Aug. 14, 2025 - The Enneagram System

I started learning about enneagrams today. It’s an incredibly complex system used to identify personality types by people in the mental health industry.  It’s also used by writers to create characters. I even took the online test to see what personality type I am. It turns out I’m Type 7 – The Enthusiast, The Entertaining Optimist. The description was remarkably accurate. I can see how this will be a valuable tool when I’m creating the back story for the characters in my epic fantasy. It will take a lot of work to understand and master this system but I’m excited about giving it a try. Right now I'm learning about "wings" and "triads". If anyone has some suggestions on how to set this up or tips about how to wrap my mind around it - please leave a comment or email me. That info is on the main blog page at the bottom.

I also began working on creating a story board for my children’s picture book. I dissected the manuscript, pulling it into potential segments for illustration. I learned that the average children’s picture book has 32 pages or a number divisible by 4 or 8 because of the physical restrictions of printing and publishing a book. Now I’ll have to create a story board and decide where the text goes and what pictures I’ll need to support the story. My grandsons, ages 8 and 11, have said they prefer illustrations like those in graphic novels, so I’ve purchased a couple of resources to help me with this project. I'm beginning to see how this could come together. For a long time I’ve felt overwhelmed, but now I’m beginning to see how it could work. I’m going to be taking a 2-month course this fall on how to create a picture book. I had expected that to be my guide, but my shoulder is deteriorating so badly that it’s possible I’ll be having shoulder replacement surgery right when the course will be going on. I’m not going to panic. I’ll face that bridge when I get to it! Hopefully something can be worked out.

Meanwhile, my historical romantasy is with my beta readers. I'm excited to get their feedback, make final revisions if they're needed and start querying literary agents. Life is full of potential and exciting opportunities!

Best wishes always…

P.S. This is a chart I created to help me see how the Enneagram system works at a glance. It's some complex that I'm going to try to break it down into individual personality types and build an understanding from there. Whew! Sometimes I feel overwhelmed!

P. P. S. Welcome to my blog! My intention is to keep followers up to date on my latest writing adventures. My current focus is on fiction genres including children's picture books and YA/NA historical romanticies. I'm also preparing to write an epic fantasy for the young adult audience. As a debut author I face all the challenges of breaking into the traditional publishing market. I need your interest and support to do so! Please consider following me here and on other social media platforms, which you can access on the Home page of my author's web site. I'll be adding more in the weeks to come so please check back from time to time. Thank you so much, in advance, for following my blog. You are potentially helping me enrich the lives of future readers. I just need this break to attract my first agent representation! Your efforts will make all the difference! Thank you once again.