Three Kinds of Writers

So, now to build on my previous post. I'm a writer. So are lots of people I know. There are thousands of writers in the world, and writing is a highly individualized art. What is it that ties all of them together? Is it a technique? A mindset? Techniques and mindsets common to writers certainly do exist, but that's not what I'm discussing here. What really ties all these writers together is what sort of writer they are. There are three basic types of writers: heart, mind, and soul.

The heart writer has a strong emotional connection with the characters, and interest and conflict in the story is generated primarily by emotion. Heart writers are almost exclusive to fiction; how many reports or history books have you read that were propelled by emotion?

The mind writer focuses on events and information, and the characters are often seen as pawns. Stories written by this type of writer are fueled by pacing, plot, twists. However, they often seem cold or flat; a classic example of this is your typical spy thriller. This sort of writer is typical of the authors of "informative non-fiction" like history books and the like.

The soul writer's story is driven by characters and general "feeling": the feeling that this will happen next, or that must happen. It's rather amorphous, but perhaps the best way to describe it is "vibes." The soul writer makes use of these vibes to direct his writing, as well as to pull people into and through the story. Soul writers typically plan little, and let the story unfold as it will.

So those are the three basic kinds. Every writer's style, process, and understanding of writing is made up of combinations of those three traits. I'm about even on the three, with soul being a little stronger than the other two. One of my best friends is a heart-soul writer, focusing on emotion and characters above all. Another friend of mine is a mind-soul writer; his stories tend to emotion that is muted or nonexistent, but unfold in complex and interesting ways.

Most everyone knows this about themselves and their writing on an instinctual level, but it's interesting to think about no?

~ Figment