YA Writer, mom, history lover, music lover, avid reader, book hoarder, Safe Place volunteer, language enthusiast, dabbles w/ programming, and coffee addict. (All views are my own) Follow me on Twitter as well @HeatherHeleneYA.
this has always fascinated me. I first learned it about 25 years ago, and ever since, every time I see a capital letter A a tiny voice inside me goes “bull!”
Fun to see an actual scholarly version of this, because I first read it as explained (-ish) by one of Kipling’s “Just So Stories” a very, very long time ago…
00. THE FOOL: BEGINNINGS (What is the opening line to your current work?)
01. THE MAGICIAN: SPARK OF MAGIC (What inspired you to write your novel?)
02. THE HIGH PRIESTESS: WISDOM (What are your go-to craft books or resources?)
03. THE EMPRESS: CREATIVITY (What do you do to feed your creativity and gain inspiration?)
04. THE EMPEROR: STRUCTURE (How do you plot your novels?)
05. THE HIEROPHANT: TRADITION (Do you have any writing traditions you follow or plan to implement?)
06. THE LOVERS: RELATIONSHIPS (What are your favorite relationships to write about, whether romantic, familial, or platonic?)
07. THE CHARIOT: SUCCESS (How do you measure success?)
08. STRENGTH: COURAGE (What has been the hardest part of being a writer?)
09. THE HERMIT: SOLITUDE (Do you prefer to write alone, or do you have people on your team such as beta readers or critique partners?)
10. WHEEL OF FORTUNE: A TURNING POINT (What was the turning point in your writing career?)
11. JUSTICE: TRUTH (What is the 'truth' of your novel i.e the prevalent themes or overarching motifs?)
12. THE HANGED MAN: STUCK (What do you do when you have writer's block or find yourself stuck?)
13. DEATH: ENDINGS (What is your favorite ending to write i.e happy, sad, bittersweet?)
14. TEMPERANCE: PURPOSE (When did writing become your purpose?)
15. THE DEVIL: NEGATIVITY (What is your least developed writing skill?)
16. THE TOWER: DISASTER (What was the biggest setback in your writing journey?)
17. THE STAR: HOPE (What keeps you writing/querying/editing when things seem darkest?)
18. THE MOON: FEAR (What worries you most about your future writing career? What are you anticipating?)
19. THE SUN: POSITIVITY (What is your greatest writing strength or skill?)
20. JUDGMENT: CRITICISM (Are you afraid of how others will perceive your writing?)
21. THE WORLD: COMPLETION (How long did it take to finish your novel?)
MINOR ARCANA
CUPS
22. ACE OF CUPS: SELF-CARE (How do you practice self-care as an author?)
23. TWO OF CUPS: PARTNERSHIP (How did you find your agent? If you don’t have or want one, what are you doing to find one, or why aren’t you choosing to sign with one?)
24. THREE OF CUPS: CELEBRATION (How do you celebrate your wins, or plan to?)
25. FOUR OF CUPS: TURNING AWAY FROM OPPORTUNITIES (Was there ever a time you had to turn away an opportunity in your writing career?)
26. FIVE OF CUPS: REGRET (Do you have any regrets in your writing career?)
27. SIX OF CUPS: CHILDHOOD (Have you written since you were a child or did you pick up the skill as an adult?)
28. SEVEN OF CUPS: OVERWHELMED BY CHOICE (How do you decide which story idea to pursue? How many do you have?)
29. EIGHT OF CUPS: WALKING AWAY (At what point would you walk away from the goal of being published? Was there ever a moment where you considered it?)
30. NINE OF CUPS: WISH COME TRUE (How did you react when an agent offered you representation? If one hasn't yet, how do you imagine you will feel?)
31. TEN OF CUPS: AN IDEAL LIFE (If everything works out, what would your career look like in ten years?)
32. PAGE OF CUPS: A PLEASANT SURPRISE (What was your most recent writing-related pleasant surprise?)
33. KNIGHT OF CUPS: ROMANTICISM (Do you romanticize your everyday life as an author? Or perhaps, do you romanticize the imagined life you will live?)
34. QUEEN OF CUPS: EMOTIONALLY IN-TOUCH (Do you express yourself emotionally through your writing? Do you find yourself putting your feelings upon your characters?)
35. KING OF CUPS: MASTER OF TURBULENCE (How do you cope with the ups and downs of publishing?)
SWORDS
36. ACE OF SWORDS: NEW PROJECTS (What project/WIP do you want to work on next?)
37. TWO OF SWORDS: A DIFFICULT DECISION (Did you choose to traditionally publish or self-publish? Was the decision difficult?)
38. THREE OF SWORDS: PIERCED BY GRIEF (Have you ever had your heart broken by the writing or publishing journey?)
39. FOUR OF SWORDS: RECUPERATION (Have you ever dealt with burnout?)
40. FIVE OF SWORDS: COMPETITION (Have you ever entered a writing competition?)
41. SIX OF SWORDS: TRANSITION (Would you ever write out of the genre you usually write in?)
42. SEVEN OF SWORDS: STRATEGY (Do you have plans for marketing your book?)
43. EIGHT OF SWORDS: SELF-IMPOSED SUFFERING (Do you ever feel imposter syndrome regarding your writing?)
44. NINE OF SWORDS: NIGHTMARES (What would be the worst possible outcome for your writing career?)
45. TEN OF SWORDS: THE INEVITABLE END (If your work is a series, do you know how it will end? Do you fear or look forward to eventually putting away the world and characters?)
46. PAGE OF SWORDS: A NEW APPROACH (Have you tried a new writing technique, method, format, or style? Are there any you want to attempt?)
47. KNIGHT OF SWORDS: AMBITION (What is your loftiest, wildest goal?)
48. QUEEN OF SWORDS: THICK SKIN (Have you ever received a stabbing critique of your work? Did you handle it well?)
49. KING OF SWORDS: AUTHORITY (What authority, qualifications or expertise do you possess that makes you the person to tell your story?)
PENTACLES
50. ACE OF PENTACLES: A SUM OF MONEY (What did you spend your advance on, or what would you?)
51. TWO OF PENTACLES: TIME MANAGEMENT (How do you balance your writing with the rest of your life?)
52. THREE OF PENTACLES: TEAM WORK (Who will you thank in your acknowledgments?)
53. FOUR OF PENTACLES: FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE (Do you or would you write full time?)
54. FIVE OF PENTACLES: CALL FOR HELP (Who do you turn to when you need writing or publishing advice or to just vent?)
55. SIX OF PENTACLES: SHARING IS CARING (Do you share your knowledge whether to individuals or to an audience?)
56. SEVEN OF PENTACLES: LOOKING TO THE LONG-TERM (How long do you want to keep writing for? Is it a long-term goal?)
57. EIGHT OF PENTACLES: MASTERY (Do you feel like you've honed your writing skills or that you have much yet to learn?)
58. NINE OF PENTACLES: FRUITS OF YOUR LABOR (When will you know that you've "made it"?)
59. TEN OF PENTACLES: YOUR LEGACY (What do you want your legacy to be, or are you only worried about the here and now?)
60. PAGE OF PENTACLES: PROGRESS (How do you track your writing progress?)
61. KNIGHT OF PENTACLES: ROUTINE (What is your writing routine?)
62. QUEEN OF PENTACLES: HOME AND WORK (Do your family know you write?)
63. KING OF PENTACLES: MATERIAL GOALS (How much do you want to earn from your writing? Do you supplement it with any other projects?)
WANDS
64. ACE OF WANDS: NEW GROWTH (How do you grow the seed of an idea into a full story?)
65. TWO OF WANDS: PLANNING (Do you plot your stories or pants them?)
66. THREE OF WANDS: FORESIGHT (Do you know what your book cover is going to look like? Do you have a color in mind?)
67. FOUR OF WANDS: A PARTY (Did you have a launch party for your book or plan to?)
68. FIVE OF WANDS: DISAGREEMENT (Do your characters ever act of their own accord? Or do you find that adage false or silly?)
69: SIX OF WANDS: PUBLIC RECOGNITION (Have you practiced your autograph?)
70: SEVEN OF WANDS: HATERS (How will you deal with trolls or haters?)
71. EIGHT OF WANDS: TRAVEL (Have you traveled or would like to travel for your writing?)
72. NINE OF WANDS: RESILIENCE (How long were you on submission? If you haven't been, or don't plan to, what is the maximum length you think you could endure?)
73. TEN OF WANDS: HARD WORK (How long did it take you to edit your book?)
74. PAGE OF WANDS: EXPLORING (Do you prefer to write and explore new worlds or stick to contemporary settings?)
75. KNIGHT OF WANDS: PASSION (What are you passionate about other than writing?)
76. QUEEN OF WANDS: CONFIDENCE (Writers are often introverts; is there anything in your publishing journey you aren't as confident about such as the public aspect?)
77. KING OF WANDS: VISION (What is in your near future that you are heading towards? What do you have in plan?)
"Kill your darlings" means "if something is holding you back, get rid of it, even if it sounds pretty."
That's it! That's all it means! It means if you're stuck and stalled out on your story and you could fix the whole block by removing something but you're avoiding removing that thing because it's good, you remove that thing. That's the darling.
It does NOT mean
That you have to get rid of your self-indulgent writing
That you should delete something just because you like it (?wtf?)
That you need to kill off characters (??? what)
That you have to pare your story down to the absolute bare bones
That you have to delete anything whatsoever if you don't want to
The POINT is that you STOP FEELING GUILTY for throwing out good writing that isn't SERVING THE STORY.
The POINT is that you don't get so HUNG UP on the details that you lose sight of the BIG PICTURE.
What is the quote from Jingo, by Sir Terry Pratchett, to the effect of "when someone does something terrible, we want it to be one of Them, because if it isn't Them, then it is Us?"
“It was because he wanted there to be conspirators. It was much better to imagine men in some smoky room somewhere, made mad and cynical by privilege and power, plotting over the brandy. You had to cling to this sort of image, because if you didn’t then you might have to face the fact that bad things happened because ordinary people, the kind who brushed the dog and told their children bedtime stories, were capable of then going out and doing horrible things to other ordinary people. It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone’s fault. If it was Us, what did that make Me? After all, I’m one of Us. I must be. I’ve certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We’re always one of Us. It’s Them that do the bad things.”
Jingo. 1997. Pratchett, Terry. NY, London, and Ankh-Morpork: Harper-Collins. p. 205
I love that writing feeling where a story starts going in a very different direction than the one you initially intended, but somehow this new direction actually achieves your desired goals way better than the original plan would have done.
Went to Letchworth State Park today with a couple colleagues. So beautiful. Absolutely worth all the walking, slipping down muddy trails, climbing of "rustic stairs," and sweat. #getaway #letchworthstatepark #waterfalls
My colleague and I went out to Seneca Lake today. Beautiful place to jog and wind surf. On a related note, wind surfing is now on my #bucketlist. Even if I have zero coordination.
