Dec 06 2007

Character Development and Birth Order Personalities

Published by auria cortes at 3:41 am under Character Development, Fiction Writing

jan_brady.jpgThe protagonist in my book is nicknamed Mija. I purposely gave her a nickname because I was never given one (Disclosure: after many years of complaining, my family gave me one. It’s Pinda. My brother-in-law says it stands for Pain In Da Ass. Can you feel the love?).

 My older sister’s nickname is Bobbi. My younger sisters nicknames are Tata, Tater Tot, Potato Chip, Small Fry, Potato and a few others that slip my mind. My brother’s is Manolo.  

For those of you who have middle child syndrome, you will know what I’m talking about when I say that the lack of a nickname is evidence that I’m loved less than the rest of the siblings. What other reason is there?Exactly. There is no other reason.

 As part of my character research, I decided to look into how birth order affects personalities. I came across the following theory about middle children:  

 

= The middle or second born child or children often have the sense of not belonging. That is very true. I often feel out of place. Not just in my own family but in this world. I find that most people don’t think like I do. I’m often told by others that they find me “interesting.” That used to bother me, but not any more. I have realized over time that most people are boring. 

= They fight to receive attention from parents and others because they feel many times they are being ignored or dubbed off as being the same as another sibling.
Hmmm…I don’t know how to answer this one. As an adult I never fight for my parents attention, but as a child I certainly did. So I’ll give this one a conditional yes.
 

= Being in the middle a child can feel insecure.
I find that people are insecure and don’t believe my insecurities are any more damaging than the general population.
 

= The middle child often lacks drive and looks for direction from the first born child. Sometimes a middle child feels out of place because they are not over achievers and like to go with the flow of things.
My family would agree that out of all the children, I am the one with the most drive.
 

= Being a middle child would mean they are loners. They really don’t like to latch on to a person in a relationship, there fore (sic) they have trouble keeping one due to lack of interest.
Oh so true.
 

= They are…very artistic and creative.
I believe this to be true.
 

= If forced to use abilities they will work well, but do not work well under pressure. I’m not sure how I feel about this statement.
I’ll give it a conditional yes.
 

= They often start several projects but rarely keep focused long enough to finish a project.
Not true.
 

= The best career move for a middle child would be along the lines of using their creative. Going into a writing or journalism career, and into a career that they could freely express themselves would be good. Anything that would have hours that are flexible, and projects that frequently changed would be good for a middle born child.
I dedicated my twenties to ensure that I have flexible hours (I’m a business owner) and my career involves a lot of writing.
 

After taking this personality test, it confirmed my personality is that of a middle child.

Take the test yourself. Let me know what the results are.

One Response to “Character Development and Birth Order Personalities”

  1. ronon 07 Dec 2007 at 1:54 am

    Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!

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