Write, Critique, Pitch: Using DISC to Charge Your Writing Life

A few years ago, I joined a critique group, hoping to move my writing ahead, have some accountability, and get feedback on what I was writing. We all started sharing our writing with each other and almost immediately, the friction started.

One person wrote really fast and expected everyone else to turn around our feedback really fast. Another person gave a lot of “I like this! Smiley-face emoji!” feedback, but never really shared anything constructive. Someone else worked long hours and fit writing into the corners so she wrote more slowly. I am fairly straight-forward with feedback, in a nice way, but I tend to point out the negative more than the positive. Add a couple more personalities into this mix and shake.

Sparks flew. Emotions ran high. People got upset. Some lurked in the shadows, afraid to share anything for fear of tipping the boat. Others monopolized the conversations. It was a mess.

I wish I knew then, what I know now about how personality influences writing and our writing lives.

It’s no secret that I love a good personality assessment. It’s also no secret that I’m an advocate for using them to improve your writing practice and author life.

There are so many ways that personality assessments are useful (and woefully underused) for improving our writing lives, whether we blog, write books, or focus on academic writing. Today, I wanted to talk a little about Everything DiSC® and how you can use the theory and assessments in that suite of products to super-charge your writing. (Spoiler Alert: I am an authorized provider and certified trainer for Everything DiSC. Disclaimer: I doubt Wiley had writing in mind with these assessments so any mistakes/weird interpretations are mine and mine alone. Don’t yell at them because they are nice people.)

Conflict, Characters, and Everything DiSC

We all know that conflict helps us write great fiction. Ignore conflict and your story falls flat. For fiction writers, Everything DiSC and understanding the model can help you find better conflict for your characters. It does take some familiarity with the assessment and model, but one of the great things about applying it here is that 1) the model is simple without being simplistic, and 2) it can give you create insights into your characters’ motivations, psychological needs, and what conflict will look like for them.

How?

If I assign or “find” the personality tendencies of a character, the DiSC model gives me information on how that person might act, what destructive conflict behaviors they are likely to engage in, and what psychological needs are doing to drive their behaviors. Fiction is fiction, of course, so you can take liberties, but when I’m stuck on “How would this character respond?” or “What would this character do in this situation?” I have a guide that helps me keep them acting and thinking in a consistent, believable way.

Everything DiSC and You, the Writer

Do you know how you best write? Do you know what’s most likely to stall you, stop you, or make you miserable while writing? Everything DiSC, like other personality assessments, can help you get to know yourself better as a writer. Knowing your style and the insights from the assessments can help you better structure your writing experiences.

For example, as an “S” style, I know that stability, particularly personal and relational stability, is important to me. I write best when I have it. Why? Well, for one, if the world is stable around me, I can take leaps and risks in my ideas and mental work that I can’t take if my world is in upheaval. I can fight through to write in upheaval, but it will take more energy. Knowing that, I can plan for it, if it happens. If I can, I take breaks from writing when my world is a little topsy-turvy, often by giving myself a “start-back” date when I think things will have calmed down. It’s never yet happened that I haven’t started writing again before my start-back day, full of ideas and rejuvenated in ways that I wouldn’t have been had I not respected the stability need.

Your Critique Group and Everything DiSC

My critique group mess from the past could have been helped if 1) we understood each other’s personalities and needs better, 2) We adapted our styles to meet others, and 3) we had set the ground rules for expectations in a way that let us know if the group was going to work for us or not.

I’ve since moved on to a couple of other critique groups. One of them, in particular, works really well for me because we build trust and adapt to each other’s needs. I know that I can rip to shreds a story some have written (and they’ll do the same for me) without them getting angry or upset with me. For the members that like more empathy in our feedback, our comments reflect it. Our ability to bridge our styles makes the group work for all of us.

One of the pieces that I love about using DiSC is how it helps you work better with other people. Sure, I learn about myself along the way, but that other-focus is so helpful in making my relationships with friends, critique partners, and clients stronger. My relationships with my critique group are stronger because I can see better what they need and adapt my style to give it to them (and they do the same for me.)

“Selling” Your Writing

Do you know how to “sell” your work? Can you adapt your pitch to the agent’s personality in a way that will make her more likely to snatch you up? How do you describe your book to a potential reader? Do you know how to sell your “brand” as an author?

Whether we like it or not, writing often involves selling too. It happens in different ways, to different people, and it may be less in-your-face than someone trying to get you to buy a scarf at the local mall, but it still happens.

Just like how you can adapt to your critique work, you can also adapt your style to the styles of others when you need to sell them your book, your pitch, or your services as a freelancer. You can tailor your message a bit so that it fits their style better, which can make them more likely to listen and more open to you.

Incorporating Everything DiSC Into Your Writing

Have you already taken an Everything DiSC assessment through your workplace? Then, you’re already on your way. Review the materials again and think about them in the context of writing. It may take a little practice, but once the language gets more familiar, it’s easier to spread the application into your writing and writing life.

Haven’t taken an assessment? You can read up on the theory behind Everything DiSC, keep an eye out here or on our social media channels for blog posts and discussion on using DiSC for writing, and keep an eye out for our workshops on DiSC and writing.