Tag Archives: Astrology

Friday Writing Experiment No. 16: People Of The Stars

by Andrew | Leave a comment

Zodiac

To mark the publication of Astrology Decoded by Sue Merlyn Farebrother, let’s use some astrology in this week’s writing experiment. The symbolic types that astrology describes can be very useful for writers, and help us in generating new characters, settings, and story ideas.

* Take an astrological sign, and in one paragraph write a brief character sketch in which you embody some of the essential qualities associated with that sign: behaviours, actions, gestures, physical traits, occupations, clothes, home, family, love life, and maybe a bit of summary about that person’s history too.

* Take another astrological sign, and repeat for a new character.

* Then introduce those characters to each other in a scene that includes some dialogue. Perhaps you can bring in some element of conflict or connection based on ways in which the signs’ essential traits might have some bearing on each other.

To help, you might want to consult some resources on astrological signs (more here), and also consider some of their elemental qualities.

To mix this up further:

* You might understand the difference between a sun sign (your essence or basic nature) and a rising sign (your mask or persona: how your essence meets life and interacts with the world). If so, you could make the portrait and exchange of your characters more complex by bringing in these added dimensions.

* If your knowledge of astrology goes deeper, perhaps you can introduce further influences or variables: planets, houses, aspects.

* Create a random character: pick a randomly chosen birth date (stick a pin in a calendar), and then use a computer-generated programme to assemble some characteristics before bringing them to life in a sketch or a scene.

* And maybe, if you have an existing piece of writing, you could use astrological signs in revision as a way to refine your characterisation: what are the signs of your characters, and how might these be brought out some more in the writing?

Dedication

by Andrew | 2 Comments

dedication

Last night I went to Treadwell’s for the launch of Astrology Decoded, by Sue Merlyn Farebrother. Sue was my tarot teacher, and quite a remarkable teacher at that: clear at communicating, in possession of great knowledge and authority, passionate about the subject, and always inviting us to dig deep into content that can be quite subtle.

Thinking as an editor, I was surprised she’d not written a book already, and before the course finished I ventured the question, ‘Sue, have you ever thought of writing a book on tarot?’ She replied that in fact her first idea was for a book on astrology … and here we are, a couple of years later, finished copies in our hands. I was very pleased to help out, first with putting together a proposal, and then with introducing her to my (other) friend Sue at Rider Books, which is an imprint of Random House. Another friend and former colleague, Helen, was the copyeditor.

I was flattered to be asked to launch the book at 8.40 p.m. yesterday (and to understand why that timing was so auspicious, I’ll be examining the book closely … my own studies are just at the beginning).

I was even prouder when I saw that the book had been dedicated to me!

Thanks, Sue.

But the other reason (as well as a bit of showing off) to title this post Dedication is that Sue’s own devotion to the task really made this book happen. She’s very well established in astrology circles (has a profile and platform, in publishingspeak). What’s more, she really knew the book that she wanted to write, and why: an introduction to the subject that goes beyond the crude generalisations of star sign columns in the newspaper, but presents the subject of astrology to the intelligent reader – someone who’s curious to know the meaning of signs, planets, houses and aspects, but not yet ready to dive into some of the more specialist technical works. It keeps that focus (so many books that do not get published are united only by their lack of focus). And, of course, Sue really knows her stuff; she is the right person to write a book such as this.

As such, this book fulfils what it set out to achieve. I hope it does really well – and in due course, I also hope to read that book on tarot as well, Sue!