Ten Ways to Know if You’re an Introvert ~ Quiet Book Review

Hi, my name is Meghan, and I’m an introvert.

“Hi, Meghan.”

Welcome to Introverts Anonymous. It’s the perfect group for you because most introverts do, in fact, wish to remain anonymous.

First, though, ten characteristics of introverts to help you know if you’re in the right group. {And please note that everyone is different. In fact, there are no set-in-stone definitions of introvert and extrovert.}

Introverts ~

1. Prefer lower levels of stimulation, such as reading a book or having a one-on-one conversation with a close friend or family member.
2. Work more slowly and deliberately than extroverts.
3. Have significant powers of concentration.
4. Are not as drawn to the lure of wealth or fame.
5. Listen more than talk.
6. Prefer to work alone.
7. Often feel as if they express themselves better when writing than when speaking.
8. Feel uncomfortable with small talk.
9. Avoid conflict.
10. Avoid risk.

How did you do?

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking details a fascinating history of the rise of psychology and what I would call the idolatry of personality. It is so easy to become immersed in the nitty-gritty of why people are the way they are, but caution must be exercised or one personality “type” will soon be elevated as superior. This, in fact, is exactly what the author says has happened ~ the rise of the Extrovert Ideal.

Yet, introverts have a lot to offer such as attention to detail, thorough analysis, and a steady manner in communication. The American ideal of extroversion has convinced our culture to overlook the contributions of introverts, though, much to our detriment. Much of our modern way of life is the result of the deep thinking and innovation of introverts. Is the author right? I think so, but I would love to hear your opinion.

The writing is superb, and the author includes many personal anecdotes as well as incidents of famous introverts in a story-telling manner, relieving the book from having a research-paper feel. It is not a Christian book from a CBA publisher, so there are many mentions of evolution, secularism, and politics. However, if you can bypass that, Quiet is well worth the read. You will come away from it understanding and accepting your own introversion better or the introversion of a spouse or child. You won’t want to miss the last fifty pages or so about living as or with an introvert.

Above all, I’m reminded that, no matter whether introvert or extrovert, we are all fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of our Creator.

Q4U ~ Are you an introvert? Or are you married to an introvert? What do you think introverts have to offer? I’d love to read your take on introversion in the comments, and I’ll respond to each one.

~~~~~

 Meghan Carver is a 2013 ACFW Genesis semi-finalist and the author of several articles and short stories. After achieving a Juris Doctorate from Indiana University and Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Millikin University and completing a brief stint in immigration law, Meghan heard God calling her to be at home. Now homeschooling her six children with her college professor husband, Meghan has returned to her first love of writing. She blogs about homeschooling and homemaking at www.MeghanCarver.blogspot.com.

"Hey! Stop that!! I'm exclaiming here!!!"

Don't make this your brand.

Exclamation marks. They serve a vital function. But just as a child can overdose when spooning sugar onto his breakfast cereal, authors can insert too many !!!'s.

Of course, no professional writer uses more than one exclamation point at the end of a statement. In Facebook posts or text messages, there's no shame in writing, "A truck just rammed my car!!!" or "Jonny, don't forget to feed the dog!!" But in writing for publication, two or more is overkill and is a time-honored way of announcing, "I'm an amateur."

"Sure, I know that," you think. So you're tempted to stop reading this post. Don't. Let me share a personal experience that may prove helpful.

When I considered my latest YA manuscript ready for a critique, I contacted a fellow author who has proven herself to be a sharp-eyed critique partner. Tucked among her suggestions for improving my story was this observation: "There are way too many exclamation points--this is something that ha been driven home to me time and time again."

I thought, "Oh? All right then. I'll change a few exclamation marks to periods." I opened my doc, clicked the "Replace" feature and set to work tracking down nothing but exclamation marks. What I discovered shocked me. Her note had been an understatement. I truly did find far too many exclamation marks. Many of them changed to periods without losing any punch at all. In fact, in a quick-paced, action-packed chapter, exclamations must be used more sparingly than you're tempted to do. Otherwise, you simply knock the reader down with too shouts.

For instance, consider the scene after a battle. A soldier bends over a falled commander and feels his wrist. When the soldier finds a pulse, sure, you could make him blurt, "He's alive!" to those huddled around them. On the other hand, if you've already written lots of shouting and orders during the battle, you might want him to say the same words as a statement of relief--"He's alive.--before staunching the blood flow and beginning First Aid.

Another way to trim down the number of exclamation marks is to combine sentences or phrases. Instead of writing, "Bill! Don't shoot him!" simply change the first ! to a comma: "Bill, don't shoot him!"

You don't even need exclamation marks to make a powerful statement. Consider this cliffhanger line at that concludes one of my chapters: “Tell me, impudent little fool, if I give you a choice, is there any particular way you would like to die?” Whoa. Unusual question, right? I could have made the lady speaking these words yell them in anger. However, the low-key, subtle approach really is more effective.

So here's my suggestion as part of your self-editing process. Place your cursor on page one, start the"Find" feature, and scrutinize every exclamation mark. Is it truly necessary? Or are you weakening their effectiveness by overusing them?

Question: Maybe your !'s are under control, but do you OD on other punctuation? A love affair with question marks? Cancer of the semicolon? Do you dash all over your pages? Or maybe abundant ellipses make it look like G.I. Joe targeted your story with a machine gun? Spotting such problems is the first step to eliminating them.

Rick Barry is the author of over 200 published short stories and articles, plus two novels. Visit his personal blog at http://rickbarry.blogspot.com.

What a Solid Person Taught Me This Week

One never knows where a teacher might turn up. I found one in the pages of C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce. A Ghost, a well-known painter in his earthly life, comes via bus from Hell to Heaven. There a Solid Person meets him and does all he can to persuade his guest to stay. What follows is their conversation, condensed and altered for us writers. We’re not Ghosts but there might be something in it for us.

Ghost:

Why didn’t I think to bring my things so I could tell all this?

Solid Person:

I shouldn’t bother yet. There is nothing in the world to tell us. For now, we see better than you do. When you’ve grown into a Person—it’s alright; we all had to do it—then there’ll be some things you see better than anyone else. You’ll want to tell us about them. But not yet.

Come and see.

Ghost:

But I’ve had my look. How soon do you think I could begin telling my story?

Solid person:

If you’re interested in the story only for the sake of telling it, you’ll never learn to know its meaning. 

Come and feed.

Here the Solid Person takes the lead.

Solid person:

Your first love was Beauty itself. You loved to write only as a means of telling about beauty. What happened?

Ghost:

One grows out of that. One becomes more interested in writing for its own sake.

Solid Person:

Pens, plots and words are necessary but they are also dangerous stimulants. But for Grace, every writer is drawn away by them and taken down. Beware the slippery slope when love of Beauty shifts to love of telling. It will sink lower, to a love of one’s personality and then to a love of one’s reputation. Finally, in Deep Hell, writers cannot be interested in God Himself but only in what they say about Him.

Come and drink from the fountain.

When you have drunk its clear, cold water you will be cured of any inflammation. You forget forever all proprietorship in your own works. You enjoy them just as if they were someone else’s: without pride and without modesty.

The lesson leads to an invitation to something—indeed, Someone—far greater than the painter, or a writer, might seek: “He [who] is endless.”