This Tarot Blog Hop theme is LOVE. Just love. No question to answer. This round’s Blog Hop Mistress Alison Cross just said love.
I have to admit that it was really really really did I mention REALLY difficult for me to come up with a blog topic. I am not sure why except that it is really not a subject I think about this time of year. But then I realized that there is something I love about this time of year.
This time of year!
You see this is my favorite of all the seasons. Nothing beats rainy days, crackling fires, hot cider and cool days. I can’t think of anything I love more than fall. Crisp leaves, hints of wet earth and so much more make this a season I adore.
It’s also the time of NaNoWriMo. Do you know that I’ve never done a NaNoWriMo? It’s true. I haven’t. But I have taught a workshop for the past 5 or 6 years called the Hero’s Journey. It’s one of my Tarot for Writers workshops. Connecting creative minds with one more tool to help them create is a joy to me. But I have to admit that the workshops were very draining. And I could only take so many people at a time. Limits. It had so many limits that I began to dread offering it.
Then it hit me. I could take my love of teaching and offer it in another way. I hooked up with the Amazing Biz + Life Academy (click that link to sign up for some free goodies) where I met other heart-led entrepeneurs who were bringing what they loved to others. Because of the Business Goddess course, I got the idea to offer my Hero’s Journey as an eCourse.
Now anyone can take my workshop at any time. I think it’s brills, as my friends across the pond might say. No one is tied to my schedule. They can sign up when they like and get thirty three emails over as many days. It’s over forty thousand words geared towards teaching folks how to utilize their own voice, their own creativity and the Hero’s Journey. Tarot is the vehicle and each student chooses how fast they drive.
Tarot, for me, is such a gift for writing. Because Tarot for Writers is less about traditional interpretation and more about creative opening, it’s really the perfect tool. Here’s a peek at one of the spreads I offer in my eCourse.
Cocktail Spread
Next let’s examine a spread I do for my characters to deepen them. Often our characters are sketchy at first. We might know one or two things about them like caped crusader who fights crime. But we need more. We need to know what makes them stand out at the League of Justice company picnics. When this happens, I pretend I’m going to a cocktail party with my hero as my guest.
Cocktail parties are designed to be free-flowing and you need a quick introduction. For those in the writing business, you can think of this as your Elevator Pitch only for your character. You will draw three cards. The first card is what your character does for a living. The next is why your character does that for a living. And the last card is a personality quirk.
- Your Character’s Job
- Your Character’s Personality
- A Quirk
For me, the most important card here is the quirk. Let’s say your hero’s job is saving Metropolis from criminals (Knight of Swords). His personality is the strong, silent type (Emperor). But his quirk? His quirk is that he has this thing for a woman but she doesn’t know about his secret identity (Page of Pentacles.) I’m most interested in what makes him unusual, aren’t you?
So what about you? What do you love most about Fall?
Thanks for stopping by during this Tarot Blog Hop. Remember that comments are a great way of letting me know you were here. If you are a fellow writer, take a peek at my eCourse. NaNoWriMo does start tomorrow.
Tarot is great for coming up with twists in writing! So multi-faceted 🙂
Love how you’ve linked it to your new Hero’s Journey! And not a SINGLE mention of Hugh Jackman *arch expression* I’m taking him back 😀
Great spread, Arwen, enhancing the form-giving process of creating characters to GET to a solid place for character development ESPECIALLY with the quirks gig. Really diggin’ this. Like lovin’ this time of year, I’m lovin’ this spread. Happy Hallowe’en and have a Spooktacular day! Boo!
??? Pretty cool, though what a… surprise to advertise.. without even trying… oh, I now see the stuff below this. What a great feature, Arwen. Craftily rockin’.
My favorite thing about fall is the crisp cold air after a hot summer. I’ve experienced free writing with tarot answering the questions about autumn on my blog. It nice to write in the direction the card shows me 🙂
I like this you spread very much. Never thought about using tarot for fiction.
Love your Cocktail spread! I’ll raise a glass to that! Cheers 😀
Oh, this was timely! I’m actually doing NaNoWriMo this year and am presently petrified!
I love letting Tarot do character creation! And also just about every single thing about this season.
I love Nanowrimo, but not got the time or energy for it this year 🙁 I also find the Tarot a hugely inspiring tool for story-telling. Perhaps some day I will combine the two 🙂
Great post Arwen! I love the Cocktail spread, thanks for sharing. 🙂
I love that technique for developing a character, so fun and cool! I don’t tend to write fictional stories, but this spread makes me want to create a character anyway 🙂
Great post Arwen! That’s a great spread and I think I’ll give it a whirl the next time I’m trying to create a character I want to draw. Thanks!!!
Thank you Arwen for an insight to that creative process of writing. I should check out that ecourse. That spread is interesting. I’ve nver done fiction writing. Maybe I should try to have some fun with it:)
I love this too! I was singing “Forever Autumn” to my daughter in the park this morning whilst I was kicking through the leaves (wet as they were) and it was fun! Thanks for reminding me why I love this time of year 🙂