Prime Mover or Fool?

Disclaimer: this series for writers/artists has to be fun for me to write or why do it? I may discontinue it at anytime that interest wanes or I feel I am not connecting to you, the reader.

The Tarot is not for everyone, even when used for writers by writers (well one writer, namely me in this case) – or – artists. These posts will be about inspiration as much as anything else that may emerge. I don’t know where this series will go, so if you join me on this “trip” be prepared for the unexpected. I know the end goal is to inspire and inform writers and artists but beyond that, we will have to discover it together.

Today I pulled The Knower card (also known as the Judgment card in the familiar Rider-Waite deck on the right) which is the end of the path. You might think the end is not a good place to start but you would be wrong. 

Although The Knower card is the end goal of the Nameless-One (aka The Fool), we need to know the end so we know where we are headed. Take that as a metaphor for writing your novel.

Knowing the end before you start helps save a lot of time and dead ends.

You have an inspiring moment when you get an idea for a story—but then what? 

Character. 

You need a character (hopefully more than one) because all action hinges upon a character. So now, build your character (refer to series on building characters through use of astrology and the Tarot). What problem does your character need to solve? What personal issue(s) does your character have that will need to be addressed and worked out that will create or interact with the events of the story? 

Learn about motivation. What motivates your character?

Know your character(s) well before you start your story.

Then, we have to start at the beginning (not that far back—the beginning of the problem). We don’t want back story right now—agents and editors call it info dump and hate to see it up front.

The Fool (the main character and/or the writer) starts out without care or concern, moving into his life story to begin his journey, not knowing of the pitfalls and dead ends or the predators that lie in wait to trip him up. He is the spinner of his own story. 

The books and maps are in his knap sack but he has not opened it to learn of the dangers along the way. He needs to be re-born by and during his journey (we are not talking about religion or past lives—posts on past lives will come later). He needs to find the strength, knowledge, courage (etc.) within himself to solve the problems that he will face—or not.

 

What is exciting about pulling this card is that it represents the NOW—not hundreds or thousands of years ago when these cards may have first been conceived. The spider above the Nameless-One is the Cosmic Spider (spinner of the web of destiny) and is in constant motion. This is also the motion of the writer or the writer in motion—spinning the story to capture the reader.

When we write without having read our own scrolls, as The Fool in the older deck, (and the scrolls of others) we come across as feckless or being without authority; writing words without having experienced those words—a spinner of tales that have no depth or meaning. 

Think of the action movies that hide their lack of meaningful plot with lots of chases, guns, explosions, sex and running; lots of emotions without purpose, like they were thrown into a mixer and spewed out in the guise of being a story.

Anyone can be a writer, but the people who have something to say will have the better story and if that person also studies his craft, he will become the better author/writer who lasts past one or two books, or one or two blog posts.

Write to reveal your story, or, know the end and work toward it—the path is your choice because you are the Nameless-One who finds the story and its end. 

(Note: the Nameless-One is the New Age deck that now shows the Fool reading his scroll—he got smart and is doing his research before his trek—or maybe he's checking his old fashioned map/GPS to find the best path—not sure which). 

Was this helpful?

Do you like the older Rider-Waite deck of The Fool and Judgment or the newer (New Age) deck of the Nameless-One and the Knower?

Do you write the story as you go, or do you know the end when you start?