Dear Friends and Family, Fans and Subscribers—
Notice anything different? I’m trying a Substack rather than posting blog posts. or using my old email template. Somehow this seems a bit more contemplative, less marketing-focused, so I’ll be sending out emails this way for a little while.
Also, my husband and I are leaving in a few weeks for a two-month trip that will take us through Nepal, India, and Bhutan, and a newsletter seemed like a good way to keep everyone updated. But this won’t come out more often than once a week.
Packing for a two month trip is a challenge. I’ve got most of my clothing figured out for two months of everything from trekking to nice dinners, and temperatures from 20 to 90. I have a knitting project that is small and complicated and should take me the whole 2 months.
But what I haven’t picked is what Tarot deck to bring.
*record scratch* What?
No, I don’t use Tarot cards as a divination tool, but I have started to use them as a prompt for creativity, a way to guide my current novel, a way to think about each day, and I’ve been finding it very rewarding.
My inspiration was seeing the book The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life by Jessa Crispin on a shelf at the library. I read the book, purchased a few decks, and now I’m pulling a card to think about each day.
Today’s is The Muse of Emotions/King of Cups from The Muse Tarot. It’s lovely and evocative, a reminder to incorporate thoughtfulness and emotions into my writing, to avoid manipulation, and strive for honesty and warmth.
I’ve also used spreads to delve into various aspects of character and plot. A simple three-card spread, asking, (1) what does this chapter need more of?, (2) what is working in this chapter?, and (3) what does this chapter need less of? has helped me get unstuck a few times.
I did a full Celtic Cross reading for a character that I couldn’t get my head around, and it made me think of how she is making ends meet, what kinds of material problems she had.
What I really like about using the cards this way is they can help me access my intuition about the book’s characters, plot, and themes. If I draw a card that doesn’t make sense or seems wrong to me, the knowledge of that wrongness is as helpful as pulling a card that feels right.
Whenever I work with the cards, I also journal about what I’m learning and discovering, because I also find that the act of writing by hand about my current project helps me learn more about it, and sort out where it needs to go.
Please let me know if this is something you do with your writing, or if you have other tricks for accessing your intuition! I’d love to learn more about other people’s techniques.
On this trip through South Asia, I’ll be doing some trekking, leaving my project and my laptop behind, but also some working from whatever tea houses, hotel rooms, and cafes have room for me to pull out my tiny Surface computer. I’ll be using this newsletter to write about my life and travels, and various aspects of writing. If you think of someone who might find it useful or interesting, please forward it to them!
I’m a huge fan of advice columns, and I’d love to do a little advice giving here, so if you have a writing problem you’d like me to address in a future newsletter, drop me a line at linnea.hartsuyker@gmail.com.
Linnea
My trilogy of novels about Viking-Age Norway, The Half-Drowned King, The Sea Queen, and The Golden Wolf, are available wherever books are sold. Find a place to buy them online here.