Picking a Personality For Your Characters by Therese Stenzel

Have you ever had a heroine flit around in your mind who was, talkative, cheerful, demonstrative, and charming? Or a domineering, confident, compulsive, and decisive hero who charged into a scene? A prim and proper heroine who exhibited creative, idealistic, perfectionist, and self-sacrificing tendencies? A handsome hero who sauntered into a saloon sporting an easy going, loyal, enduring, peaceful personality? 

Each of us is endowed with characteristics that account for distinct, enduring, and pervasive patterns of behavior. In medieval times, they referred to personality as the four conditions of the body and mind; Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholy, or Phlegmatic temperaments.  

Why only four? Why not 104? Over the centuries, it has been determined that each of us is a blend of four distinct personality types. Learning the traits of each personality can keep your Sanguine heroine from being orderly and organized. Your Choleric hero from thinking he needs to be calm, cool, and collected. And your tortured and unforgiving Villain from slipping into a bubbly persona. It is not in their nature.  

There are many personality profiles; the Keirsy Temperament, the Myer Briggs, the VALS--values, attitudes, and lifestyles, but they are quite complex. If you can grasp these four basic personality types, you can understand why your characters do the things they do and even figure out why your husband of fourteen years, has never bothered to pick up his socks. 

A Sanguine character is the life of the party, always joking and performing, but a total disorganized mess. Sanguines are also enthusiastic, bursting with energy, love spontaneity, are compulsive talkers, controlled by circumstances, easily distracted, and do not like details. They are driven by wanting to have fun. 

A Choleric character will bowl you over with their confidence, opinions, and strong-willed decisiveness. You may have to work around their bossy, manipulative nature, inflexibility, and capable leadership skills. Cholerics are generally considered the strongest personality. They are driven by wanting to have control. 

A Phlegmatic character is loyal, easygoing, quiet, witty, and a good listener. But they are also indecisive, not goal oriented, sarcastic, teasing and resist change. If they are a hero or heroine, it’s a good idea to pair them up with their opposite--a Choleric. They are driven by wanting peace. 

Melancholy characters are deep and thoughtful, self-sacrificing, sensitive, talented and creative. But they are also perfectionists, spend lot of time planning, have a deep need for approval, and can be moody and depressed. They are driven by wanting order. 

Each one of us has a dominant and secondary personality. For example Choleric/Sanguine or Melancholy/Phlegmatic. These can look different in different people because they may be 90% Choleric and 10% Sanguine or 60% Choleric and 40% Sanguine.  

Determining if your character is an introvert or an extrovert, can also alter their personality type. If their batteries recharge when they’re alone, then they are most likely an introvert. People who need to be around others to recharge are usually extroverts.

The web site, oneIshy.com offers free personality testing and lists the various traits of each disposition. I found the more I read about the personalities, the more I could quickly analyze co-workers, my husband, my children, and I could use it in forming believable, solid, and realistic characters.  

My present heroine is a Melancholy/Choleric.  She is neat and tidy, organizes well, plagued by doubts and doesn’t enjoy being teased. I paired her up with a Choleric/Sanguine. He is a take charge, decisive, independent sort who loves to laugh and tease his love-interest mercilessly.  

Although there are only four personality types, with the dominant and secondary traits there are eight different personality combinations. 

      Choleric/Sanguine and Sanguine/Choleric

      Choleric/Melancholy and Melancholy/Choleric

      Sanguine/Phlegmatic and Phlegmatic/Sanguine

      Melancholy/Phlegmatic and Phlegmatic/Melancholy 

I’m a Choleric/Sanguine.  I tend to be goal oriented and like to get things done quickly in a fun, impulsive manner…that’s all!