The Moon makes harmonious aspects to Pluto and the Sun in Capricorn favoring career building and marketing. Have you built your author platform yet? What about your resume or your freelance portfolio? It’s a very practical day as the Moon moves into down-to-earth Virgo and trines Ceres in Capricorn. Get those rational left-brain duties done today so that you can go back to dreamy right-brain writing another day. Later this evening, we are chafing against restraint. It’ll be best to shut down shortly after dinner.

This morning, write that argument scene. There is tension between old, traditional ways and the urge to move in new, individual directions. Use that tension to write confrontations between characters or articles about political oppositions. Egos are bloated today, and emotions are on edge. There is transformation or revolution in the air. If you were avoiding making any big changes in your writing project, you may have to face those changes now. It’s better to change willingly rather than trying to fight the inevitable.

We come out of a dreamy early morning with a renewed impetus to expand our writing. It’s a great day to work on character development. What motivates them? What holds them back? How can a character flaw early in your story become an asset later on (or vice versa)? How does your character reflect the larger world and theme of your story? If they don’t, maybe you need another protagonist. You don’t need their complete life story with all the details; you just need the relevant bits. Character development is work that is well worth the effort.

Venus and Mercury in Aquarius gives our ideas a sparkle and our writing a graceful ease early this morning. Because Venus and Mars are also sextiling Saturn, we have the ability to be responsible and get some real work done. This afternoon, tension arises between impulsive action and our need to nurture ourselves. Write very early this morning, and then knock off around mid-afternoon and pamper yourself. Don’t push it this evening. It will be more trouble than it’s worth. And anyway, you deserve a break.

It’s a dynamic day today. You’ll go from confusion to possibility to obstruction to realistic hope, all before lunch! Then the Full Moon in Cancer this afternoon activates the Uranus/Pluto T-square flinging us from shock into revolutionary optimism. If you write intense action thrillers, this is the day for you to shine. Also, anyone writing about the future of social institutions or international politics will do well. Try to stay nimble today because the tides turn quickly and often. Try to ride the waves of shifting emotions and ideas. It may be best to take notes today and polish your work another day.

This morning and this evening will feel like polar opposites. This morning, we are mentally sharp, and it’s a good day for editing or anything that requires attention to detail. Moon in Gemini trine Mars in Aquarius gives us mental agility, but it could also give us some irritability. Venus moves into Aquarius later this morning smoothing the mental waters, though, so we can get some work done. This evening, as the Moon enters Cancer, we become more emotional than mental. Pour your feelings out onto the page. Grab a box of tissues and write those sad scenes tonight. Try not to drip tears onto your keyboard.

Today is a pivot point where you stop forcing your writing into old molds. You see the new direction that is opening up right in front of you. It’s not that you throw away the outline you’ve been working so hard on. It’s that you expand it with new, exciting and relevant material. Mental expansion is the order of the day. If you think you’ve said everything there is to say about your subject. Think again. There’s more to say if you look for it, and fresh ways to say it.

If you thought you were going to just sit down and toss off a few easy words today, think again. While Moon in Gemini just wants to write along the surface of things, Saturn conjunct Pallas in Sagittarius wants us to see the bigger picture. Where your emotions want to write about the small, everyday occurrences and the little stories about what happened at the grocery store, Saturn demands that you look at how those little stories fit into a grander one. This will feel frustrating and demanding until an “aha” moment arrives after supper that could motivate you to write into the wee hours. Your mind suddenly opens to see vistas of wider possibility for your work. Not a bad way to ring in the first evening of the New Year!