Thursday, August 05, 2010

Overthinking When Writing a Scene

Occasionally when I want to jump start my creativity with developing a character, I pull out my deck of tarot cards. I have the Paulina Tarot deck, designed by Paulina Cassidy.

I'm currently trying to get a hand on my female protagonist. She keeps trying to change who I want her to be. So, I drew a card from the deck. It was the Eight of Pentacles. I see a lady dancer, with a smile on her face and a catlike creature sitting at her feet smiling and observing. It's a great visual and it fits with the current situation. So, my character is trying to tell me that she wants to project a facade to hide her true goal, while the hero is watching her carefully, not at all fooled by her. Ah, so now I understand what she was trying to tell me. This is just enough of a creative jump to move ahead with the next scene. Sometimes I overthink what is happening, and then I find myself questioning my subplot.

Do you ever do that? How do you move ahead?

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