Astrology for Writers: Spark Your Creativity Using the Zodiac

by Corrine Kenner

Enhance your storytelling with the cosmic drama of the stars The nighttime sky has inspired writers and astrologers alike to spin stories on the strands of starlight. Discover that inspiration for your own creative writing in Astrology for Writers , the essential guide to understanding the core concepts of astrology―the planets, signs, and houses―and discovering how they correspond to the elements of fiction. Unleash your creativity with a wide range of ideas that help you add astrology to your writing practice. Learn how to use the planets for characters, the signs of the zodiac for plot and themes, and the houses of the horoscope for settings. Develop unique characters based on mythic archetypes, use astrological imagery and symbolism for your descriptions and dialogue, and put theory into practice with writing prompts and examples. Invite the gods and goddesses of astrology to enter your writing and share their stories through you.

Genres: Astrology, Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

336 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2013

About the author

Corrine Kenner is a certified tarot master and the author of several books, including Simple Fortunetelling with Tarot Cards, Tarot Journaling, Tall Dark Stranger: Tarot for Love and Romance, The Epicurean Tarot, and the forthcoming Wizards Tarot and Tarot for Writers. \r
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Corrine has lived in Brazil and Los Angeles, where she earned a bachelors degree in philosophy from California State University. She now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband and their daughters.\r
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Corrine organizes tarot classes and workshops on a regular basis. For more information, visit her website at corrinekenner.com."

Reviews

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a handy little book if an author is looking for characters that fit a certain astrological profile; if one is looking for a match or opposites, this ‘manual’ assists the author in finding the perfect or not so perfect relationships. It also helps explain why some signs work better with others and how they “fit” with each other. A must have by any new age author.

Marianne Curtis
Author
Finding Gloria
Moondust and Madness: A collection of Poetry
Finding Gloria ~ Special Edition
Behind Whispering Pines
Brian's Last Ride

[Lindie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Astrology and writing, two things I enjoy immensely. Astrology for Writers is a great guide for someone looking to create a new character, or wanting to flesh out an existing one. It offers excellent insight into planetary archetypes, zodiac signs and elements.

I was half way through the first entry (The Sun) when I stopped and went “Hey now, I have this character!” and grabbed a notebook and started matching the cast of my WIP to the archetypes, and I must say, I found most of them. That was pretty cool, and gave me some ideas I hadn’t considered before.

Astrology for Writers also stimulates creativity with the “creative guidance” sections which offers questions and writing prompts. Each archetype also has a nifty guide on examples of where a character based on that archetype would fit into a story.

Another useful feature is the compatibility charts between the signs / archetypes, for writers who might need relationship or conflict assistance.

In part 3: The Houses of the Horoscope, Corrine Kenner even gives advice on settings.

Overall, I found this book enjoyable and informative.

[Min · Rating 4 out of 5]

The concept of using the astrological assignments as writing inspiration intrigued me.
Reading the book, I found it a fantastic overview of the modern, Western astrological interpretation. In that way, it is a great, and entertaining way to learn the ancient science. This is a perfect way to grasp the subject, and the many variations of interpretation by putting them into action creating a story. Thus, when one examines one's own life, or that of others, astrological themes, and concepts will be apparent. The helpful writing prompts listed in each chapter, and within it, are Twenty Questions to get one thinking of how to implement and ponder the linked meanings,

After the planets are introduced to the reader, the author moves into the asteroids, which one doesn't see mentioned as often, and adds a nice twist, albeit, I had hoped to see more written about it, particularly examining the asteroids through the signs, and the houses. Through the Houses, the author demonstrates how to practice considering an application through the character's personality, situation, or environment. Interspersed through the chapters is feature labeled Behind the Scenes the author demonstrates the planetary, or zodiacal energies as noted through well-known stories, such as Hercules, Macbeth, and the Hero's Journey, to name but a few of the offerings.

The back of the book contains charts for quick reference, glossary of terms, and further reading suggestions.

[Zev · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lots of misogyny shoved into a book that's apparently about character writing through the use of astrological factors. Like the book she wrote using Tarot to help from characters but also plotlines, this gets really repetitive after awhile. A lot of the questions she suggests were ones I was already familiar with,but I liked seeing them in new categories. I'll still go through the chapters a second time and pick out questions to answer for new writing projects.

[Sharlyn Zimmerman-Tollefson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read with exercises to do, questions to think about, necessitating more time as you do the exercises, honing your writing skills

[Victoria Osborne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is Writing in the Stars?
Astrology for Writers by Corrine Kenner had me intrigued. I thoroughly enjoyed and found inspiration in her book “Tarot for Writer.” This one, not so much.
She starts by defining the planets and the sun, giving their mythological history. She moves on to help you create an astrological chart for your character and asking pointed questions about how a character would act if Jupiter was in Aries.
I think that astrology is too static. With tarot cards you looked at the cards saw pictures and that inspired you to write, even if you didn’t know what the card represented traditionally. Plus she used layouts to define a character and to progress the plot. Even if you got nothing out of the book but layouts to help you define a story but looking at pretty pictures that was enough.
Astrology doesn’t provide visual clues. If you were very into astrology perhaps making a characters chart would help you define your character. But a good book on character traits, or a workbook on questions to ask your character would yield more defining results.
In my Epic Fantasy Series the characters worship the stars, and five elder stars in particular. These elder stars are actually planets, so I do sort of makeup star charts in my series. I am rather partial to worshiping stars, so I was intriqued about how to use astrology to deepen your writing.
I am giving the book 3 stars because it is a great primer for understanding astrology, it just isn’t in the stars for me to crow about.

[JR Simons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several passages in this book were repetitive and redundant, but overall, this was a really good overview of how to use astrology for character and story creation; at least as informative and helpful as using Jungian archetypes, which are based on astrology anyway.