Writing by the Numbers with the Minor Arcana: Aces Edition

Exploring beginnings and opportunities

New series alert! I want to look at the minor arcana by the numbers and explore how each number applies to plot, character, and writer. Naturally, we'll start with the Aces.

• Aces signify initiation.

• They are a portal or threshold to a new opportunity.

• They are fresh energy.

• New possibilities.

• The essence of the suit.

• And pure potentiality.

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The cards pictured below from right to left are:

• Ace of Wands from the Everyday Witch Tarot
  Wands tell a story about passion, fire, and creativity.

• Ace of Water (Cups) from the Rosebud Tarot
  Cups represent the watery depths of our subconscious, emotions and heart.

• Ace of Voices (Swords) from The Muse Tarot
  Swords are the suit of air focused on thought, mind and logic.

• Ace of Pentacles from The Linestrider's Journey
  Pentacles (sometime called Coins) are earthy. They speak to our interaction with the home, work and contribution.

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Aces and The Writer

I had to feature the Everyday Witch Tarot for the wands because this card showed up for me twice in one day. I was questioning my decision to join a class. The cost wasn't insignificant and I kept wavering. I pulled the card as part of my daily reading and it jumped out at me and said, 'Do not miss this opportunity!'

Still I wavered. Later in the day, exhausted by my own indecision, I did a reading focused specifically on choosing to register or not register for the course. Bam! Ace of Wands again.

When you read with a deck consistently over time, you and your deck develop a sort of short-hand. I understood this was an important opportunity and a new beginning for me. It would be so easy to say no to my passion for this subject matter and stay all cozy little comfort zone and Tarot said, 'Stop it. Follow your passion. Step through the portal and quit whining about it.'

For me, as a writer, beginnings are so difficult. Launching myself out of my comfort zone where I don't have to spend hours, days, and months stringing words together on a blank page is always a battle for me. I will brew and stew over an idea for years in some cases. Bueller?

Here are some ponderations to play with in your journal:

• Where do I want/need to expand? How am I resisting that expansion?

• If I had the opportunity to begin again, where/how would I start?

• What areas of my life are ripe with opportunity and possibility?

• What areas feel contracted? How can I open them to new possibilities?

• What am I excited about? Why?

Aces and Character

We want to write fully expressed characters, right? It sucks to be accused of writing flat characters who only serve the plot. I mean, the love interest has a name and has lived a full life. They show up in our story with beliefs, life-shaping experiences, and unmet desires. What do they want? Why are they here? Why this story? Why now?

Questions to explore:

• What opportunities did this character miss? How does this regret show up in their behavior?

• What new opportunities would challenge this character this most?

• What possibilities would pit their past against the present?

• What suit is this character the most comfortable in? Least comfortable?

• What suit do they avoid? Why do they avoid it?

Have you watched the Reacher series featuring Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher?

If you have a stomach for violence like I do, I highly recommend. First, let me be clear, I have a stomach for fictional violence. IRL, this gal is conflict avoidant and even with my severe case of feminine rage, I prefer peace. But, if you enjoy watching the hero give the bad guy his due with as much pain as possible, Reacher's your show.

Reacher has no home. He wants no home. He's a vagabond and a loner. He doesn't want any ties that bind. He doesn't want possessions. He isn't motivated by money. There's a wound or an avoidance in the suit of Pentacles here. New possibilities to put down roots and settle in one place send him running in the opposite direction. He would avoid an Ace of Pentacles opportunity like the plague. Which is why he needs to be confronted by an Ace of Pentacles moment in every series.

Aces and Plot

A story has to begin somewhere. Then we have the second beginning somewhere in the middle. And the new beginning that shows up at the end.

• What suit(s) provide the setting for your stories theme?

• What suits are in conflict in this story?

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Cups and Swords

The House by the Cerulean Sea - Pentacles and Wands. I could also make a strong argument for Cups, but I think the the theme is focused mostly on home and passion/purpose.

The Locked Tomb Trilogy - Swords, Swords, Swords and more Swords! Mind games, delusion, and literal swords.

All of this is play. Aces are an invitation to play with new beginnings and opportunities. Explore the impact of opportunities missed. What is the new beginning our story is driving towards?

I hope you have fun with the Aces and the suits of the minor arcana. If you want to share your discoveries, please do. See you next week with the deuces.