What Type of Writer Are You? All About the Spiller Writer

A look into the Spiller Writer archetype.

Last year I came up with this idea that there are five writer archetypes: teacher, spiller, artist, hesitater, and skipper. After talking to thousands of writers and working through the test with them, I’m confident that the idea of Writer Archetypes is a good one.

Today’s post is all about the Spiller Writer, who is a confessional-type writer.

You can click here to take the Writer Archetype test to find out whether you’re a Teacher Writer. I’ll write about the other four archetypes over the next four days.

Read about the Teacher Writer archetype here.

What is a Spiller Writer?

A Spiller Writer is sometimes called a ‘confessional writer.’ Especially if they’re bloggers. Even fiction writers can be Spillers at heart, though.

Spiller Writers, of all the archetypes, are natural storytellers. They lead with story. Telling that story is the most important thing to them. Their readers often are almost peeping Toms, peeking into the inner workings of the writer.

These writers have an easier time than any of the other archetypes with being vulnerable and authentic. They are wholly themselves and that draws their readers to them.

Spiller-type fiction writers often write stories that are very character driven. Think Bridget Jones’s Diary or anything by Jane Austen. When you think about a Spiller writer’s book or story, you’ll remember the character first. Spiller fiction is often the novel-version of a confessional blog post.

My favorite novel of all time (I’ve read it almost every year since I was ten) is Little Women. I think Louisa May Alcott is the quintessential Spiller fiction writer.

The hallmark of a Spiller Writer is the storytelling.

Every Spiller Writer I know has what seems like a magical power to me. They can tell a story about themselves that makes me understand something about myself.

In other words, they somehow manage to write something very personal and make it all about the reader.

They do that by being masterful, natural storytellers. A perfect example is a Spiller Writer who came to a Ninja Writer call last week and told a story about an experience she had at concert and every single person who offered feedback talked about how made them relive one of their own experiences.

The weakness for a Spiller Writer is that they need to remember to invite the reader in.

The Spiller actually needs to pull off that magic trick and make it all about another person, even when it doesn’t seem like it is. But that magic is actually a skill.

If you’re a Spiller Writer, that means remembering to include a takeaway for your reader. It might be subtle, but it needs to be there. What do you want your reader to do with what you’ve told them?

My student who shared her post about being at a concert shared with us the ‘one thing you should never ask a rock star.’ The effect was to leave every single reader thinking about the one question they wouldn’t want to ask one of their idols.

Spiller Writers are like rockstars themselves, standing on a stage with their readers filling the seats. They thrive on the energy coming at them, but ultimately, they are at least somewhat separated from the masses.

You May Be a Spiller Writer if . . .

• You like to write personal essays and you’re comfortable with making yourself vulnerable. (Or, at least, you’re okay with being uncomfortable.)
• You write mostly for yourself and you’d write pretty much the same things you publish even if no one read it.
• You like to journal.
• You have plenty of ideas, but you’re not bombarded with them. You probably have to work a little harder than your Teacher Writer friends for ideas, but they’re their.
• Your readers read you to get a glimpse into a different world/life.
• Storytelling comes easy to you.
• You struggle with figuring out how to end your stories.
• You tend to forget that you’re writing for anyone else.
• You might write for free, if people paid attention to your work.
• You prefer a little bit of space between you and your readers. You might even prefer a pen name.
• Your work often makes readers tell you their own stories.
• You struggle with writing pretty much anything unless you really, really want to.
• You might enjoy your readers — really love them, even — but interacting directly with them might either scare you a little or drain you.

How to Lean into Being a Spiller Writer

You’re a storyteller. You don’t have to try to be a more prescriptive writer. How-to or listicle posts just might not be your thing. And that’s okay.

If you want and/or need to write that kind of thing, lean into the idea that your strong suit will be the story at the front your post. The why can be as important to that kind of post as the how. And you excel at the why.

Try looking at that kind of prescriptive writing and tell a story about it.

So, instead of writing about ‘how to be more productive at work,’ write about what being more productive at work did in your life. You’ll probably have a better time (and better success) telling your readers about the time you fell asleep at your desk than you will writing about five ways to have more energy in the afternoon.

If you’re a fiction writer, lean into creating an awesome character you can tell a story through. This will likely always be your happy place.

Systems Spiller Writers Need

Spiller Writers need systems to help them:

• Remember to invite their readers into the story.
• Get out of their own head and write things because they need to — if they are trying to be working writers earning a living.
• Set and keep boundaries.

Here are some ideas for those systems.

Inviting Readers In

This is where a framework comes in. It will help you to remember that while you’re writing for yourself, your reader is there, too.

Here’s the framework I use for my blog posts. It includes ‘takeaway’ at the end — which is that invitation.

Write Things You Don’t Want to Write

If you want to be a working writer who earns a living, sometimes you’re going to have to write stuff that doesn’t appeal to you very much. Someone will assign it to you.

Just like any other job, writers rarely get to only write what they want if they’re being paid.

The best system I know for managing this is Mark Twain’s advice for eating a frog first thing in the morning. Everything else will be better after that. Do the writing you have to do first. Reward yourself with the writing you want to do.

Setting and Keeping Boundaries

If you’re writing on very sensitive topics or sharing really deep information about yourself — you’re going to need a system for setting and keeping boundaries.

I have a couple of ideas for you.

One is to use a pen name. By keeping your real name to yourself, you’ll create a buffer between your actual life and your readers that you might find you really need.

Another idea is to create your boundaries now. Right now. Before you need them. Decide whether you’ll respond to emails, whether you’ll read comments, how you’ll interact with your readers. Are there topics you’re just not going to write about? (Hint: you’re allowed to have those.)

Blends

Most people have some sort of blend of more than one archetype. Here are the Spiller-forward blends. Spiller-Hesitaters are Spiller writers who haven’t hit their stride yet. They are Hesitaters who can see that they’ll be Spillers when they get past their hesitation.

Spiller-Teachers

A Spiller-Teacher has just enough Teacher in them to offset the Spiller’s tendency to forget to invite their reader in. These writers are more likely than other Spillers to enjoy interacting directly with readers.

Spiller-Teachers are natural bloggers — indeed, they are often the most successful of bloggers.

Spiller-Artist

Okay, this is going to be a tough one for you, but stick with me. If you’re a Spiller-Artist, you not only have a Spiller’s tendency to forget about their readers, you have the Artist’s tendency toward perfectionism.

As a result, you might find that you really, really need systems for making sure you actually put your work out into the world. When you do that, your work is likely to be pretty spectacular because you put so much thought and work into it.

Spiller-Artists are often novelists or memoirists. I’d call Harper Lee a Spiller-Artist. She only ever published one book — but what a book.

Spiller-Skipper

A Spiller-Skipper is a Spiller with a little jolt of the Skipper’s desire to want to know where the money is coming from. This writer will have less trouble than other Spillers with making themselves do work they don’t want to do. They’re more motivated by money, which means that they’re equipped to do work they need to in order to be paid.

These writers might find themselves leaning into writing that they know will pay them, whether that’s freelancing personal essays or self-publishing memoir.

Here’s my secret weapon for sticking with whatever your thing is.

Shaunta Grimes is a writer and teacher. She is an out-of-place Nevadan living in Northwestern PA with her husband, three superstar kids, two dementia patients, a good friend, Alfred the cat, and a yellow rescue dog named Maybelline Scout. She’s on Twitter @shauntagrimes and is the author of Viral Nation and Rebel Nation and the upcoming novel The Astonishing Maybe. She is the original Ninja Writer.