Runes for Writers: Boost Your Creativity and Destroy Writer's Block

by Marc Graham Narrated by Marc Graham

Overview

Tired of struggling with writer's block?

This ancient system helps storytellers access the realm of ideas, the world of the Muses. By integrating left- and right-brain activity, you can open your awareness to the subconscious levels where true creativity takes place.

Runes for Writers can take you from blocked to un-blocked. For good.

The runes of the Elder Futhark were used by ancient Germanic shamans for divination centuries before they came into use as a writing system. Now, novelist and shamanic practitioner Marc Graham brings these tools of the ancients into the twenty-first century. Using a combination of cards, tiles, and dice, writers (and storytellers in any medium) can silence the inner editor and tap directly into the realm of the Muses, the Source of Story.

With a series of runecastings created specifically for storytelling, you can:

• Develop character sketches
• Troubleshoot scenes
• Design major plot points
• Even outline your entire story

A companion to the Runes for Writers story-development system, this book is your guide into the fascinating world of deep, intuitive storytelling.

Editorial Reviews

BookLife Reviews

01/27/2020

Novelist Graham (Of Ashes and Dust) empowers stuck writers with this eclectic cross between a collection of story prompts and a New Age self-help book. Invoking the author as “a shaman, a wizard, a mage,” Graham focuses on breaking writer’s block and developing and fixing works of fiction through divination with Elder Futhark runes, which have their origins in second-century CE Scandinavia. Graham, observing that intuition is central to both writing and divination, suggests that the latter can inspire the former. After explaining the meanings of the symbols and how to apply them to storytelling, he ably leads readers through several rune-casting layouts (similar to tarot card spreads).

Graham counsels that this method is only for experienced writers, but anyone with an open mind can experiment with it, and Graham’s detailed layouts are well illustrated and easy to follow. He provides layouts designed for character development and story challenges, plot, theme, and escaping from writer’s block, among others. Each rune is given an open-ended interpretation (e.g., “Thurisaz reversed may also suggest that your character is not respecting boundaries of others”) that will easily get creative juices flowing. Graham also includes a short story that shows the process in action.

Graham maintains a sincere, empathetic tone throughout, treating the reader as a fellow traveler on the sometimes harrowing road of the creative process and encouraging a playful, flexible approach to rune-casting. At times he goes a bit overboard with his love of all things Norse (he’s unable to mention the concept of karma without calling it “an Indo-European cousin to the Norse mindset”) but his enthusiasm is endearing. This quirky and intriguing work will appeal to open-minded writers willing to look at their craft in a New Age light.

Takeaway: Fiction writers looking to engage their intuition will enjoy exploring this guide to story development through divination with runes.

Great for fans of Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, Corrine Kenner’s Astrology for Writers.

Production grades Cover: B+ Design and typography: A Illustrations: B+ Editing: A Marketing copy: B

From the Publisher

Using Runes for Writers is not only a lot of fun, but helps break loose a lot of creativity. A lot of times when I'm writing I find that I become rigid and get some tunnel vision. Using Runes breaks loose all sorts of interesting options and alleyways to go down.

LS Hawker, USA Today Bestselling Author

The All-Father wove the skein of your life a long time ago. Your fate is fixed. Or maybe he was just telling a story. What Marc Graham has done with his Runes for Writers system is simply wonderful. He's adapted an ancient system into a powerful tool for brainstorming and storytelling. Runes for Writers is easy to learn, fun to use, and unshackles your creativity. The Runes remind you that, no matter where your imaginary adventures take you, the All-Father sees everything.

Michael F. Haspil, Author of Graveyard Shift

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172742422
Publisher:	Arcadian Dreamscapes
Publication date:	01/21/2020
Series:	Shaman of Story , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos