Human Design and Fiction Writers
Human Design and Fiction Writers – How to Write the Future podcast, episode 164
***
“Human Design is really helping you work with your energy rather than against it. There is no reason why you have to fight against yourself. It makes it very hard to be a creative person.” – Beth Barany
In the latest How To Write the Future podcast episode, host Beth Barany discusses how to use Human Design as a fiction author to your advantage, how to understand your results, and how this understanding can enhance your creativity, so you can work with it and not against it. From sharing the five types of Human Design to practical tools for writers, this episode will help unlock your creative potential.
Platforms the podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts | Buzzsprout | Spotify | Amazon Music| YouTube
RESOURCES
GET YOUR OWN HUMAN DESIGN CHART
https://www.mybodygraph.com/ (make a free account and chart)
FOR CREATIVE WRITING PROFESSIONALS – BUILD YOUR BUSINESS SERVING WRITERS
Sign up to be notified when our training opens and get a short Creative Business Style Quiz to help you create success.
https://bethbarany.com/apprenticeship/
Support our work for creatives!
Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany
GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING – START HERE
Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/
GET SOME FREE WRITING COACHING LIVE ON THE PODCAST
Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/
GET SUPPORT FOR YOUR FICTION WRITING BY A NOVELIST AND WRITING TEACHER AND COACH
Schedule an exploratory call here and see if Beth can support you today: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/discovery-call/
About the How To Write the Future podcast
The How To Write The Future podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers.This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.
This podcast is for you if you have questions like:
– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?
– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?
– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?
This podcast is for readers, too, if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.
Transcript for episode 164 Human Design and Fiction Writers
Introduction
Hey everyone. Beth Barany here with How to Write the Future podcast. I would like today to talk to you about one of the topics that I’m fascinated about: Human Design for Fiction Writers. In a moment, I’ll tell you what is Human Design and why I think it’s so interesting and useful for fiction writers. It’s something that I have been diving deep into for the last five or ten years.
[00:26] Purpose and Focus of the Podcast
This is a podcast to help writers, specifically science fiction and fantasy writers. And really, my focus is on how to help you with your creative process, how to help you with craft, and how to help you create positive, optimistic futures.
And part of that is how do we as human beings really orient towards positivity and optimism, and what could be for the better?
Not because I am ignoring all the problems in the world. I am not. It’s just that dwelling on things that I cannot impact directly is very frustrating.
So what do I do instead?
Where do I have power? I have power as a creative, as I have power as a teacher. And I have power– I have power to create.
And so I’m always curious on how can I get into the flow. Some of you may have heard about the flow. It’s this idea that when we’re creating or surfing or doing anything that we love –dancing, even cooking, washing dishes, kissing, right?
There’s gonna be moments where it feels like we are no longer feeling grumpy about what’s going on. But instead, we’re totally in it. We’re in the moment. There’s no separation between what we’re doing and us the doer and the thing we’re doing, and it’s just this beautiful experience. I don’t know about you, but when I’m writing, sometimes when I’m in the flow, I feel like I am in the story, nine times outta ten, that’s where I wanna go.
And nine times outta ten I get there. And one of the ways that I have found that really helps me as a writer, there are many things, but one of them is understanding myself better. Actually, I would say that was, that would be the top thing, and this is something that I’ve cared about my whole life, is how to know myself better. And I encourage that for you as well.
[02:23] Understanding Human Design
Let’s dive right into the topic, which is Human Design for fiction writers. So I really love human design because it is a system that this guy designed, like channeled, that really is an interesting way to help us get to know ourselves better.
Now, if you don’t believe in this stuff, hey, I totally understand. That’s fine. It’s not for you, but this is for the people who are curious about Human Design. Or maybe you already know a lot or some about human design.
Human Design is like astrology cubed. So if you know your birth date, your birth time, and where you’re born, you can have a Human Design chart made for you.
There’s so many places you can get a chart made and you can get one done for free online I’m gonna recommend to you, mybodygraph.com
It is the official website that originated from the designer’s idea of Human Design. So you make a free account. You put in your birth date, birth time, and location, and it will churn out a chart for you that looks like this.
All that to say, don’t get lost in the weeds just yet. What I really want you to focus on is once you do your chart, you are gonna be one of five types. And how can that help you?
[03:45] How can Human Design help you better?
So you’ll read your chart and you’ll read up about it and you’ll go, oh yeah, that sounds like me. Or, oh, huh, I don’t quite relate to that, but nine times outta ten, I have seen people when I tell them– I do their chart for them. And I tell them what this says about you, there’s something about them that like relaxes. It’s just oh, I don’t have to fight against myself anymore. You still can if you want, but isn’t it nice not to fight against yourself?
Human Design is really helping you work with your energy rather than against it. There is no reason why you have to fight against yourself. It makes it very hard to be a creative person.
So once you understand more of who you are, then you can work with who you are instead of against it. You can really unlock your creative potential, really find your flow, really perfect your writing process, so that you know you have created habits and processes, so that when you sit down to write, they entirely work for you. That way you can get work done, you can write, you can be in the writing space that you love so much.
One of the reasons I think writers complain about not liking to write is because they’re disconnected with their flow. They’re disconnected with their energetic truth.
They’re operating off of what they think it should be versus what it really is for themselves. Because your way of going about being a creative is not my way.
So let’s do a quick rundown. And I say quick because we could spend hours on this, honestly.
[05:16] The Five Types of Human Design
So there’s five types. And do your chart and then come back and listen to the rest of this episode.
So this will make some more sense for you. These types are Manifestors, Generators, Manifesting Generators, Projectors, and Reflectors.
[05:33] Manifestor
Now for Manifestors, I have met a few Manifestors and I have one, at least one I know of in my family. If you’re a Manifestor, you’re probably gonna write best in short bursts of inspiration, you’re probably best suited for writing sprints, working on independent projects and like absolute flexibility in your schedule.
You want total freedom to operate when you’re creative and when you’re not creative not to write. So really for you, the watchword is freedom and that is how you’re gonna dive into being consistent over time.
[06:07] Generators
For Generators and I am a Generator, we excel with sustainable energy on projects that we care about. So we really thrive on regular routines. We work well responding to prompts, or I prefer like external, like their stimuli from the outside and that will prompt me. And it’s really important that you work on topics that really excite you to keep your writing vibrant. No operating from the should or supposed to, or “other people do it like this.”
No. It really has to come from you and you have to be deeply excited about it, and find a regular routine that works for you.
[06:44] Manifesting Generators
Manifesting Generators. You are multitaskers. Embrace the multitasking. I have seen this with my friends who are multitaskers, and who are Manifesting Generator. They would think there was something wrong with them, that they were bouncing around all these different creative writing projects until they realized, no, that’s their happy place. And I encourage you to embrace the fact that it is your happy place. If it is your happy place, then you’re probably a Manifesting Generator.
So you might have three or four projects on the go at different stages. You also might not be writing in any particular order. Other people are like, how come you’re not doing this A, B, C, D, and you might be doing Z to A to F, so you’re not necessarily gonna do your projects in any, discernible order, and, and that is fun for you.
Multitasker, multitasking and doing things in all different kinds of order, I would say your watchword is embrace the multitasking.
[07:39] Projectors
Next is Projectors. I have had clients who are Projectors and I notice sometimes get really stuck also in how things should be done.
And they burn out because what they need is to work in short, deep sessions and then have downtime and creative space. So you’re not a generator. You actually, really work best with lots of open, relaxing time. Also, I find that projectors are really great teachers, writing teachers, because you’re natural guides and you’re very insightful on the creative writing process and how to do things.
So you excel at creating systems. So if you’re stuck with your own work, create a system for yourself, and you may need a lot of support and, external recognition, and invitation from other people, like a teacher or a guide, a coach or peers to help you really dive deep into your writing, and that’s totally fine.
So you need that kind of support. So for you, it’s about having the support, and the invitation to do short, deep writing sessions with a lot of downtime.
[08:41] Reflectors
And lastly, Reflectors. I have one family member who’s a Reflector and who’s highly creative and, generally, Reflectors are really sensitive, very attuned to their environment, and they really need a lot of time and space.
A lot of time and space to process their ideas and they really need a very inspiring workspace and really allow themself to follow the lunar cycle to make big choices, big decisions on important projects. So for you, for Reflectors, it’s about really honoring the full lunar cycle.
I wanna just now speak about another important part of your Human Design chart and that’s the authority. So here’s some practical tools.
[09:28] Practical Tools for Writers
Structure your writing session based on your type. So for example, Manifestors write in bursts. Generators like myself, we use scheduled blocks. Projectors work, focus best with short impactful sessions and Manifesting Generators really need the freedom to hop around from project to project.
You really need to create rituals in your environment that work for you and really understand that your own creative energy, your Human Design, your type, your authority can really help you dissolve your self judgment and comparison with other writers. And that in itself will reduce a tremendous amount of your creative blocks.
[10:11] Conclusion and Call to Action
So let me know if you have any questions about this. Write in and tell me your Human Design. What have you noticed? If you’re new to Human Design, let me know your questions as they relate to the creative writing process. If you’ve been playing around with Human Design, tell me what you observe. I’ve worked with writers and analyzed their charts and helped them design their creative writing processes.
If this is something that you would like, reach out to me and we could do a coaching session, a coaching consulting session, and people hire me for that. Alright, that’s it for this week, everyone. Write long and prosper.
Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2012061
Need instructions on how to leave a review? Go here.
***
Support our work for creatives: leave a tip: [bold] https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany
***
ABOUT BETH BARANY
Beth Barany teaches science fiction and fantasy novelists how to write, edit, and publish their books as a coach, teacher, consultant, and developmental editor. She’s an award-winning fantasy and science fiction novelist and runs the podcast, “How To Write The Future.”
Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:
Author site / Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog
CONNECT
Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580
Email: beth@bethbarany.com
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethbarany/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/bethbarany/
TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@bethbarany/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/bethbarany
X: https://twitter.com/BethBarany
CREDITS
- EDITED WITH DESCRIPT: https://www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCA (Refer-a-Friend link)
- MUSIC CREDITS : Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/fuzz-buzz License code: UMMKDRL02DFGKJ0L. “Fuzz buzz” by Soundroll. Commercial license: https://musicvine.com/track/soundroll/fuzz-buzz.
- DISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1994465 (Refer-a-Friend link)
- SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth Barany
- SHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade
c 2025 BETH BARANY
For more “How To Write the Future” episodes, go here.
If you’d like to invite Beth onto your podcast, drop her a note here.
✅ Like the work we do? Tip us! https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany
