Behold: A Character Appeareth!

Does this happen to you? Sometimes characters appear in my head like I’m their long-term therapist. I know who they are, what they want and need, what they want to say, and how they’ll say it.

Other times, other elements of the story emerge earlier and in more detail than the characters. In the book I’m drafting now, the setting is a Super Cool Thing that I’ve been geeking out about for almost a year. But even though I know who the main character and love interest are on paper, they still feel like acquaintances, and they’re constantly being upstaged by a charismatic side character who won’t shut up in my head. (Evander. Bro. You can’t have the spotlight till book 3.)

After a lot of despair, frustration, and ~~long talks to myself in the car~~ self-directed speech, I pulled out one of my favorite tricks for developing characters: tarot. More specifically, my Everyday Witch Tarot.(this link takes you to a signed copy from the amazing artist, Elisabeth Alba, on her Etsy shop, albaillustration—find her on Instagram @e.alba.art) This one in particular works brilliantly for me for character work, every time—maybe because the cards are gorgeous and each tells a story. When I was drafting Until the Stars Fall, I used tarot to help with Gemma’s character. It worked so well that I wrote it into the book—in the scene where Beck gives Gemma a tarot reading for her birthday, the cards he pulls are the exact ones I pulled.

Seriously, look how gorgeous these cards are:

Before I explain my very unofficial process, a disclaimer: I use tarot cards as brainstorming tools, psychological insights, and “how can I possibly apply what I just pulled to my character” ideas. I’m a spiritual person, and I do hope/think there’s some divine guidance helping me figure things out, but you don’t have to think that for it to help you. I love that tarot cards throw new, random ideas into my brain, and I’m very free and loose in how I find connections between the cards and my characters.

There’s no right or wrong, babe.

I Pull 4 Cards: Past, Present, Future, and Personality.

When I pull the Past card, I look for answers about who the character is before the story starts, when they enter the story, and in the first act (I write in 4 acts):

Where has this character been, emotionally?
What do they think about themselves?
What’s been happening in their life?
What’s their wound and their armor?
What are they trying to prove, and to whom?
Why are they the way they are?

In the Present card, I’m looking for answers about who they are in the thick of the story, roughly act 2 (when they deny the change they have to make) through act 3 (when they start to realize how they need to change):

What have the events in the beginning of the book started to do to this character?
What emotional transition are they going through?
How are they handling those emotions?
How do they react to other people during this time?
How are they consciously or unconsciously holding themselves back from the change they need to make?

I look to the Future card to help me figure out where the character will be at the end of the book, which, in romance, is always a happily ever after or a happily for now:

What have they learned by the end of the book?
Where is their life now?
Where is their life headed?
How do they interact with people now?
How do they feel about themselves now?
What does success after healing their wound look like in their life?

The Personality card is a kind of wild card that I just started doing. I have to admit to pulling a few clarifying cards when the first one(s) didn’t feel right. This is my general process:

Does this card fit this character? (Keep pulling until you find one that does)
What about this card can I apply to the character to deepen my understanding of them?
Can I apply anything about this card to deepen what I found for past, present, and future?
If I pulled multiple cards, has a new connection or pattern emerged among them that makes a lot of damn sense for this character?

In the interest of keeping my posts short, I haven’t included an example. But I can write one up if anyone would find it helpful—let me know!