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Characters from the Zodiac

September 19, 2018 by Jim Potter 8 Comments

https://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Characters-from-the-Zodiac.m4a

·  “What’s your sign?”  ·

Cover of Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. Designed by Gina Laiso.

“What’s my sign?”

“Yeah, what’s your astrological sign?”

“Oh, I’m a Libra.”

“Libras have a strong sense of justice and fair play.”

“Yes, social justice is important to me.”

When I was gradually imagining characters for my novel, Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, I studied the astrological signs in order to get ideas on how I wanted my fictional characters to be different from one another.

I already had most of the characters plotted into the story. I knew overall what they would do, but I hadn’t determined the character of all my characters. I didn’t know what traits I wanted to give them.

Sculpture, “Tom Jennings,” by J. Alex Potter. Photo by Gina Laiso.

At this early organizational stage in my novel there was nothing better than examining a condensed version of character traits by reading about astrological signs. It helped me to look at individuals and their potential to grow and develop.

I’ll write a future blog on writing what you know and writing what you want to know, but for now let me tell you that I knew one of my main characters would be a cop. After a thirty-three year career in law enforcement, I figured I wouldn’t need to do a lot of research on Officer Tom Jennings.

When I read through a description of the zodiac signs in an ancient book titled The Astrologer’s Handbook by Frances Sakoian and Louis S. Acker (1973), I learned that key traits for Leos were vitality, authority, and power. I already knew that Tom was going to be an obese police officer. These descriptors would compliment his imposing size while in uniform. This guy would fill a stage and a police car.

Sculpture “James Odessa-Smith,” by J. Alex Potter

The authors also talked about Leos having reckless courage but always fighting fairly. Again, this was the Jennings I wanted to develop.

In my novel there’s a character named James Odessa-Smith who has a mental illness designated as schizoaffective disorder. I knew I wanted him to be multidimensional. I didn’t just want him “to be” mental illness. He became my Gemini who had traits of being non-conformist, moody, smart, sociable, and witty. 

Suanna Morningcloud, twelve-years-old, half Nez Perce Indian, half white, and a person with albinism, became my Pisces because I saw her as sensitive and living in a dream world. When I tried to imagine what it would be like to have albinism, I stereotyped my way to her being passive because, in her world, she felt so different. 

Although I ended up using all twelve signs of the zodiac to help differentiate my characters, it was only an early tool I used to brainstorm possibilities. No where in the book do I refer to any character’s astrological sign.

Sculpture “Suanna Morningcloud,” by J. Alex Potter. Photo by Gina Laiso.

I emphasize that my astrological study was like examining a menu of character traits. I might read the whole description of one zodiac sign and only latch on to one strong feeling that represented one of my people. Also, as with any fictional writing, you can begin thinking you know what’s going to happen and then surprise yourself.

People are interesting because even though they have core beliefs or traits, they’re unpredictable. I feel the same way about fictional characters.

You’re never really sure what they’re going to do next, especially when they’re dropped into a stressful setting. That’s the fun of writing fiction. 

Until next time, happy writing and reading.

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Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: Characters from the Zodiac, fictional character traits, James Odessa-Smith, Suanna Morningcloud, Taking Back the Bullet, The Astrologer's Handbook, Tom Jennings, What's your astrological sign?, What's your sign?

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarPatricia says

    September 19, 2018 at 9:07 pm

    One of the best blogs yet! I always wonder how authors create meaningful characters. I never would have thought of using zodiac signs as a tool. Brilliant!

    Reply
    • Jim PotterJim Potter says

      September 19, 2018 at 9:10 pm

      Thanks, Patricia! I’m sure every author does it a different way.

      Reply
  2. AvatarRonda says

    September 19, 2018 at 9:08 pm

    This is terrific and would make for a great writing prompt.

    Reply
    • Jim PotterJim Potter says

      September 19, 2018 at 9:11 pm

      Ronda, put it in your bag of prompts. May it be fruitful and multiply. Jim

      Reply
  3. AvatarTracy says

    September 20, 2018 at 11:12 am

    I like this approach, Jim!

    Reply
    • Jim PotterJim Potter says

      September 20, 2018 at 11:13 am

      Thanks, Tracy! When you’re up a creek without a paddle, you figure out other ways to get to your destination.

      Reply
  4. AvatarSean says

    September 21, 2018 at 4:13 pm

    Hi Jim, I’m Pisces so guess I’m living in a dream world too. If so, how come I’m not young, attractive and clever? Great idea to use zodiac signs to help character development.

    Reply
    • Jim PotterJim Potter says

      September 21, 2018 at 7:53 pm

      Pisces attributes: sensitive, charming, humorous, sympathetic, unselfish, lovable, devoted, maintains vitality & personal significance, overactive imagination (perfect for a writer), impelled to maintain their individuality, and loves music.

      Reply

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What People Are Saying

Sean McArdle

Retired police officer Potter’s novel centres on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to give enough detail to bring the characters to life, yet not too much so as to slow down the pace of the developing story. A climactic event affects the main characters and it is at this point Potter’s deep knowledge of people and police procedures really hits home; page by page we read how a seemingly simple, though terrible occurrence, can have huge consequences. To Potter’s credit the story does not have a completely conclusive or simplistic ending. Instead it leaves the reader thinking about how the events of a single minute can affect lives forever. I would whole heartedly recommend this book not as a crime novel or even as a novel about crime but as a beautiful and positive affirmation about what it is to be human and how ultimately it is relationships which matter more than events.

Sean McArdle, Winchester, England

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:24:22-06:00

Sean McArdle, Winchester, England

Retired police officer Potter’s novel centres on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to give enough detail to bring the characters to life, yet not too much so as to slow down the pace of the developing story. A climactic event affects the main characters and it is at this point Potter’s deep knowledge of people and police procedures really hits home; page by page we read how a seemingly simple, though terrible occurrence, can have huge consequences. To Potter’s credit the story does not have a completely conclusive or simplistic ending. Instead it leaves the reader thinking about how the events of a single minute can affect lives forever. I would whole heartedly recommend this book not as a crime novel or even as a novel about crime but as a beautiful and positive affirmation about what it is to be human and how ultimately it is relationships which matter more than events.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/sean-mcardle/

Rebecca

Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.

Rebecca from Proud Police Wife

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:41:14-06:00

Rebecca from Proud Police Wife

Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/rebecca/

Wynona Winn

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:18:33-06:00

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/wynona-winn/

Denise Low

Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.

Denise Low, author of Jackalope (Red Mountain Press)

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:31:21-06:00

Denise Low, author of Jackalope (Red Mountain Press)

Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/denise-low/

Larry Kruckman

Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a jail, art fair, powwow, rehab center, courtroom, albinos, and even someone in the throes of postpartum depression. So detailed are the descriptions that they must be drawn from the author’s personal experience. Besides the artfully created characters such as the struggling jailer and husband Tom Jennings, local artist Jesse Thomas, and Native American Joe Morningcloud, there is a tight story line that grabs your attention and won’t let go. Human tensions, love, conflict, joys and sorrows are all there. Magically, all the many pieces come together in a final crescendo, giving hope that even when we find ourselves in big trouble we can survive. This is a novel I highly recommend!

Larry Kruckman, Anthropologist

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:27:15-06:00

Larry Kruckman, Anthropologist

Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a jail, art fair, powwow, rehab center, courtroom, albinos, and even someone in the throes of postpartum depression. So detailed are the descriptions that they must be drawn from the author’s personal experience. Besides the artfully created characters such as the struggling jailer and husband Tom Jennings, local artist Jesse Thomas, and Native American Joe Morningcloud, there is a tight story line that grabs your attention and won’t let go. Human tensions, love, conflict, joys and sorrows are all there. Magically, all the many pieces come together in a final crescendo, giving hope that even when we find ourselves in big trouble we can survive. This is a novel I highly recommend!
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/larry-kruckman/

Deb Theis

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller that the reader quickly becomes immersed and has a ‘bonding experience’ with each of the characters, feeling their joy, fear, passion and pain. Jim’s novel speaks to the empowerment of persistence with the characters as they work through their trials. As a therapist, I appreciated the heartfelt struggles from each of the characters and their diversity. I also found value in the novel’s understanding of society’s misunderstanding of both mental health and other conditions in which people struggle. The novel contains rich exposure to various realities that many of us do not know about . . . but should. When I finished this captivating novel, I was wanting to read the sequel! It was an honor and a wonderful, mesmerizing experience reading this book. Congratulations, Jim!

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:20:29-06:00

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller that the reader quickly becomes immersed and has a ‘bonding experience’ with each of the characters, feeling their joy, fear, passion and pain. Jim’s novel speaks to the empowerment of persistence with the characters as they work through their trials. As a therapist, I appreciated the heartfelt struggles from each of the characters and their diversity. I also found value in the novel’s understanding of society’s misunderstanding of both mental health and other conditions in which people struggle. The novel contains rich exposure to various realities that many of us do not know about . . . but should. When I finished this captivating novel, I was wanting to read the sequel! It was an honor and a wonderful, mesmerizing experience reading this book. Congratulations, Jim!
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/deb-theis/

John & Cindy Morrill

I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters and the settings in which they live and work. It makes a story more realistic if you can say, I am familiar with the area; I know where that town is or I have traveled that street. It was easy to relate to the characters. In one way or another, I have met them all somewhere in my journeys

John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:14:56-06:00

John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement

I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters and the settings in which they live and work. It makes a story more realistic if you can say, I am familiar with the area; I know where that town is or I have traveled that street. It was easy to relate to the characters. In one way or another, I have met them all somewhere in my journeys
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/john-cindy-morrill/

Morgan Penner

Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental illness. One of my favorite quotes from Taking Back the Bullet is “We’re all just a critical moment from being disabled or mentally ill, and we don’t want to think about it.” The novel also provides the reader an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how mental illness impacts the individuals, their family, friends, and society. Taking Back the Bullet is a story of forgiveness and overcoming life’s struggles and tragedies.

Morgan Penner

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:25:35-06:00

Morgan Penner

Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental illness. One of my favorite quotes from Taking Back the Bullet is “We’re all just a critical moment from being disabled or mentally ill, and we don’t want to think about it.” The novel also provides the reader an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how mental illness impacts the individuals, their family, friends, and society. Taking Back the Bullet is a story of forgiveness and overcoming life’s struggles and tragedies.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/morgan-penner/

Dennis Perrin

Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!

Dennis Perrin, educator

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:44:55-06:00

Dennis Perrin, educator

Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/dennis-perrin/

Rebecca Schillaci

As a former law enforcement officer, I found the story very relatable as it details the life of a law enforcement officer and the struggles some face throughout their careers. . . Taking Back the Bullet is a journey of understanding, respect, and forgiveness . . .

Rebecca Schillaci

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:46:40-06:00

Rebecca Schillaci

As a former law enforcement officer, I found the story very relatable as it details the life of a law enforcement officer and the struggles some face throughout their careers. . . Taking Back the Bullet is a journey of understanding, respect, and forgiveness . . .
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/rebecca-schillaci/

Sheryl Remar

I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.

Sheryl Remar

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:47:46-06:00

Sheryl Remar

I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/sheryl-remar/

Jane Holzrichter

I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.

Jane Holzrichter

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:21:41-06:00

Jane Holzrichter

I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/jane-holzrichter/

Steve Becker

I’m impressed. It was an excellent read. . . . I hope you continue with more projects in the future.

Steve Becker

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:26:21-06:00

Steve Becker

I’m impressed. It was an excellent read. . . . I hope you continue with more projects in the future.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/steve-becker/

Diana Dester

Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!

Diana Dester

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:19:23-06:00

Diana Dester

Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/diana-dester/

Karleen Wilson-Moon

Terrific story relevant to today’s social issues . . . well written . . . likable characters . . . insightful perspective from an insider in law enforcement.

Karleen Wilson-Moon

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:44:26-06:00

Karleen Wilson-Moon

Terrific story relevant to today’s social issues . . . well written . . . likable characters . . . insightful perspective from an insider in law enforcement.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/karleen-wilson-moon/

Judy Hawk

. . . I was impressed with the Native American information as well as the depth of character development . . . .

Judy Hawk

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:15:48-06:00

Judy Hawk

. . . I was impressed with the Native American information as well as the depth of character development . . . .
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/judy-hawk/
16
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