Tarot for The Skeptical Novelist
Outlining your writing using tarot archetypes as a focus tool.
When you’re a creative writer but not superstitious.
Tarot cards and storytelling go hand-in-hand. When explaining the art of tarot interpretation to skeptical friends, my keywords are “analysis” and “brainstorming”. Just like in literature and psychology, tarot has defined “archetypes” and “tropes” which can serve as tools for interpretation, understanding problems and working towards conclusions.
If you’re a creative novelist but identify as a “right-brain” logical thinker, the classical 72 card tarot deck could still be your new outlining tool in your writing toolkit — right next to your mindmaps, hero theory or Scrivener.
By the way, in light of NaNoWriMo 2022 I have committed to one episode per day every day for preptober and November, overcoming creative blockers on twitch while streaming games which helped me think! Join me, share your creative blocks, let’s talk our way out of our messy minds at twitch.tv/annathingpodcast
Limiting Your Thinking
If you ever created a story using only the magnets on your fridge or made up characters while people-watching, you’ve experienced your creativity thriving when put inside the proverbial box. Supposedly, creativity loves freedom of expression. Yet we’ve all just sat there in front of a blank page, paralyzed by infinite possibilities.
For nonlinear thinkers to whom coherent structure doesn’t come naturally, playing within defined “rules” helps formulate and express ourselves within those frames. As for cold hard logisticians, it’s like solving a puzzle or writing a formula!
The Variables
Unless you’re using the services of a specialized reader (shoutout to Chris Lilly for the awesome word building spreads) or willing to practice “intuition”, then you’re gonna be working with you cards open or “face up”. As in, choosing which cards work for you rather than pulling them out blindly.
You’ll want to familiarize yourself with the deck first. Not by heart! Not every professional reader can brag about their encyclopedic memory. Just enough so you don’t still think that the Death card means literal death. There are keyword summaries available for each card online. For those who are impatient to try their first formula, you could start by Googling individually ‘which cards represent betrayal’, for example.
The Formula
In tarot, questions are formulated as “guidance” and “revelations”, using keywords such as “how, why, what”. This helps make the card’s symbolism relevant as an answer. Ask yourself questions that could help clear your block or outline your chapter / character, then try answering using pre-existing tropes and archetypes in the cards.
I create story checkpoints — achievable plot goals to work towards — or narrative arc guidelines to make sure my writing doesn’t stray and has direction and purpose. It’s up to you to decide what you are solving for and since the rules of tarot are already set, all you gotta do is create your formula!
A recent example, I had a block when editing a chapter where my mentor character begins teaching his craft to a young apprentice. So I formulated my spread to solve for what bothered me most and chose my focus cards:
What’s the purpose of this chapter? (I chose Page of Pentacles)
How would Dheer approach the lessons? (Queen of Pentacles)
What might be the conflict? (Page of Swords)
If you happen to use Myers Briggs for writing, you’ll be delighted to learn that the 16 court cards, like knights and queens, echo the 16 personalities! I went with court cards because I wanted a chapter that’s character driven, completely at the mercy of ideologies clashing.
The Page of Pentacles represents learning new skills and taking first steps to manifestation. I feel like our young apprentice, Chamomile, steadily walking with the “knowledge” cradled in both hand is the druid’s vision as a mentor: to pass down the torch, continue what he couldn’t complete. By choosing this card I set the goal to show how much hope and expectation he is putting into her, as well as remind myself to let my readers know where he comes from and what’s unfinished. Yay, backstory time!
I decided my mentor’s parental instincts are kicking in and he’s taking things much too personally, somewhat spoiling Chamomile, other times being harsh in criticism (Queen of Pentacles). The conflict will stem from the fact that young Chamomile experiences the world differently (Page of Swords), the classic parental expectations versus child’s individuality. Not only that, but I remind myself that she’s a little girl and a brat who didn’t ask to be mentored in the first place.
Once I focused on these pieces, the narrative came to me. Cue the dark-humored, miserable montage of the next several years of the druid’s life trying to educate her. Unless, you know, I edit it out again.
Fill in The Blanks
Alternatively, if you’re not sure how to formulate your questions, you can start by adopting creative writing tarot spreads made by others. I find mine on Pinterest! When I realize mid-writing that a character in my story is severely underdeveloped, I save a lot of time by whipping out this character spread as first-draft-fixer-upper:
1) Hero Journey
2) External Nature
3) Internal Nature
4) Goal
5) Motivation/Prevention
6) Strength
7) Flaw
8) Source of Flaw / Conflict
9) Effect of Flaw /Conflict on Goal
I love using this spread for all my character profiles, which I reference continuously to keep track of character arcs, conflicts and how each character approaches the plot through the prism of their personal journey.
In the above picture, I characterized young Chamomile, who was a challenge to write because throughout the first book she is a child. Yet she is a pivotal character whose actions cause mayhem, and I needed a guiding logic behind her unpredictability. Otherwise it’s a mess, not a story.
I constructed myself a clear thematic guideline:
As a child, Chamomile’s hero journey is tied to her mother (Empress Reversed). She essentially is her mother, but in a way that is over-possessive, nurture energy blocked. I keep track that her mother is the antagonist from Chamomile’s point of view.
She wants to get what she wants (9 of Cups), as do most kids, naturally. I don’t need to over-justify her adventure prompts, she just wants things and goes for it.
Her escapism from her mother manifests in a self-sabotaging nature with a blind attraction to darker things (8 of Swords Reversed). I take note to show how this develops her open-mindedness towards the paranormal.
Her goal is that of a defiant child, to be alone and not take whatever the people raising her have to offer ( 4 of Cups). This is the source of all conflict: rejecting her family.
More of a challenge than motivation, she’s a slow learner (Knight of Pentacles), an autistic child in an era where no such thing is known of, and she really hates discipline. I take note to focus on her better learning skills when experiencing the world when she’s alone, through her paranormal shenanigans, rather than her parents’ forceful lessons.
This autistic nature is also an intuitive strength in her encounters with the paranormal. Her flaw (7 of Wands) is that she’s a rebel paired with poor survival instincts, and that she’s a child. Not a flaw per se but limiting her ability to defend or express herself. I must control that it’s her unique way of thinking that always brings her to victory.
As a child, paired with being on the spectrum, her poor survival instinct and rebelliousness comes from her limitations to express herself (Ace of Pentacles Reversed) but and lack of foresight. I must remember she’s just a kid with a poor sense of consequences, no planning and extremely narrow train of thought.
Her ‘goal’ of rejecting her family is eventually transformed into accepting the ‘burden’, because she does need help. Realising that mutual dedication makes them stronger and helps her fulfill herself through love, working together and understanding (10 of Pentacles). So that throughout the next book, she manifests herself and self-actualizes through family. I must always ensure that the B plot of her family also ties into this final lesson, by redeeming her family in her eyes by saving her multiple times, realizing their wrong and finally opening up to understand Chamomile.
With these thematic compasses, I am able to edit the plot — and come up with new, better ‘episodes’ — to feed into Chamomile’s arc. By always being able to come back to these ‘themes’, I control the succinctness, focus and symbolic flow of events when editing the final version of the novel.
I don’t know about you, but this makes everything so clear to me, the words flow right out of my fingertips. Until the next block.
Post Scriptum
Tarot archetypes are multifaceted, and even a single card can have so many motives depending on how we interpret its essential message. It’s a focal ping-back point to check any and all of your story elements against to ensure you are weaving a coherent journey, contained within a single snapshot. All that is human nature is bundled into 72 cards for you to reference and guide your characters through, and I hope you can discover how powerful these archetypal building blocks can be to help your writing reach clarity.
I even use this for writing clearer academic papers on business copies, whatever that involves focused writing and need to write clearly. Yeah, my brain’s an atomic mess.
If you read this far yet still felt like it wasn’t relevant enough, or you tried and this method didn’t work for you, please leave a comment or connect with me on Twitter — and I’ll think of another method that might help!
By the way, in light of NaNoWriMo 2022 I have committed to one episode per day every day for preptober and November, overcoming creative blockers on twitch while streaming games which helped me think! Join me, share your creative blocks, let’s talk our way out of our messy minds at twitch.tv/annathingpodcast
