Astro-characters: A writers guide to creating compelling fictional characters with the signs of zodiac - Softcover

Judy Hall

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1782792430 ISBN 13: 9781782792437

Publisher: Compass Books, 2013

Synopsis

Many new and even experienced fiction writers find characterisation difficult. Astrology offers a unique and very easy method of creating effective, intriguing, and authentic multi-layered personalities that leap off the page. Astro-characters starts with a guide to creating vibrant, believable characters. The twelve zodiac archetypes then share their intimate secrets, letting the reader into the quirks, flaws and foibles that are so fascinating to readers and essential for a writer. Simply decide whereabouts in the year a character was born, throw in a couple of curved balls, the moon and the rising sign mix them around a little and there you have it. A multi-layered, tailor-made protagonist to fit any plot with no astrological knowledge required. The book tells you everything you need to know.

About this title

About the Author

An internationally known author, astrologer, psychic, healer and workshop leader, Judy has been a karmic counsellor for over forty years. Her books have been translated into fifteen languages. Her first novel Torn Clouds was published by (O Books), February 2005. O Books also publish Crystal Prescriptions: the A-Z guide to over 1,200 symptoms and their healing crystals. She lives in Dorset, UK.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Astro-characters

A writer's guide to creating compelling fictional characters with the signs of zodiac

By Judy Hall

John Hunt Publishing Ltd.

Copyright © 2013 Judy Hall
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-78279-243-7

Contents

Introduction: Convincing characters........................................
1
Chapter 1: How to use this book: Celestial archetypes; 
Astro-personalities; The zodiac profiles; What a sun-sign tells you; 
Adding complexity; Meeting the shadow; Creating your astro-character.......
6
Chapter 2: Will an example help? Writing from life; Reader, he married 
her; Who dun what? That is the question....................................
22
Chapter 3: Getting started.................................................
44
Chapter 4: Interview your character........................................
47
Chapter 5 P.S. Zodiac sex style............................................
50
Chapter 6: Aries: the rambunctious Ram.....................................
54
Chapter 7: Taurus: the sybaritic Bull......................................
63
Chapter 8: Gemini: the talkative Twins.....................................
73
Chapter 9: Cancer: the canny Crab..........................................
83
Chapter 10: Leo: the flamboyant Lion.......................................
94
Chapter 11: Virgo: the fastidious Corn Maiden..............................
104
Chapter 12: Libra: the amorous Scales......................................
114
Chapter 13: Scorpio: the touchy Scorpion...................................
124
Chapter 14: Sagittarius: the insouciant Archer.............................
134
Chapter 15: Capricorn: the conservative Goat...............................
143
Chapter 15: Aquarius: the rebellious Water Bearer..........................
153
Chapter 17: Pisces: the slippery Fishes....................................
163
Further reading and acknowledgements.......................................
174
About the Author...........................................................
175

CHAPTER 1

How to Use this Book

Forming characters! Whose? Our own or others? Both. And inthat momentous fact lies the peril and responsibility of ourexistence.

Elihu Burritt (Sagittarius sun, Taurus moon)

The signs of the zodiac can be looked on as archetypes: recurrentmotifs deeply ingrained in the human psyche that drive humanbehaviour. These archetypes have been described for at leastthree thousand years so it's no wonder readers identify withthem. The zodiac archetypes broadly delineate how someoneborn under each sun-sign will act, think and feel and they don'tshy away from the darker, hidden sign of human nature. Inancient times the signs were given names that not only resembledthe zodiac constellations in the sky but also described thetemperament that went with each zodiac personality. The profilesin this book are drawn with a somewhat jaundiced eye, delineatingthe darker facets of the signs but that's what makes themuseful to writers – and interesting to readers. We don't want tostay on the surface. We need to incorporate quirks, flaws andfoibles to make our protagonists authentic – and intriguing.

Celestial archetypes

Aries is the Ram and those horns head-butt their way throughlife.

Taurus is the Bull: strong and slow to anger but watch out whenit charges.

Gemini is the Twins: the first human sigil in the zodiac and ohhow the twins love to share ideas.

Cancer is the Crab with the tough shell, soft underbelly, andclaws that hold on tight.

Leo is the Lion: proud leader of the pack.

Virgo is now the Virgin, pure and chaste, but this used to be thefruitful Corn Maiden so there's an erotic undertone and hugeinternal struggle.

Libra is the only inanimate sigil, those Scales judge and weighthings in the balance, swinging wildly until equilibrium is found.

Scorpio is the mesmerising Scorpion, watch out for the vicioussting in the tail.

Sagittarius is the Centaur-Archer that combines animal andhuman, instinct and intellect, and lets fly that arrow wherever itwill.

Capricorn is the Goat. Fleet footed mountain goats quickly makeit to the top whilst their domesticated cousins stay corralledwithin tight limits. In the old Babylonian zodiac, Capricorn wasthe sea goat with a tail in the waters of the unconscious and headin the intellectual air realm above, blending intuition withreason.

Aquarius, the Water Bearer, pours out the waters of life but tendsto be a detached observer of the life that feelings create.

Imaginative, escapist Pisces is summed up by its two interlinkedFishes swimming in opposite directions but forever tiedtogether.

The astro-profiles in this book are built on how the signs willbehave, think, speak and feel under different circumstances. Thisbehaviour is embedded deep in the human psyche. Twomillennia ago, Marcus Manilius, a Stoic philosopher, describedthe zodiac characters:

The Ram [Aries] will ever cherish hopes, he will rise from thesudden shipwreck of his affairs to abundant wealth only tomeet with a fall, and his desires will lead him to disaster, hewill yield his produce for the common good. The Ram has adiffident heart that ever yearns to commend itself by its ownpraise.

The Bull [Taurus] demands a yoke for its shoulders andneither pauses in the furrows nor relaxes its breast in the dust.Their hearts and bodies derive strength from a massivenessthat is slow to move, whilst in their faces dwells the boy-godLove.

The Twins [Gemini] find even work a pleasure, theirs is a lifeof ease and unfading youth spent in the arms of love. Theyalso discover new paths to the skies. Nature yields to theirgenius. So many are the accomplishments of which the Twinsis fruitful.

The Crab [Cancer] has a grasping spirit and, unwilling to giveitself in service, the Crab distributes many kinds of gain, andskill in making profits. He sells seasons of idleness at rates ofinterest to his liking. His is a shrewd nature and he is ready tofight for his profits.

The Lion [Leo] filled with the urge to adorn their proudportals with pelts spending their lives on spoil and pillagingof stocks. They swagger about to meet the demands of luxury.Their temper is prone to fitful wrath and ready withdrawaland guileless are the sentiments of their honest hearts.

The Virgin [Virgo] minds trained in the learned arts. Theimpulse to investigate the causes and effects of things. Onthem she will confer a tongue which charms, the mastery ofwords, and that mental vision which can discern all thingshowever concealed they may be. Bashfulness handicaps theearly years of such persons.

The Scales [Libra] acquainted with the tablets of law, he willknow what is permissible and the penalties incurred by doingwhat is forbidden. Whatever stands in dispute and needs aruling the pointer of the balance will determine.

The Scorpion [Scorpio] creates natures ardent for war andactive service, and a spirit which rejoices in plenteousbloodshed and in carnage more than in plunder.

The Centaur [Sagittarius] delights in imposing a master onevery kind of quadruped and taming them. It impartskeenness to the intellect, swiftness of movement and anindefatigable spirit.

Capricorn smelts out riches and folds surehanded themalleable mass. Has a fondness for clothes and wares whichdispel the cold. The first half of the sign has a fondness forlove and is charged with guilt, the second half has a virtuousold age.

The youthful Waterman [Aquarius] bestows skills such ashow to divine springs from under the ground. They whoissue from this sign are a gentle and lovable breed and nomeanness of heart is theirs; they are prone to suffer losses;and of riches they have neither need nor surfit [sic]. Even thusdoth the urn's stream flow.

The Fishes [Pisces] possess a love of the sea. They hide thehook within the bait or the guile within the weel [sic]. Thechildren of this sign have a friendly disposition, swiftness ofmovement and live where everything is ever apt to change.(Extracted from Manilius, Astronomica)

Descriptions which today would be recognised by astrologersand which are of inestimable value to writers as a reader willinstinctively recognise a zodiac-based character.

Astro-personalities

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a womanclothed with the sun, and the moon under her, and upon herhead a crown of twelve stars.Revelations 12:1

For most people astrology is what they read in their 'stars', dailyor monthly horoscopes. Such predictions may hint at an astro-personalityand each sign's idiosyncratic quirks with commentssuch as 'your love of gossip' (Gemini) 'your secretive sign ...'(Scorpio), 'your brutal honesty ...' (Sagittarius) or 'your romanticnature ...' (Pisces), but give no indication of what astrologyreally offers an author. This ancient technique has consistentlymapped the vagaries of the human psyche. It gives you a uniqueinsight into people and makes your protagonists leap off thepage. No matter how surprising, their behaviour will always bein character.

Writers are very familiar with the process of creating – anddissecting – complexity. We have to be intimate with all thehidden corners of our characters' to fully reveal all their layers.We need to know our characters darkest secrets, their backstory,their hopes and dreams, their struggles and challenges. I believewe can only be truly intimate – and our protagonists authentic – ifwe are completely honest with the reader, holding nothing ofthe character back out of fear or favour – although you can ofcourse sneakily hold back for the purpose of creating intrigueand impact at the appropriate moment.

Intimacy is about opening and sharing yourself on all levelswith someone other. In the case of writers it is about sharing ourcharacters with our readers, but it also involves sharing ourselveswith our characters. All writers advertently or inadvertently putsomething of themselves into their creations. So intimacy is howclose you as a writer can allow someone to come to yourcharacter, and how deeply you can share your character'sthoughts and feelings, passions and aversions, prejudices andfoibles. To be intimate, you have to surrender yourself. Whichmakes writers vulnerable, so trust is essential for such intimacy.Trust in the process of creativity, trust in our readers, trust in ourcharacters. For some sun-signs this is easy, but for other, moresuspicious or introverted signs, intimacy and trust are anenormous challenge. So, writing certain characters will be morechallenging than others. Both from your own point of view,according to your personal astrology, and that of your protagonist.But, whichever sign you choose for your character,astrology throws light into the most complex of personalities.

The zodiac profiles

You stars that reigned at my nativityWhose influence hath allotted death and hellDr Faustus Christopher Marlowe

Each zodiac profile gives you an outline of essential traits for aparticular sun sign. A 'crib-sheet' comes first. A thumb nailsketch that gives you an instant identity kit: first impression,appearance, dress, stance, verbal style, likes and dislikes and soon. Incorporate these and already you will have an identifiablecharacter that resonates with your reader. But to add depth, andto place your character in role in the story, this is followed by thezodiac sign itself giving you a more in-depth look at its personalitystyle, what makes that sign tick and what a male or femalecharacter with that sun-sign would reveal to you. For each signthere is an example of 'astro-speak' taken from blogs, emails orreal-life conversations in which someone with the sun in thatsign speaks their truth.

While each sun-sign shares specific characteristics, certaintraits will reveal themselves more in one type of relationship thananother – lover, co-worker or friend – each of which can be incorporatedinto your writing. So 'getting to know me' is followed bythe sign letting you in on how it acts in love and partnership,friendship and as a co-worker together with a compatibilityrating with other signs so that you can introduce tension orharmony between your characters as required. It's up to you todecide how honest that zodiac sign is being with you – somewithhold themselves much more than others, letting you onlycatch sideways glimpses of their true nature. But the languagethey use will tell you a great deal about how they viewthemselves and how willing they are to let you enter into theirworld. Read the spaces between the words to gain the deepestinsight.

The sun is only part of your character's own unique self. Thequalities that character brings to a relationship or environmentare modified by other factors as we will see (which take intoaccount time and place of birth but don't worry, you can useartistic licence) so in the Astro-profiles the moon in a zodiac signand as the rising-sign mask reveal their secrets to you. However,from the sun-sign alone, it is possible to build a believable,although somewhat shallow, character base and to predict howthat character will behave.

What a sun-sign tells you

A man's character may be learned from the adjectives whichhe habitually uses in conversation.Mark Twain (Sagittarius sun, Aries moon, Scorpio rising)

The zodiac sign under which someone was born represents aparticular approach to life which is broadly shared with everyoneborn under that sign – although in some cases it can be hidden bythe rising sign mask. In astrology, this is called the sun-sign.How your characters' drives are expressed and how much theyshare themselves with others is shown by the sun-sign. Somesigns are introverted, shy and retiring, others are extravert, fullon and unstoppable. Certain sun-signs initiate, or respond,others react; some live in the inner world of the imagination,others in the external world of action. There are signs that areuninhibited exhibitionists whilst others take a great deal ofcoaxing to reveal their desires.

Choose a birthday for your characters and as a writer youinstantly know their personality, their secret hopes and dreams,their strengths and weaknesses, their internal struggles, theirvocabulary, how they look, the mask they put on to meet theworld, and how they act in friendship or adversity and in love.Each sign has a particular body language and distinctiveappearance. To see a typical Aries take a look, for instance, atWilliam Bell Scott's painting of the poetic writer AlgernonSwinburne with his wayward curly auburn hair and slantingeyebrows above hypnotic eyes, or the caricature of him by 'Ape'in Vanity Fair (both images are on Wikipedia). He had the sunand moon in heroic Aries and romantic, escapist Pisces risingexplains the mesmeric eyes.

When facing opposition, plucky Aries squares up ready to dobattle, fists metaphorically – or literally – raised; whilst themuch-slower-to-anger Taurus head goes down, like a bull aboutto charge. When the Taurus foot starts pawing the ground,sensible signs withdraw – fast. Light on the feet, Gemini dancesaround and lets fly a string of words, but Cancer folds both armsover the solar plexus and scuttles sideways avoiding head-onconfrontation while Libra takes on an appeasing stance. Leoquells rebellion with a regal look, Scorpio with a penetratingstare. That Aries person will have emphatic eyebrows that meetin the middle, the Taurus a large head set on a strong neck abovewide shoulders and tapering legs, the bright-eyed Gemini isdarting, bird-like; while the Cancer face resembles the moon andLibra looks good at any time. But how your character looks is notonly a product of the sun-sign, it can be masked by anotherfactor, the rising-sign, which we'll come to in a moment.

Adding complexity

People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world isalso a confession of character.Ralph Waldo Emerson (Gemini sun, Leo moon, Libra rising)

The beauty of astro-characterisation is that you add in variablesto give an appearance and approach to the world that can maskthe innate sun-sign traits, creating conflicts and complexities,leaving more to discover and intrigue. Each zodiac entry has acompatibility chart at the end. This not only tells you which signsinteract well or clash with the sign you have chosen for yourcharacter but it also gives you subtle complexities and permutationsthrough the inclusion in your protagonist of traits from twomore zodiac signs creating internal tensions and dilemmas.

This complex layering can answer one of the most perplexingrelationship questions there is: why did two characters gettogether in the first place? Two people who outwardly seem tohave nothing in common are drawn to each other like magnets.They will say that, deep down, they recognised each other. Veryoften this is because the sun and moon signs intertwine and arecompatible, or they share the same moon sign. A guy will have,say, the sun in Aries and a woman the moon. At a very deep levelthey are incredibly similar and share some basic characteristics.They literally each see the other reflected back as though in amirror and feel 'I've come home'. But this is only on one level.There are also another sun and moon – or sun and sun – placementand two rising signs to take into account. Add inclashing sign traits and you soon begin to realise why 'home'doesn't always feel as comfortable as it might. The facets of thezodiac create attractions, conflicts and tensions within the pair.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Astro-characters by Judy Hall. Copyright © 2013 Judy Hall. Excerpted by permission of John Hunt Publishing Ltd..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Compass Books
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1782792430
• ISBN 13: 9781782792437
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 186