapter.

It’s my feeling that for INFJs to be creative, you need a safe space — where people are expecting everyone to be messy. That’s the only way you can let yourself practice being messy. Most of you will think: that doesn’t sound fun at all. But those of you who think it’s a risk that might be worth taking: you are probably the writers.

For those of you who see yourself in this post, I’m holding an INFJ writing workshop on Thurs., April 9 at 8pm ET for paid subscribers.

You won’t produce polished writing. The point is to see what appears when the internal editor takes a break. I’ve been running writing groups for years and the interesting moment is always the same: people hear themselves say something they didn’t know they were going to say. That’s usually where the real material is.

Here’s how it works. I’ll start with a short introduction about how to write before the internal editor shuts everything down. Then I’ll give a prompt and everyone will write for thirty minutes. After that I’ll do a quick edit of each piece so the idea comes through clearly, and everyone will read their work aloud.

This session is just a chance to try the process once and see what happens.

If you’d like to join, email me at penelopetrunk@gmail.com and I’ll send the login details.