Tag Archives: Johnnie Mazzocco Writing Through the Body

How to Use the Crown Chakra for Deep Character Development

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This is the last in a series about how to utilize my Writing Through the Body Method™ which uses the chakra system as a practical tool for uncovering a character’s desires, wounds, and motivations. By exploring these psychological foundations, writers are able to portray their characters’ behaviors, reactions, and responses on the page with greater depth and emotional truth.

For example, the Crown (seventh) Chakra rules Spiritual Power and Understanding. The crown relates to the ability to conceive of and create spiritual context for life experiences, which leads to resiliency and bliss. The Crown Chakra says I KNOW.

By considering how your characters connect to their own meaning-making (from the Third Eye Chakra), you’re able to take them through their transformation—their new normal.

Below is a brief explanation of the Crown Chakra, its traits and characteristics, and some ways you might integrate its attributes into your character development.

Seventh Chakra – Crown Chakra

Location
Top of head

This does not directly apply to your character but is used for visualization purposes when doing certain exercises within the Writing Through the Body™ method, offered here as an FYI.

Primary strengths
Faith in inner guidance/trust that overrides fears, mystical/intuitive connections, ability to create and live by a personally chosen belief system, ability to put life’s challenges in a spiritual context, positive attitude, awareness in the divine—whether in a self-proclaimed higher power or within other humans/living entities

This is about how your character responds to situations that call for them to have gained perspective, to be on the other side of their struggle(s) throughout the story. 

Primary fears and fearful expressions
Disassociation, ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude, spiritual crisis, inability to let go of the past, greed, lack of inspiration, apathy, elitism/superiority

This is where you’re able to see your character’s “full circle” or “transformational” moment. This is where they arrive in a more settled place after having run the gauntlet of the story’s trajectory, have put it in perspective, and are in a position to start living their “new normal.”

_____________________


Writing exercise

Take some time to sit quietly, and think about the aspects of the Crown Chakra as they relate to all your characters. 

Write a sketch of a character that may not be materializing as fully as you would like, and answer the questions below as fully and exhaustively as possible. 

Tip: Every time you arrive at a new place of understanding or identify a particular behavior or response in your character, ask “why?” Continuing to ask “why?” is how we get to the deep psychology of our characters. 

Example: Your protagonist has completed a difficult thing—taken difficult action, spoken out against the powers that be, put themself in physical danger, ended a relationship, etc. 

Questions to begin your exercise:

• What is the thing they did?

• How did this inform their understanding of the situation, of themselves, of the world?

• Where does this new-found understanding leave them?

  • What will they do next—in the next week, the next month, the next year (whether this belongs in the story or not)? 
  • How do you, the writer/author, see them now that you’ve guided them through?

Let me know what you discover in the comments.

As always… Sending you mad writing mojo…

Happy writing!

Johnnie
OOOOO

How to Use the Third Eye Chakra for Deep Character Development

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This is the next in a series about how to utilize my Writing Through the Body Method™ which uses the chakra system as a practical tool for uncovering a character’s desires, wounds, and motivations. By exploring these psychological foundations, writers are able to portray their characters’ behaviors, reactions, and responses on the page with greater depth and emotional truth.

For example, the Third Eye (sixth) Chakra rules Mind Power. The third eye relates to the ability to distill wisdom from life experience, clarity about what is best for one’s highest good and joy—it’s about the intuition. The Third Eye Chakra says I SEE.

By considering how your characters connect to their intuition and ability to make meaning of life will give you clues about the ease with which they move through the world and within the story.

Below is a brief explanation of the Third Eye Chakra, its traits and characteristics, and some ways you might integrate its attributes into your character development.

Sixth Chakra – Third Eye Chakra

Location
Lower forehead, between the eyes

This does not directly apply to your character but is used for visualization purposes when doing certain exercises within the Writing Through the Body™ method, offered here as an FYI.

Primary strengths
Strong intellectual abilities/skills, self-acceptance, mental flexibility, ability for objective contemplation, high emotional intelligence, open to wonder

This is about how your character responds to situations that call for them to think beyond the here and now. This is how they make meaning (and have made meaning) of life, and what they do with that understanding. 

Primary fears and fearful expressions
Fears of one’s shadow side/looking within, inability to self-reflect or identify illusion, pushing oneself to extremes, poor intuition/concentration, fear of unknown, judgmental/overly analytical, mental fog/overwhelm 

This is where you’re able to start seeing your character respond in ways that may not make sense to them, as if they’re driven by something they don’t see or understand.

_____________________


Writing exercise

Take some time to sit quietly, and think about the aspects of the Third Eye Chakra as they relate to all your characters. 

Write a sketch of a character that may not be materializing as fully as you would like, and answer the questions below as fully and exhaustively as possible. 

Tip: Every time you arrive at a new place of understanding or identify a particular behavior or response in your character, ask “why?” Continuing to ask “why?” is how we get to the deep psychology of our characters. 

Example: Your protagonist has just done something they are not proud of. There is one person in the world they trust—living or dead. Write a letter from your character to their trusted person. 

Questions to begin your exercise:

• What is the thing they did?

• When did they do it? Was it recent or many years ago… something they’ve been carrying around, like a dead weight?

• What has moved them to disclose this now?

• What happens—both within them and in their life—after the disclosure?

Let me know what you discover in the comments.

As always… Sending you mad writing mojo…

Happy writing!

Johnnie
OOOOO

How to Use the Throat Chakra for Deep Character Development

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This is the next in a series about how to utilize my Writing Through the Body Method™ which uses the chakra system as a practical tool for uncovering a character’s desires, wounds, and motivations. By exploring these psychological foundations, writers are able to portray their characters’ behaviors, reactions, and responses on the page with greater depth and emotional truth.

For example, the throat (fifth) Chakra rules Willpower. The throat relates to how your protagonist speaks their highest truth, self-expresses, and living creatively. The Solar Plexus Chakra says I SPEAK.

By considering how your characters connect to their voice and ability to speak will give you clues about how they will speak in your story by understanding not just their words, but the intention behind their words (both conscious and unconscious)

Below is a brief explanation of the Throat Chakra, its traits and characteristics, and some ways you might integrate its attributes into your character development.

Fifth Chakra – Throat Chakra

Location
Throat

This does not directly apply to your character but is used for visualization purposes when doing certain exercises within the Writing Through the Body™ method, offered here as an FYI.

Primary strengths
High self-awareness and ability to speak one’s truth to others, faith in oneself to make sound decisions (and the ability to follow through), belief in the power of love and courage, and confidence in choosing/having healthy relationships with substances, money, and power

This is about how your character responds to situations that call for them to speak, as in dialogue, make decisions, and how they feel about those decisions.

Primary fears and fearful expressions
General insecurity, small/soft voice, relying on external validation, avoiding conversations to express one’s needs/desires, gossip, exclusivity, arrogance/condescension.

This is where you’re able to start seeing your character respond in both voice, and in action, based on the strength of their own self-awareness.

_____________________


Writing exercise

Take some time to sit quietly, and think about the aspects of the Throat Chakra as they relate to all your characters. 

Write a sketch of a character that may not be materializing as fully as you would like, and answer the questions below as fully and exhaustively as possible. 

Tip: Every time you arrive at a new place of understanding or identify a particular behavior or response in your character, ask “why?” Continuing to ask “why?” is how we get to the deep psychology of our characters. 

Example: Your protagonist has been asked to speak at an event where someone from their past will be in attendance. 

Questions to begin your exercise:

• How comfortable is your character with public speaking?

• Who is the person from their past, and what was their relationship like? How did the relationship end?

• Do they know that the person will be in attendance, or will it be a surprise to them?

• What happens when they step up to the microphone?

Let me know what you discover in the comments.

As always… Sending you mad writing mojo…

Happy writing!

Johnnie
OOOOO

How to Use the Heart Chakra for Deep Character Development

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This is the next in a series about how to utilize my Writing Through the Body Method™ which uses the chakra system as a practical tool for uncovering a character’s desires, wounds, and motivations. By exploring these psychological foundations, writers are able to portray their characters’ behaviors, reactions, and responses on the page with greater depth and emotional truth.

For example, the heart (fourth) Chakra rules Emotional Power. The heart relates to how your protagonist shows love, forgiveness, compassion, and trust. The Solar Plexus Chakra says I LOVE.

By considering how your characters connect to their compassion—or not—will give you clues about how they will respond and react to all situations and scenarios in your story, and especially those that hold big emotional impact.

Below is a brief explanation of the Heart Chakra, its traits and characteristics, and some ways you might integrate its attributes into your character development.

Fourth Chakra – Heart Chakra

Location
Chest

This does not directly apply to your character but is used for visualization purposes when doing certain exercises within the Writing Through the Body™ method, offered here as an FYI.

Primary strengths
Courage to take emotional risks (to trust, love, and feel loved), power to heal (oneself and others), ability to be inclusive and take responsibility for one’s life

This is about how your character responds to situations that require forgiveness, understanding, and empathy.

Primary fears and fearful expressions
Loneliness, commitment, withholding, jealousy/bitterness, anger/hatred, judgmental/critical

This is where you’re able to start seeing your character get in their own way, whether through self-doubt or self-loathing, or through their lack of willingness to forgive, and even experience/express self-love and self-forgiveness.

_____________________


Writing exercise

Take some time to sit quietly, and think about the aspects of the Heart Chakra as they relate to all your characters. 

Write a sketch of a character that may not be materializing as fully as you would like, and answer the questions below as fully and exhaustively as possible. 

Tip: Every time you arrive at a new place of understanding or identify a particular behavior or response in your character, ask “why?” Continuing to ask “why?” is how we get to the deep psychology of our characters. 

Example: Your protagonist has just learned about a betrayal by someone they know. This betrayal could have been intentional (a shop owner whose employee stole cash from the register) or unintentional (a shop owner whose employee who forgot to lock up at the end of the day because they had an emergency at home, and the shop is robbed and vandalized). 

Both are betrayals of a sort.

Depending on who the shop owner is and depending on their degree of emotional intelligence (the condition of their heart chakra), their reactions and responses to both situations will vary.

Questions to begin your exercise:

• Establish your character’s level of compassion, forgiveness, and self-love. What would their immediate response be?

• Do they take time to sit with what happened, or do they respond immediately?

• Do they stand by their response (immediate or delayed), or do they regret it?

• How does their emotional responses, actions, and their feelings about those actions inform the story’s trajectory and drive it forward?

Let me know what you discover in the comments.

As always… Sending you mad writing mojo…

Happy writing!

Johnnie
OOOOO

10 Steps to Plan for NaNoWriMo

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Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash

October will soon come to a close and November will be upon us. That means it’s time to prepare for NaNoWriMo—National Novel Writing Month.

This will be my first year taking the challenge. Instead of officially registering for the event on the NaNoWriMo website, I and my writing group are doing the challenge to get our in-progress novels completed by the end of November. (I’m about one-third of the way in on mine…)

Having intention is one thing, but we need to do more if we want to see success with a challenge of this magnitude. Planning is essential, and it paves the way for successful implementation.

So first, let’s look at the goal itself.

The NaNoWriMo challenge assumes approximately 50K words total. That equates to 1667 words per day (5 double-spaced pages / Times New Roman 12 pt font) or 69 words per hour.

Having these numbers in mind will help you begin to break down the task into manageable pieces.

Now, here are some tips to help you do that.

  • Plan—Take care of any business or obligations in your life that can be completed before November.
    • If you celebrate Thanksgiving and it’s traditionally your job to shop and cook, make your shopping list before November 1. When the day comes, enlist people to help you. (Do it!) And if you absolutely must miss writing on this day, decide where you’ll double up on another day—in advance—to stay on track.
    • If you have other special days to celebrate—an anniversary, a birthday—again, get your shopping done before November 1. If you need to mail packages, get them wrapped and ready before November 1. Mark the trip to your package delivery service on your calendar.
    • Create a Plan B. No matter how much we plan, people and situations beyond our control can interfere. If you have a solid Plan B in place for the days that go awry, they won’t throw a giant wrench in the works and will only derail you for a short time.
  • Schedule—Block out the times you’ll write on your calendar. (I’m a geek for calendars, so this is one of my favorite parts of preparing for projects.)
    • Determine which calendar works best for you: digital or analog. (I use a combination of both.)
    • Reserve blocks of writing time in your calendar. If you use digital, color code those blocks time with a color ONLY used for writing. If you use analog, use a highlighter to accentuate the blocks of time you’ve designated for writing.
  • Shift Your Mindset—Rather than think of the challenge as daunting, make it fun. Starting with a defeatist mindset from the get-go (or at all) will be a giant deterrent to successful completion.
    • Write down mantras. (“Writing is fun.” “This draft is only for me.” “Perfection is not necessary.” “My writing comes first.”) Or make up your own. Repeat them to yourself every time your mind drifts into defeatist territory.
    • Write a letter to the voices in your head. Let them know they are not welcome, at least, and especially, not for the month of November.
  • Commit—Treat your commitment to NaNoWriMo as you would a commitment to someone you care about very much. Make it a priority. Privilege it (at least in your thinking) above all else. Just for a month…
    • Clean and prepare your workspace. This will send a message to your brain that this is important, that you mean business, that it matters to you.
    • Enlist the help of family and friends. Tell the people in your life what you’ll be doing. Tell them how much it means to you. Ask for their help in the form of respecting the times you’ve set aside to write.

For more detailed and hands-on help, check out the first four COMPLIMENTARY modules of my Conjuring Clarity course, created to help you accomplish these first four steps.

Now, for the writing itself.

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
  • Know your people—Make a list of your protagonist(s), antagonist(s), and supporting characters.
    • What traits and characteristics define who they are as people? Think big. Think small.
  • Know your people’s backstories—Knowing your characters’ histories will inform why they want what they want and why, as well as what obstacles they will face, both internal and external.
    • Where are they from? Where are they now?
    • What has happened to them in the past (especially their deepest wounds).
  • Know your milieu—Make detailed notes about your story world. Do research beforehand, as needed.
    • Where does your story take place? What are the characteristics of this place?
    • When does your story take place?
    • Do any special rules apply to your story world (as in fantasy, sci fi, or magical realism)?
  • Determine your opening scene and inciting incident—Having a clear starting place will go far to start you off with a smooth beginning.
    • What is your opening scene? How will you set the stage and engage the reader? What does the status quo life of your protagonist look like when the story begins?
    • What (inciting) incident or event will turn your protagonist’s world on its axis and set them on their journey?
  • Create an outline—While it’s true that we gain insight about characters and what they want and why as we write, having some kind of framework to focus on will help you keep moving forward with a tight deadline like this.
    • What is your protagonist’s deepest desire and why? (Hint: This is oftentimes connected with their wound from the past.)
    • Given your protagonist’s personality, how will they attempt to realize their desire?
    • Given what your antagonist wants, how will he/she/it interfere with your protagonist’s progress?
    • What’s your ending? This can be hard to know sometimes, but make a guess for now, then set up a series of events and/or key scenes that you know will be relevant to the storyline.
  • Relax, trust, and let go—Surrendering to the process, letting go of any preconceived ideas about the finished product will give you the creative space to see you through to November 30.
    • Think of this draft as an abstract painting. Put down what comes to you without feeling the need to edit as you write. (You can do that in December.) Use big, broad brushstrokes. Use tiny, finite brushstrokes.
    • Be willing to both stick to your outline and shift your course when new, surprising ideas show up. This is the give and take of the creative process.

Want to go even deeper with Steps 5-8? Check out the second four modules of the Conjuring Clarity course.

Want to go even deeper with Steps 5-8? Check out the second four modules of the Conjuring Clarity course.

Want to go even deeper with knowing your people by experiencing the magic of the Writing Through the Body™ method?

Check out the COMPLIMENTARY Intro to Writing Through the Body™ video.

Check out the entire Writing Through the Body™ course.

I hope these tips help. Please let me know, in the comments, if you’re doing NaNoWriMo. Then, come back after November 30 and let me know how it went.

And remember… ANY progress is good progress. We can do this!

Sending you mad writing mojo…

Happy writing!

Johnnie
XO