9 Screenwriting Enneagram Personalities - Which One Are You?

The Enneagram is a personality chart that identifies nine core personality motivation types. These are the underlying fears and drives that shape how people work, communicate, and respond to pressure.

Many companies - and human resources departments within - use the Enneagram in leadership training and team development to improve collaboration, reduce/avoid conflict between team members, and place people in roles where they would be most effective and successful.

It’s not about labeling people and their behavior. Instead, it's about understanding why people operate the way they do, especially in high-stress, feedback-driven environments.

That’s why it can be helpful to apply the Enneagram to your screenwriting personality. It’s less about labeling yourself and more about recognizing patterns within your screenwriting journey, especially ones that may quietly affect your progress. 

Every Enneagram type can succeed as a screenwriter. The key factor is self-evaluation and just being aware of your general patterns of success and struggle. Once you see your patterns, you can stop mistaking personality friction for creative failure. You can work with your strengths and learn from your weaknesses.

Screenwriting isn’t just about mastering structure, character, narrative, dialogue, and pacing. It’s about mastering yourself under pressure. The more honest you are about yourself, your tendencies, and your personality, the better your scripts will be.

With that in mind, here are simple breakdowns of each Enneagram personality as applied to screenwriting. These are just general comparisons, mind you. But it’ll be fun to explore them and see what Enneagram umbrella you fall under most - and how you can use that perspective to become an even better screenwriter. 

Type One screenwriters want to get it right. They care deeply about rules, form, clarity, and doing things the “correct” way. These writers gravitate more towards screenwriting books, formatting guides, and structural frameworks. They learn them all inside and out. They’re the ones who are overly picky when it comes to aesthetics, formatting, and structure.

Their strengths are discipline and integrity. Type ones usually write clean, tight, and professional drafts that read smoothly and logically. They not only respect the screenwriting process, but also respect the audience and use all of the techniques they’ve learned to deliver the most perfect read possible.

However, Type Ones also tend to struggle with being overly rigid.

• They may struggle to finish because the script never feels perfect in their eyes. 
• They may drain the life out of the story by polishing a draft before letting it breathe. 
• They may be scared of taking risks in their screenplays. 

Growth comes when Type One screenwriters allow imperfection in their earlier drafts, and when they take risks with concept, structure, character, story, and dialogue. 

Type Two screenwriters want to be useful, appreciated, and needed. They often write stories that prioritize relationships, empathy, and emotional connection.

Their strengths are heartfelt empathetic stories and characters and great collaboration skills.  

• They’re great at writing supportive characters, heartfelt dialogue, and stories centered on caregiving, sacrifice, and loyalty. 
• They’re also great collaborators and mentors. They love helping other writers with rewrites, problem-solving, workshopping drafts, and offering feedback.

Type Twos can struggle with self-erasure.

• They may write only what they think others want, instead of what they want.
• They may say yes to too many rewrites, too many projects, or too many notes while losing their own voice in their writing. 

Growth for Type Twos comes when they give themselves permission to write something selfish, something for them, something they want to write. They grow when they finally realize that their value isn’t fully dependent on approval. 

Type Three screenwriters are more goal-oriented and success-driven. They track deadlines, pitch strategically, and focus more on marketable concepts. They’ll often ponder, “Can this sell?” before deciding if the story really excites them. Many pro screenwriters - those making a living in features and television - lean heavily towards Type Three tendencies. For them, it’s a necessity to get the next job.

Their strengths are productivity and momentum.

• Type Threes finish scripts - and quickly. 
• They can easily adapt to most deadlines and challenges.
• They understand the business-end of screenwriting and can usually pitch and network well.         

Despite these strengths, Type Threes can also struggle with creative identity crisis.

When success becomes the primary goal and metric, Type Threes can lose touch with why they started writing in the first place. They may end up feeling empty after monetary achievements and success in the industry. They can easily burn out trying to chase the trends their employers seek.

Growth comes when Type Three screenwriters reconnect with passion over industry optics - remembering that passion can outlast strategy. Or they find the perfect hybrid between the two. 

Type Four screenwriters write “from the wound,” focusing on stories and characters that come from a place of raw and unresolved pain, trauma, or deep emotion. It may be coming from them, or from those close to them. It could even be coming from emotions they feel about the world around them.

They’re drawn to more emotionally rich and deeply personal material. Their scripts will more so explore identity, longing, alienation, or loss. They especially focus on voice, tone, and meaning more than structure and pacing. 

Because of this, when at their best, their strength is that their writing seems more singular, unique, and alive.

Their challenge is struggling with consistency.

• They can romanticize suffering and wait for inspiration rather than driving it. 
• They can forget the importance of creating a process that works within the industry (and they may not even care about the latter). 
• They may feel misunderstood by the industry or resist commercial offers or prospects. 

Growth comes best for Type Fours when they learn and recognize that discipline and process don’t kill creativity. Instead, those elements can help them achieve their passionate and very personal goals. 

Top Five screenwriters are the thinkers. They are impeccable researchers.

• They analyze movies frame by frame. 
• They understand genre mechanics, story logic, and theme. 
• They love research and development. 

Type Five screenwriter’s strength is that they go deeper. They often write more intelligent concepts, layered worlds, or intricate mysteries.

They can struggle with detachment, living in their heads too long while getting caught up in endless front-end work like outlining and research. Both are essential elements of screenwriting, but Type Fives can spend too much time outlining and researching.

Growth for Type Fives can be found in balancing their analytical ways with action, as far as gathering what they need to complete the script, not writing a research document on the subject at hand - and not relying too much on an outline while allowing for some wiggle room of discovery along the way. 

Type Six screenwriters are cautious, diligent, and security-oriented. They’ll often ask:

• “Is this safe?”
• “Is this good enough?”
• “What if this doesn’t work?”

But those questions can lead to their strengths - problem-solving and anticipating story flaws. Because of those strengths, Type Sixes can be excellent collaborators. They take notes very seriously and work hard to meet expectations.

Because of their caution, diligence, and need for security, however, they can struggle with self-trust. Type Six screenwriters may hesitate to put themselves out there. They can fear rejection and failure more than others. Their rewrites may suffer from focusing on imagined criticism and issues instead of actual feedback.

Growth happens when they can learn to trust their instincts and remember that uncertainty is not a sign of danger. Instead, it can be reassuring in their abilities as a screenwriter. 

Type Seven screenwriters are idea machines! They love brainstorming, world-building, and pitching new concepts. The possibility and excitement they generate energizes them above most others.

And that is their strength, the ability to create endless drive and vision.  

However, they can struggle with follow-through. Type Sevens can often abandon scripts when the hard work begins. It usually involves them always chasing the next big, great, amazing idea that’s popped into their head. They can also sometimes struggle with darker material, or things with more emotional depth.

Growth for Type Sevens comes with their eventual commitment to finishing. Even when things become uncomfortable or slow, they need to learn the joy of taking that exciting idea and creating a complete work out of it. 

Type Eight screenwriters are often bold and confrontational. They’re drawn to challenges, power dynamics, justice, and conflict. Their scripts often feature strong protagonists, high stakes, and intriguing confrontations between characters.

Their strength is the want and need to take risks. They’re not afraid to handle difficult subjects and take creative risks. They want to push against the norms of the industry to make an impact.

Type Eights do tend to struggle with vulnerability. They can be a bit more cynical, looking upon emotional nuance and softer moments as weakening the story. Their vulnerability can also cause them to struggle with collaboration as they look upon notes and perceived threats against them.

Growth can be found when Type Eights learn to consider all feedback, notes, and differing opinions without looking upon them as pure opposition to their beliefs and perspective.

Type Nine screenwriters value harmony. In an industry that requires great collaboration to get projects successfully produced, Type Nines can stand out in that respect. 

Their strengths can be found in their ability to be adaptable, easy to work with, and talented at blending tones and perspectives.   

But there can also be a struggle with becoming invisible in the “room”. Because they love and treasure harmony, Types Nines may suppress their opinions, avoiding conflict in story choices or feedback sessions. From a script perspective, their scripts may lack stakes and confrontation between characters. 

Their growth comes from claiming their voice. When they understand that conflict isn’t always chaos, they can learn to find and incorporate middle ground during the development process, which makes for better collaborative efforts without losing their voice and vision.  

We’re just scratching the surface of the Enneagram, translating each traditional Enneagram type’s core motivations and fears into the specific pressures found within the screenwriting process, offering a general breakdown of how different types of screenwriters handle industry norms like development, rewrites, notes, deadlines, rejection, and collaboration. 

It’s all about self-awareness. When you can look at yourself in the mirror a bit more closely, you’ll be able to see habits, personality traits, strengths, weaknesses, and areas for personal and professional growth as a screenwriter. 

Have fun with it. Discover something new about yourself, and then reap the benefits as you evolve as a screenwriter during this exciting screenwriting journey.