This article was originally published in the April 2008 issue of Dell Horoscope Magazine. I reprint it here for those who didn't get a chance to read it in Dell.
COULD YOU WRITE THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL?
Compare Your Chart to Successful Authors!by Rose Murray
I wrote this article from a study of the astrology charts of many well-known novelists. It should help you discover the kind of writing that suits you best. You'll find out what combination of planets, signs and houses have accompanied writing talent, a fertile imagination, publishing good fortune, money through writing, and other factors found in the charts of highly successful novelists.
More people than ever are writing novels these days. There are probably more classes, seminars, conferences, writing groups and literary organizations than ever before. Books about writing best-sellers are often best-sellers themselves.
If your goal is to write novels, or are in a position to assist others in vocational choices, astrology can be extremely helpful in validating the literary strengths and weaknesses you were born with. The road to success as a novelist is often a long one and getting some confirmation of your chances may keep you going through the early phases of your career. A study of your natal horoscope can also help indicate the genre, themes and subjects that best suit your talents.
If your goal is to write novels, or are in a position to assist others in vocational choices, astrology can be extremely helpful in validating the literary strengths and weaknesses you were born with. The road to success as a novelist is often a long one and getting some confirmation of your chances may keep you going through the early phases of your career. A study of your natal horoscope can also help indicate the genre, themes and subjects that best suit your talents.
Although the charts of highly-successful, best-selling authors reveal many similarities that can easily be seen—if you know where to look--there is probably no chart without its drawbacks or lessons to be learned, and astrology can also assist in knowing how to work with areas that may be more challenging for you.
A Novelist’s Horoscope
Best-selling horror novelist Stephen King, for instance, has a near perfect chart for writing. (See Chart A) He has his Sun in Virgo in the third house of communication, giving him a natural tendency to literary interests (Virgo) and strength in communication (planets in the third house of the chart).He also has Venus and Neptune in his third house in the airy mental sign Libra, indicating a love of writing (Venus) and the imagination to tell a good story (Neptune.)
But with Saturn and Pluto in the first house of self, he had many struggles in his early days, getting to that first publication date. He had to work at hard manual labor to keep afloat while he continued to submit stories to magazines.
Saturn and Pluto in aspect often indicate hard work, but at the same time can represent strong will-power (Pluto in the first) and self-discipline (Saturn in the first). These would have helped him persist until, after years of rejections slips, he began selling what he wrote.
Not only that, but these two planets rising could well have influenced King’s choice of subject matter. Hardships (Saturn) and revenge (Pluto) are often themes in his books. In his highly-popular novel Carrie, the main character, feeling rejected by her classmates (Saturn) uses paranormal powers to exact revenge (Pluto).
Your Own Chart Aspects in your own chart not only show your potential as a novelist, but are also instrumental in affecting what you choose to write about and enable you to do so in an authentic way.
If you have Venus rising conjunct the Ascendant, for instance, you might consider writing love stories. With Mars there, hard-driving action detective stories may be more your forte. Mystery writer Sue Grafton, born with Mars (action) in Gemini (swift) in her third house of communication writes about an energetic female detective who runs three miles a day to keep in shape and is always on the move. Grafton also has in her own chart a favorable trine from Uranus (surprise twists) to Neptune (mystery) to add intrigue to the series, plus a grand trine between Moon in Sagittarius (adventure and travel), Mercury (writing) in Aries, and Pluto in Leo (dramatic ways of solving mysteries). If you have Pluto and Neptune prominent in your chart, you might also have good fortune with detective stories.
Agatha Christie had these two powerful planets conjunct in Gemini, the sign of communication. She had Pluto (secretive plots) conjunct Neptune (mystery) in her tenth house of career. So did mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner. Margaret Mitchell also had Pluto (deep radical change) conjunct the midheaven, but opposite Uranus (sudden change), and in Gone with the Wind, she wrote about a generation suddenly disrupted by war, economic collapse, and vast social changes (traditional meanings for that opposition). She wrote GWTW because it was in her chart to write.
When you look closely at the charts of novelists, you’ll invariably see not only their own lives described, but the themes of the stories they write. Edna Ferber’s novel Show Boat was nicely symbolized by Scorpio rising (a water sign) and her Sun in Leo in her ninth house of travel (suggesting a theme of entertainment while traveling on a body of water). Mark Twain who also wrote about traveling on the Mississippi, similarly had Scorpio rising with, in his case, Jupiter in the ninth.
Where to Look to Find Your Greatest Writing Talents
Every highly successful novelist needs to be successful in several areas:
· The ability to express yourself well—The Mercury/third house connection
· The love of writing—The Mercury/Venus connection
· The fiction connection—An imaginative mind · Good fortune in publishing
· The money connection—the ability to make money from writing
· The good fortune to make writing your career
· A temperament that is suited to the writing of a novelAll of these qualities, if you have them, will show in your astrological chart. You may have more potential in some of these areas than in others and it will be worth your while to discover just where you stand.
So read this article with your personal chart beside you. If you don’t have a chart for the date, time and place you were born, you can obtain one easily from the Internet. Just go to a search engine like www.google.com and put in the key words “free horoscopes” to find those websites that offer them. In following your chart, you’ll need to know the planet that rules each sign. Aries is ruled by Mars; Taurus by Venus; Gemini by Mercury; Cancer by the Moon; Leo by the Sun; Virgo by Mercury; Libra by Venus; Scorpio by Pluto; Sagittarius by Jupiter; Capricorn by Saturn; Aquarius by Uranus, and Pisces by Neptune.
The Ability to Express Yourself Well—The Mercury/Third House Connection
An emphasis on the third house of communication in the natal chart is naturally a strong indication that writing could appeal to you. The planets most often found in the third house of successful writers are Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus or Neptune.
The Sun in the third gives a natural inclination to focus on communication as part of your identity. The Moon there suggests an emotional need to voice your feelings. Mercury in the third usually wants to express through words, while Venus often indicates a love of writing and communicating, especially in poetic ways. Neptune in the third places a focus on the imagination and the ability to weave stories. Uranus would give a flair for surprise twists in your stories, unusual subjects, or a unique style. Pluto might excel in novels of intrigue, sex, murder or transformation.
Novelist Stephen King, mentioned above, has Sun, Venus and Neptune in his third house. Michael Crichton, author of the very imaginative Jurassic Park, has Mercury and Neptune in his third house. Novelists with Venus in the third house include Jane Austen, Gustav Flaubert, Sue Grafton, and Agatha Christie. Christie also had Uranus in her third house which gave her a special talent for dreaming up unusual situations and surprises in her mystery stories.
Other novelists with strong third houses include Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With the Wind, who had Mercury, Venus, Uranus and Jupiter in that house, all in Sagittarius, the sign of publishing. Her novel was one of the most popular of all times. Charles Dickens, whose prolific works became classics, had Uranus, Moon and Neptune in his third house.
If Your Third House is Empty
Many best-selling authors have no planets in their third houses, but writing success is shown by the planet that rules the sign on the third house cusp. So if that sign is Gemini or Virgo, ruled by Mercury, so much the better.
Whether it is Mercury or some other planet, it should be in a strong position in your chart, favorably aspected to such planets as Venus, Jupiter, Neptune, etc. A good example of how this works is seen in the chart of John Steinbeck, who had no planets in his third house, but the literary sign Virgo was on the cusp. Virgo’s ruler, Mercury, was in Aquarius, conjunct Venus in Aquarius. Both planets were trine Pluto in Gemini, another literary sign. The conjunction in Aquarius trine Pluto was powerful, enabling him in The Grapes of Wrath to take a humanitarian view of issues affecting mass movements of poor Oklahoma farmers during the Great Depression.
If the ruler of your third house is also in Aquarius and aligned with Mercury, Venus or Pluto, you too might be impelled to write, among other things, deeply moving stories about the political or humanitarian side of changes involving large groups of people. F. Scott Fitzgerald had one of the best third house connections possible for literary talent. Not only did he have the emotional Moon in sensuous Taurus in the third house, but Taurus was the sign on the cusp. Venus, its planetary ruler, was in his financial eighth house conjunct Mercury in Libra. Mercury and Venus were part of a fortunate grand trine that brought writing success to him with incredible ease.
Your Mercury Sign
The sign of your Mercury can be an excellent indication of your literary interests and chances. An air sign Mercury—in Libra, Gemini, or Aquarius--is usually attuned to writing. Some of the most successful novelists of past and present have had Mercury in the romantic mental air sign Libra. This gives an artistic, poetic flair to one’s written communication as seen in Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby or Thomas Wolfe’s highly poetic You Can’t Go Home Again. Other novelists with Mercury in Libra include Gore Vidal, Theodore Dreiser, Agatha Christie, and Faith Baldwin, as well as many novelists who write for the vast romance market. Prolific romance writer Nora Roberts has a stellium in the sign Libra. Mercury in Virgo also produces many novelists, including J.K. Rowling, D. H. Lawrence, Taylor Caldwell, James Gould Cozzens, Jacqueline Susann, Edna Ferber, and James Hilton.
Fewer novelists seem born with Mercury in the equally literate sign Gemini. These individuals often do better as journalists, short-story writers, essayists, or philosophers, perhaps because of their many interests and need for sociability and variety. Some of the outstanding exceptions are Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code and George Sand, who wrote many novels, but is perhaps best remembered for her colorful life style.
Mercury in Gemini individuals have a distinct flair for words and may write in a variety of genres. Those Mercury-in-Gemini authors with Moon or personal planets in emotional water signs, are more likely to turn to novels instead of non-fiction for self-expression.
Novelists with Mercury in Aquarius, the third mental air sign, include many who have had a message to convey in their fiction, including not only John Steinbeck, but Norman Mailer, Jack London, and Jack Kerouac. If you have your Mercury in the sign ruled by Uranus, you may be something of a rebel and may prefer stories that accent independence, unexpected twists of plot, politics, science, or humanitarian messages.
A number of novelists have had Mercury in Sagittarius. These authors tend to write stories of travel, adventure, drawing-room wit, characteristic of Jupiter, the ruler of Sagittarius. Think of Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, Jane Austen, or George Eliiot, whose novels have become classics. The tendency of those with Mercury in Sagittarius to view their characters within the setting of large-scale social events can produce a Margaret Mitchell, whose Gone With the Wind told a story of vast nationwide social change that took place during the Civil War. Mitchell’s Sun in Scorpio, ruled by Pluto, enhanced this tendency to large-scale story backgrounds.
Novelists with Mercury in Capricorn are more numerous than one might expect. Mercury in Saturn’s sign may be down-to-earth and concerned with realism, but are excellent with structure, form and history as well as with the unique details of setting and characterization that make a story more realistic. The combination has produced novelists who excel at story-telling such as Charles Dickens, Judith Kranz, Sinclair Lewis, Joseph Wambaugh, and Colette.
Mercury in Cancer, the sign of the Moon, is found in the charts of many novelists who have written for or about women, such as Barbara Cartland, Pearl Buck, or those with extra keen sensitivities such as Marcel Proust, Alduous Huxley, or Alexandre Dumas.
I found fewer prominent novelists with Mercury in the signs Leo, Scorpio, Aries, Pisces or Taurus. But among these are some of the finest. They include such distinctive talents as novelists Emily Bronte, Henry James, and Ernest Hemingway, all with Mercury in dramatic Leo.
Those with Mercury in intense Scorpio possess depth and humor, such as Gustav Flaubert, Mark Twain, and Joan Didion. Mercury in active Aries can indicate writers who initiate new trends in novels or who include much action or violence; think of Charlotte Bronte and Sue Grafton. Mercury in imaginative Pisces can possess great sensitivity as is notable with Victor Hugo and Jeffrey Archer.
Mercury in sensuous Taurus includes the prominent 19th-century French novelist Honore Balzac, who was a master of the art of painting humanity in great realistic detail.
An angular house position—Mercury in the first, fourth and seventh and tenth houses--give Mercury extra power in the chart. Those with Mercury in the tenth house, however, often operate best in public in such fields as lecturing, teaching or acting.
The Love of Writing--The Mercury/Venus Connection
A high proportion of writers who have devoted their lives to their craft have connections between the planets Mercury and Venus—showing their devotion to a career putting words together with artistry and talent. These two planets may be combined in several ways, through conjunction (often in a stellium) or in sextile or quintile. (They are never far enough from each other to be trine.)
Or Mercury and Venus can be in mutual reception. One can be in a sign ruled by the other or in a house naturally ruled by the other. Notice especially if Taurus or Libra is on the cusp of the Mercury-ruled third house. In addition, don’t forget to look at midpoints when discovering combinations between Mercury and Venus. I have seen writers’ charts where the Sun was at the Mercury-Venus midpoint. Since all three of these—Sun, Venus, and Mercury—are often close together, you may also find other variations of this midpoint pattern.
The Fiction Connection – An Imaginative Mind
To write fiction, you need a vivid imagination with which to dream up plots, characters, and dialogue. This usually means connecting easily with your subconscious mind. One can plot with the rational planet Saturn, rigidly following some standard romance or mystery formula to fit just what a publisher is seeking. But, if you do this, you will lose much of the spontaneity and originality that can come from first tuning in to the inner Muse for the essence of your story.
You’ll be able to come up with more creative ideas if you have the following in your chart: A focus on the twelfth house, its natural ruling sign Pisces, and its ruling planet Neptune. Many prolific novelists have a stellium in their charts that includes the planet Neptune, along with Moon, Mercury or Venus. A strong Neptune of some sort is needed in your chart. It might rule the Midheaven, be part of a midpoint structure, or be in aspect with other literary planets.
If you have a prominent Uranus, you can be very intuitive in coming up with unique ideas. The Moon and its sign Cancer are also powerful for tuning in to one’s imagination as well as to the dreams and aspirations of readers. Moon in Cancer, Moon in aspect to Neptune, Moon in the 12th house, or Cancer rising all denote vivid and sensitive imaginations.
Dickens and J. K. Rowling both were born with Moon conjunct Neptune, Agatha Christie and Gore Vital have charts with Moon trine Neptune, Barbara Cartland had Moon sextile Neptune.
Good Fortune in Publishing
Writing a novel, no matter how great it is, doesn’t guarantee publication. Some now famous writers were never published during their lifetimes. The good fortune to find a publisher for your work can be indicated by connections from Mercury and the third house of writing to the ninth house of publishing, and to the natural ruler of the ninth, Jupiter, or to planets in Jupiter’s sign Sagittarius.
There are many ways that the third and ninth houses can combine their energies to make for easy publishing. Planets between the third and ninth houses can be in aspect. The planets that rule the cusps of these houses may be in aspect, preferable a conjunction, sextile, or trine. Or the natural rulers of the third and ninth houses, Mercury and Jupiter, may combine by conjunction, sextile or trine.
Among other possibilities are mutual reception by planet or house. For instance, Mercury in the sign of Jupiter, Sagittarius, and Jupiter in Gemini, the sign of Mercury would fit this. A good example of mutual reception is shown in the chart of the British author Jeffrey Archer. Before he became a novelist, he was on his way to a successful career in politics when a failed investment threatened to bankrupt him. He set to writing a fictionalized story of his own financial misadventures in Not a Penny More; Not a Penny Less. The novel was easily published and he was well on his way to a new career.
His publishing luck undoubtedly came from the mutual reception between his third and ninth houses. Pisces was on the cusp of his ninth house and its ruler Neptune was in his third house in Virgo, while Virgo was on the cusp of his third house and its ruler Mercury was in his ninth house in Pisces. The two planets in mutual reception by sign and house brought writing and publishing together for him.
Sometimes a third planet may link the rulers of third and ninth houses. Agatha Christie had the ruler of the ninth house, Mars, in the fourth house, and tied to the third house by a sextile aspect to Uranus there. Margaret Mitchell had a similar extra planetary link involved between the houses of writing and publishing. She also had one of the most fortunate publishing stories ever. Her chart backed up that extraordinary luck. With three planets in her third house and Scorpio on the cusp, she had long had an obsessive need to write. She hadn’t even tried to publish Gone With The Wind, however, when the publisher actually came to her, scouting for new writers in the South. The ruler of her third house of writing was powerful Pluto, which was in her ninth house of publishing and trined Venus, which ruled her ninth house.
Her luck was so amazing that the publisher, Harold Latham of MacMillan, had to talk her into even letting him see the manuscript.
The Money Connection – Can You Earn Your Living as a Writer?
The incomes of writers seem to vary from very little to immense amounts. Books can be published and still not sell or make much money. What is usually seen in the charts of well-paid novelists are connections between writing (Mercury) and the second house of earned income or between the money house and the house of publishing, the ninth.
We know that Stephen King had to suffer through many menial jobs before his stories began to sell. But then his income soared. In recent years, Parade Magazine claimed in its annual salary review that King had made $45 million the previous year. The fact that the sign Leo was on the cusp of his second house of earned income, and that Leo’s ruler, the Sun, was in King’s third house of writing, and well aspected there, undoubtedly helped.
Other fortunate combinations in your natal chart indicating earnings from writing include the ruler of the third in the second, as well as mutual reception between the two houses, their natural and individual rulers, or some other combination that ties together the two houses. The same goes for similar links between second and ninth houses which many published authors have.
When a novelist finally hits the big time financially after years of struggling, the situation can usually be seen in the transits and progressions in his updated chart. In such cases, fortunate transits and progressions come along to bring a new cycle of good fortune. When this big break arrives, Jupiter, the Sun, and the Midheaven, its planets and ruler, (natally and progressed) are most often involved.
Some of our greatest writers, however, made little or nothing from their talents, poets especially. Nineteenth-century poet John Keats was poor until the day he died at age 26. Emily Dickinson’s poems were not published until after her death. Yet both these writers are among the brightest lights in literature. So don’t judge yourself by the money you make from writing.
If you’re writing because you love to write, as an art form, or a means of self-expression, never stop. Or if you’re attempting to put across ideas that are important to you and you have another source of income, that is wonderful and your pursuits should be encouraged. But if you’re the type who’d like to know the odds of making money at writing novels, then look closely for the possibilities described above.
Writing as a Career
Whether writing can become your principal profession will most likely be shown by a connection between the tenth house of career and the third house of communication. These connections can involve the planet that rules the sign on the tenth and the ruler of the sign on the third house cusp.
There are several ways these planets usually connect. Often this is by an aspect, usually a conjunction, sextile or trine between the rulers of third and tenth, but sometimes by an opposition between the two planets. Emily Bronte, for instance, had Virgo on the Midheaven. Mercury, its ruler, was in her ninth house of publishing (a good aspect for publishing as well). Mercury was trine Uranus in Sagittarius. Uranus was the ruler of her third house of writing, tying together third and tenth house, and incidentally the ninth.
Other novelists whose charts followed a similar pattern—an aspect between rulers of third and tenth—include Faith Baldwin, Taylor Caldwell, Sinclair Lewis, Alduous Huxley, and George Eliot.
A variation of the above is an aspect between the ruling planet of third or tenth and a planet occupying the other house. This is an aspect we find in the chart of Stephen King. Writing as a career is shown by enterprising Aries on the cusp of his tenth house of career. Its ruling planet, Mars, is in the behind-the-scenes twelfth house. Mars connects by a sextile aspect with his Sun in Virgo in the third house of writing. Other novelists with this pattern include Charles Dickens and George Eliot.
Perhaps the most obvious and direct connection between third and tenth is when the ruling planet of one house is found in the other. Jack London had this—with Aquarius on the Midheaven and Uranus in three. So did Agatha Christie. Venus ruled her tenth house and was found in her third. Mercury ruled Margaret Mitchell’s tenth house and was found in her third house in Sagittarius. It was part of a stellium of planets in Sagittarius there. Jane Austen also had Gemini on her Midheaven and Mercury in Sagittarius in her third house.
This is a lovely pattern for any would-be novelist (or writer of any type) to have—the ruler of the tenth in the third. The third-house planet itself will often tell you what kind of books, themes, or genres will be written. Study such clues carefully in your own chart. They should give you priceless information.
I should make you aware of a few other variations in case the above patterns of connection between third and tenths houses are not found in your charts. More than a few novelists have a stellium in their charts that include the rulers of the third and the tenth. Michael Crichton has this set-up.
Some have a connection of ruling planets by depositors. Sue Grafton, for instance, has Capricorn on her tenth house cusp. Saturn is in the first house at 4 degrees Taurus. Saturn is deposited by Venus, which is in her third house at 19 degrees Gemini.
I did not find any writing-as-a-career link between the third and tenth houses for such full-time authors as Barbara Cartland or Norman Mailer at first, but did when I looked closer. Cartland’s strength lay in publishing as a career. The rulers of her ninth and tenth, Jupiter and Saturn, were conjunct on her Midheaven. Her third house ruler, Mercury, was linked to her tenth house ruler only by a very wide opposition. Mailer’s third and tenth house rulers were connected by the point that lay at their midpoint, his Midheaven. So, don’t forget to test for occupied midpoints between two rulers when the more obvious connections are not there.
It should be noted that a third-tenth house connection can also apply to any professional in the field of communication, not just to novelists.
VII. The Temperament Connection
I recall a gifted young relative of mine who at age twelve had read almost every novel in the local library and possessed brilliant writing ability himself. He could sit down and type out the first page of a novel that equaled in descriptive power some of the day’s finest novelists. He could come up with intriguing opening lines for school essays. There was just one problem: He never wrote beyond the first page. He never finished anything.
One could perhaps blame it on his Mercury in Aries, which sometimes starts projects with great enthusiasm, then becomes eager to start something else. Or on his fixed grand cross, sensitive Moon in Pisces, a Venus/Uranus conjunction in his 12th house of karma or any of a number of factors. The point is that the initial gift came so easily to him that he never seemed to want to treasure and develop it.
So temperament is especially important. Every chart undoubtedly has factors in it that can cause one to procrastinate, to avoid really studying the craft, to give up too soon, or to loose heart at the first rejection slip. But hopefully every individual also has the ability to develop self-discipline or to avoid destructive self-criticism the blocks him.
Whatever you do, don’t worry about challenging squares and oppositions in your natal chart. They are your gifts as a writer. Every scene and story must contain conflict to hold a reader’s interest. Your story character will need some inner conflict; lend them your squares. For outer conflict with other story characters, lend them your oppositions. Then resolve matters for them with your trines.
If one of your own conflicts is in using the talents you were born with, look to Saturn or Pluto in your chart. These planets may seem like killjoys at times when placed in one of the angles of your chart, as was the case for Stephen King. But, especially if well-aspected, they can provide you with the determination and self-discipline every novelist needs to master his craft and begin to sell.
If this is not the case, you may be helped by joining a writer’s group or taking a class where regular writing is part of the expectation of the teacher or group. Be sure you are in an atmosphere where acceptance rather than harsh criticism is promoted, especially if your Moon is afflicted by Saturn.
Know your own temperament also when setting up a personal schedule for writing. Experiment until you find out when you are most creative. Don’t set rigid hours if that is not your creative style. Some work best when they wake up at dawn and go right to work at the computer. Others are night people creatively and write best lounging around with a flowing pen in one hand and a blank pad of paper in the other.
Different writers also have various techniques when they do get down to work. One excellent novelist I knew with a Cancer Sun and Mercury in Gemini had a brilliant mind and education and had published several critically-acclaimed novels. His Gemini Mercury assured that his flow of witty ideas and picturesque language flowed remarkably.
But he admitted that he had to put on another Gemini hat when it came to structuring his novels. So he had developed an excellent-for-him way to cope with this. He would write far more raw material than he needed, then go back and whip it into shape, cutting at least one-third of what he’d written in the process.
Other writers who have a great deal of earth in their charts and a strong Mercury/Saturn combination may be so enamored of form and structure that their plots are worked out in advance with charts and graphs and every turning point at the exact correct page even before they begin writing.
Then others edit and shape as they go. Every chart is different, so it’s important for you to figure out the best way for you to write that novel in a way that works for you and makes use of the greatest strengths in your chart.
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