How are both we and our characters circling and returning?
Just like our characters, we writers expand while circling our creative origins. Photo by @_bisum.
If you’ve studied with me before, you’ve probably heard me confess that I find the craft element of structure kind of boring. I dislike outlines and loathe the chore of writing up a synopsis, and while I enjoy chatting about the hero/heroine’s journey, I find its columns/shape to be confining.
Maybe it’s because I don’t like being told what to do? Ha!
Now, do I reference commonly used structures in both workshops and one-on-one mentoring? Of course! These are such helpful tools. And like other tools in the writing life, we can find balance by ensuring that we never spend too much time on formulas/templates/columns without carving out space for freer, more generative writing.
Designating space and time for what feels more organically creative can help us engage with said, boring frameworks.
So let’s do it! Get ready to write.
Photo by @didssph.
Guided Writing: Two Spirals
Quick recommendation: Set a time to discuss your reflections with a writing partner or fellow creative over coffee.
Start with you. In your creative life, what themes continually crop up in your storytelling? You might say romance, or travel, or health, or monsters; you might even get super specific and say things like food science or mountains or fabric or orchestral music. Make a quick list here. Take 4 minutes.
Do these themes have anything to do with the reason you write in the first place? What connections are you seeing between your need/desire to tell stories and these themes? Write for six minutes.
Now make a quick list for a main character—someone you’ve been working with for a long time, or someone you’ve only recently dreamed up. If you’re writing creative nonfiction, choose a subject other than yourself to deepen your understanding of another person in your memoir/nonfiction project. What does your character care about in their world? What do they keep delighting in/obsessing about? Make a quick list here. Take four minutes.
What connections are you seeing? Jot down your observations for three minutes.
How have both you and your character grown and evolved in the course of your life’s story so far? How have you changed; how are you changing? Simultaneously, how do you keep coming back to the things that move you and inspire you? How do you take them with you as you grow and change? Now, those are a lot of layered questions! You may not get to all of them. Pay attention to what is really leaping out to you in this moment. Write about both you and this character, swinging back and forth like a gentle pendulum, for eleven minutes.
Finally, one last breath. Sit for a moment with these imaginings/discoveries about both yourself and your character(s). Thank yourself again for taking this time. Thank your mind and all its storytelling layers.
Want Tarot-inspired writing prompts? Subscribe to The Fool & the Page or follow @foolandthepage on Instagram for regular updates.