Writer

Monday, 22 May 2000
I'm an INFP (www.personalitypage.com/INFP.html), a Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, Perceiving.

There are more personality types, a total of 16, all with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Which of the 16 personality types fits you best?

  1. Answer a two part questionnaire (humanmetrics.com/...) with 72 questions.
  2. You'll get a four letter code of the personality that fits you best.
  3. Read your personal character description (www.personalitypage.com/...).
There aren't many INFP people around. My character is rare. I'm pretty unique, and happy with it, wouldn't want to change character for the world with anybody else.

One of the possible careers for me as INFP is writer (.../INFP_car.html). Unfortunately, I'm not a writer.

A chief editor once asked me to become a journalist. Why didn't I use my unique skills? I could make a fortune, better than wasting my time with computing. I can't share his point of view. There aren't many rich journalists around. The number of millionaires among writers is low too.

Seems like it's easier to make money in computer business that with writing. Computer experts are even more scarce, with a rare congenital brain disorder. A good computer expert is pretty unique which leads to a very nice hourly rate.

So, I've decided to get rich in the computers business first, and devote myself to writing afterwards. Well, there isn't much difference between the two professions.

Information Technology Writing
  1. Determine the scope of a project.
  2. Design the outside, a paper prototype.
  3. Structure the data and processes into an OO model that the computer will understand easily. Design a cute database too.
  4. Detail the methods using functional decomposition. Grap paper and pencil and design Yourdon charts (yourdon.com/.../#STRUCTURE_CHARTS).
  5. Install yourself behind the computer and start Object Oriented programming.
  1. Determine the subject.
  2. Lay down in the sun, with paper en pen, and write a first rough version.
  3. Structure the story. Make sure it will be easy to read for the public.
  4. Detail the story. Do some research, find relevant links.
  5. Install yourself behind the computer and start typing.
My IT job is not all that difficult. I listen to a customer's wishes, ponder about them, and then type them out, in Smalltalk or Java. It's so simple. Good to make a living out of it, but why don't customers do it themselves?

My typing is called programming, but it is just writing actually. So, I am a writer after all, with a computer as an audience.

Till next week!
Nut

Questions about your own character? Send an email to Antoinette Coetzee, antoinettesum-it.nl