Consistently Creative: Why ITSJs Actually Make Great Copywriters
I’ve been a writer since I’ve known how to write; reading, writing, and making up stories have consistently been a part of my childhood and adulthood. I choose the university specifically because it was one of the few at the time to have a Creative Writing undergraduate major, but while there I ran into a constant problem: my Myers-Brigg as an ISTJ.
If you’re into the Myers-Brigg personality tests, then you know that ISTJs are considered to be the wet glue of the bunch. We’re the unseasoned oatmeal. We’re the bread without butter or jam. The personification of Eyore, we’re stodgy, boring, dogmatic, and judgemental. We’re known for being the inspectors and the archivists. In the working world, we’re the administrators and the planners of the bunch, but we’re certainly not the creatives of the bunch.
It’s interesting because I’ve been an ISTJ since taking the test at 16, and in the creative world and profession, in some capacity since then. I can tell you that ISTJs definitely have a different way of viewing the world, and throughout my life, I’ve wondered if I really am that creative because I fall outside of the norms of the creative personality, or even the personality of a true leader. Or at least, the stereotypes of the creative — emotional, nurturing, and in tune with their feelings.
A common joke in college was that I wasn’t truly creative, but rather, a fan of creatives. The backup dancer of creatives due to being an ISTJ. But I’m here to tell you that ISTJs make great copywriters — a creative profession. Here’s why.
Warren Buffet: Characteristics of Myers Briggs ISTJ
Developed in 1943 by Katherine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers, the pair took Jung’s theories on personalities and wanted to introduce them to a wider audience. They spent 20 years developing the personality type system based on their research, and the first instrument was published in 1962. Although the test has little backing in science according to research, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is used in schools and employers to learn more about personality and how someone might think.
The tests determine several factors. Introversion vs. Extroversion, Sensing vs. Intuition, Thinking vs. Feeling, and Judging vs. Perception. I won’t go into all of them (perhaps could be another post), but the ISTJ is the third most common personality type among women at 7%, but is the most common personality type among men at 21% (I think, don’t quote me).
Common characteristics of ISTJs are that we’re: loyal, structured, friendly, caring, private, ambitious, introspective, realistic, straightforward, detail-oriented, and organized. ISTJs can get a lot accomplished during a short span of time. We’re also very neat and structured with our time, which is great quality.
ISTJs are also known to be cold, dogmatic, obsessive about past traditions, tactless, and stubborn. Most importantly for this post, they’re not known to be creative.
In my university days, this caused a great deal of insecurity. On the long road to becoming a creative writer, my classmates often teased me for being more invested in function and research as opposed to writing straight from the heart. And for that reason, I didn’t think I could survive in a creative type of job. Perhaps I lacked the heart for it — since ISTJs aren’t known for having hearts in the first place.
Factual, Punctual, Perfectionistic: Which ISTJ Characteristics Make them Great Copywriters
Although the most common personality type that can blend into the background, ISTJs have strengths that make them excel as copywriters, after all, the GOAT Copywriter Warren Buffet is an ISTJ. What made him so successful? He’s said before that when he writes his copy, he writes it like he’s talking to his sister.
That was an aha moment for me.
After the years spent in university, books read learning about writing, and books just learning how to write, I’ve found that voice is the pinnacle of what makes one story stand out from another; yet in a paradox, voice is the hardest technique to teach writers because it really can’t be taught. Just like a subject can choose a writer, voice has to choose the author as well. And there’s no way to lifehack the way through that.
The way I learned voice has much to do with my ISTJ personality. ISTJs are known as being great listeners because of their sensing dominance. We take in information from the world outside of us, whether it’s through an autumn walk, a winter’s chill, or just listening to people talk. This listening skill is important in copywriting because not only do copywriters have to nail down the persona of the client they’re trying to reach, but they also have to nail down the voice of the company. Everyone has different voices, so this might take some time to do.
While it still might seem strange that I’m a writer as an ISTJ, because we’re not very abstract (I’m certainly not), one way that I gather voice is through research. It’s reading the literature, researching the product, and getting to know the client, that I’m able to capture their voice. I’ve done one-voicing for various jobs. As a former teacher, one-voicing was also a part of my job, since I tailored my lesson plans to the student’s interests. This is an invaluable skill in copywriting because it means that ISTJs will capture the voice necessary. The voice is less about our own and more about the client. It’s a service.
This is a skill that requires patience, perseverance, and diligence because it’s not easy. I suspect that it might be more difficult for the intuitive because they rely more on their internal processing than listening to what’s going on on the outside. ISTJs are also great copywriters because we work well under deadlines and can maintain a cool, calm, and collected state under an immense amount of pressure.
What works in our favor is that ISTJs are efficient, practical, and perfectionistic. We have high values and standards, and we work hard to get it done correctly the first time. These skills make us great copywriters and we’re a wonderful asset to any client we work for, and any audience we write to.
Are you an ISTJ? A writer? What are your thoughts on ISTJs? Comment below.
