Character Study: Creating Characters with the Enneagram
Tuesdays in December & January
11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET (virtual)
Our favorite characters feel like people we know. Their conflicts and desires leap off the page, and they linger with us long after a story ends. But writers commonly struggle to create characters whose vibrancy matches people in their favorite books, or in the real world. Even when a character emerges initially with a strong voice and backstory, we often lose that intensity and struggle to rediscover it as a project continues.
In this workshop, we’ll use the Enneagram, which has long been employed as a tool for deep personal growth, to transform our creative writing practice. We'll dive into the Enneagram’s triads (the gut, the heart, and the head) through teaching, discussion, and the Embodiment Tradition – an experiential, felt sense of the Enneagram that creates deep understanding of type.
Then, we’ll use readings and prompts to create characters of each type. We’ll craft backstories, dialogue, motivations, and dreams for characters, giving them distinct, compelling voices that will carry them through any plot. We will spend half of our time together learning, and half workshopping and sharing characters we're creating for our own projects.
The course will not only give you tools to create characters. They will also give us new access to the types and Essences in ourselves. You will leave with more compassion and clarity around these energies in you, with new capacity to access their unique strengths in your own life.
No Enneagram or writing experience is required for this course.
Schedule
December 1 | Class 1: Introductions, the Centers of Intelligence, the Instincts
December 8 | Class 2: The Body/Gut Triad (8, 9, 1)
December 15 | Class 3: The Heart Types (2, 3, 4)
No class the weeks of December 21 & 28
January 5 | Class 4: The Head Types (5, 6, 7)
January 12 | Class 5: Instincts and Other Triads
January 19 | Class 6: The Creative Process Enneagram
Cost
Your investment of $375 covers all six sessions, a 1:1 with the instructor (scheduled after enrollment), and recordings of all sessions.
Payment plans available.
A limited number of sliding scale spots are available; contact us directly to find out more.
Early bird pricing: $50 off until 11/1/2026 – use code CREATE at checkout.
In this six-session workshop, we’ll use the Enneagram, which has long been employed as a tool for deep personal growth, to transform our creative writing practice. We'll dive into the Enneagram’s triads (the gut, the heart, and the head) through teaching, discussion, and the Embodiment Tradition – an experiential, felt sense of the Enneagram that creates deep understanding of type. Tuesdays beginning Dec. 1 , 2026 from 11 a.m.– 1 p.m. (virtual). No class the weeks of Dec. 21 or 28.
About Your Instructor
Ali McGhee, PhD, is the Director and CEO of the Enneagram School of Awakening and the cofounder of Appalachian Convergence Lab. She lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside of Asheville, NC with her artist husband, wildling daughter, and a small crew of anxious animals. She is obsessed with plant identification, making her a potentially tiresome hiking partner. She is completing her SF/horror novel about people turning into trees.
A creative writer, journalist, and speaker, her work has been published in the MAPS Bulletin, Lucid News, Chacruna Chronicles, Scalawag, Atlantic Studies, Dark Mountain, AVLtoday, Asheville Grit, and others, and she been featured on stages for Psychedelic Science, Psychedelic Culture, PechaKucha, Listen to This: Stories on Stage, the International Enneagram Association (IEA) Global Conference, and the Woods and Wilds Storytelling Festival. She is a member of the Chacruna Chronicles Editorial Team, sits on the Story Board for narrative arts space Story Parlor, co-hosts CreativeMornings/Asheville, and co-creates a weekly live radio show, "Slumber Party," on 103.3 Asheville FM.
Testimonials
Two things: Ali’s class is a delight and my characters are way more interesting now. Ali is a deeply knowledgeable Enneagram expert and translates the profile through conversation, art, poetry, and music. A multi-sensory immersion. As a result, the dynamics between my characters are more grounded, more clearly differentiated, and easier to write. Great investment.
– Lauren P.
Ali has a deep knowledge of both the Enneagram and of writing. I love both of these arenas but hadn't thought to use the Enneagram in my writing until I took Ali's class. It was inspiring! Ideas and characters emerged easily. Ali used great prompts and made it a safe space in which to share our writing. I'm really glad I took this class.
– Madeline R.
You will love working with Ali! She's a teacher who makes me feel appreciated, unjudged and seen. Her insights are keen; they've helped me appreciate the Enneagram in new ways! She has a unique perspective, and she's always willing to hear what I have to say with an openness that feels honest. Further, if you are working with Ali for writing purposes, her humility is wide. She seems to me to have an intelligence and creativity beyond the norm. Ali exudes individuality and inclusion simultaneously! Oh and she's a super yoga/meditation teacher, too!
– Tracey J.
Ali's teaching style is engaging, fun, and thorough. She enthusiastically shares her insights and knowledge of the Enneagram with infectious passion. I learned an incredible amount in my workshop with her and my writing has improved. I have taken other Enneagram workshops for writers but this one excels over the others. I highly recommend . . . you won't be disappointed.
– Wendy van der Poll, bestselling author