Creative Non-Fiction Writing Mode

This gameplay Mod is played with the Signifer Mod and the Intentional Mod.

Use Fellowship of Fools to write a Creative Non-Fiction piece (memoir, autobiography, biography, personal essay, literary journalism, speeches, or other topical material can be written with a literary angle.)

The First Draft

Devote an entire blank journal to this Mode.
Choose which FoF decks you would like to use for your draw.
Choose a Signifer Card for the theme of what you will write about in a section. This could be based off one or both of the prompts on the card, or your own interpretation of that card. This can be a Situation Card or a Topic Card.
Place that card on a table surface. Write down the card’s name, orientation, and chosen prompt/meaning you want to focus on from it in your journal. Then write for 5+ minutes about that card/prompt and what it means to you personally.
Select two other cards with prompts that relate to your first card. Place these on either side of your first card with the chosen prompts upright. Write these down as well in your journal. Write about these two cards/prompts and also how they relate to your Signifier Card for 10+ minutes. For more inspiration on reading the cards to inspire your writing, you can read about the significance of numerology and Tarot meanings from other resources.
Separate and shuffle the remaining Topic Cards from the deck. Focus on the cards you’ve chosen, the topic surrounding them, and your breathing.
When you are ready, draw the first two cards. Place them on either side of your three drawn cards and choose among the prompts that come up. Write about these two cards/prompts and how they relate to the other cards in the spread for 10-20+ minutes. For more inspiration on reading the cards to inspire your writing, you can read about the significance of numerology and Tarot meanings from other resources.
Repeat Steps 2-7 when you want to write some creative non-fiction. Try a few days every week. Keep filling up the journal you’ve devoted to this Mode until you’ve reached your desired length, covered the topics you wanted to, reached your desired ending, or you get stuck.

Rewriting

(optional) Set it aside and don’t think about it or read it for two weeks.
Read through the entire piece. Mark the passages you like, the stories that stick out to you, that make you feel what you felt about the time you were describing. Write down notes in a separate piece of paper of themes you see coming out in your rough draft, stories that work, that need to be elaborated, other stories that could be added.
Now that you have a better idea of the themes of this work, write them down and assign them Signifier Cards that symbolize those topics/themes for you.
Copy the highlighted portions of your piece into a computer doc file. As you copy them over, (re)organize them into sections that correlate to the Signifier Cards you’ve chosen.
Reread and rewrite the new sections organized by your Signifier Cards with the prompts on your Signifier Cards in mind.
Go through your notes and follow the instructions you wrote to yourself–to flesh out certain scenes, elaborate certain stories and write about others. As you rewrite, allow a space for other stories to rise within you and include those in your rewrite.
Where you feel there are gaps, repeat Steps 2-8 in the Rough Draft section.
Rewrite the piece again by repeating steps Steps 1-6 of the Rewriting section.
Repeat Steps 6 and 7 of the Rewriting section until you are satisfied with the piece.
Take a closer look at the structure of the piece. Read up about different ways to structure the personal essay and play with different ways you can structure what you’ve written. Play with the structure of your piece until you have settled on a structure that you are satisfied with.

Editing

Read your piece out loud and correct for grammar, flow, word choice and rhythm. Repeat until satisfied.
Ask those you know in your life (that enjoys reading and/or whose opinion you respect in regards to what you are writing about) if they would read your piece for you and write down their thoughts and feedback on the copy you are giving them and to summarize their feedback on a separate paper. If they say yes, print out the piece for them, and then give them 1 week-1 month depending on the length of the piece. Wait, work on something else, and don’t bug them except for the gentle reminder here and there that you would like it by Date X. (Or, alternatively, organize or join an existing writing group).
(Optional) Take your reader out for a meal or cook/bake them something when they finish their reading and critique (and before you read their critique). While breaking bread, talk about the work and their thoughts on it informally.
Repeat Step 2 of the Rewriting section while reading the written notes on the printed copy from your reader. Be open to feedback, criticism, new ideas, reader’s reactions and confusion and write notes to yourself on what you can learn from it and keep in mind as you rewrite.
Repeat Steps 1-10 of the Rewriting section with your readers’ feedback in mind and pay attention to what they have marked.
Repeat steps 1-5 of the Editing section until you are out of willing readers or you feel satisfied with the piece.
Hire an editor experienced in your genre and send them your revised draft. Wait, work on something else, and don’t bug them.
Repeat Steps 5-7 of the Editing section until you are satisfied with the piece.
Pursue publication. This could involve self-publishing, or submitting the piece to journals/magazines/contests/agents.