Into the Woods: Outline Your Story with the Tarot
Day ~3~ in the Tarot Tent
Welcome to The Tarot Tent, a special five-day event brought to you by The Shuffle.
Each day, as part of this virtual summer camp experience for writers, I’m bringing a Tarot-for-Writers workshop out of my archives to share with you!
Recordings will be available free for everyone for 24 hours, and then they’ll live in The Shuffle library for full-access subscribers forever! PS: full-access subscribers can find details on booking a complimentary mini-spark session with me at the bottom of this email!
Getting lost is one of the most frightening — and the most meaningful —experiences you can have on a camping trip.
Losing your way can induce panic — how the hell are you going to make it home? — but it can also conjure wonder: the sense that, wherever you go, there you are.
I remember, as a young camper, the combined anxiety and exhileration of stumbling through the dark…. losing the path, briefly, in a copse of trees after taking a wrong turn on my way to the latrines. The high of adrenaline as I became a trembling animal, tapping into my surroundings and the sky to orient me. Here, in this liminal space, this lost pocket, anything was possible — horrors and magic and everything in between.
I remember, too, the surge of relief when another camper triggered to motion lights of the outhouse, calling me home like a sailor’s beacon. I hadn’t been so far off, it turned out — but in the darkness I’d lost all sense, convinced myself I was alone in the world.
Orienting yourself to tell a story can be like that — whether you’re a plotter, a panters, or you fall somewhere in the middle, it helps to have some sense of where you’re going. Or how you’re going. Or at least why you’re going.
Personally, I like to have a guiding light when I’m writing — not some harsh floodlight, but rather something gentle, warm. Powerful enough to keep me company and keeping me from tripping, but soft enough to preserve the mysterious magic that comes when I allow my story to follow its own feet into the woods.
I think of the Hermit of the tarot often, when writing. Of Pamela Coleman' Smith’s compelling illustration: a journeyman lighting his own way forward. I try to write like this: casting light on the space where I am, and going from there. I’m doing it now.
In today’s Tarot Tent workshop, you’ll explore how tarot cards can help you light the path of your story, gently guiding you through the narrative and helping you navigate those moments where you feel lost in your writing. The spreads and tips offered will help you orient yourself within your story, and plan for how to move forward even when you’re in the thickest part of the woods.
But before you begin, I invite you to choose a light to carry with you, in the form of a tarot card.
All you need to do is flip intentionally through your deck, looking at each card until you identify one that represents how you want your eventual reader to feel as a result of the story you’re telling.
Place this card in your writing space, and let its energy guide you — through today’s workshop, and through your writing sessions to come.
Imagine yourself as the Hermit, and this card as the lit lamp in their hands. Let it guide you forward in your writing , and let it illuminate where you are now in the journey - both are equally important.
Now, campers, it’s time to go exploring. Light those lamps and follow me — we’re heading into the woods, and we’re relyng on our imaginations and the tarot to bring us out the other side.
Below you’ll find today’s pre-recorded workshop: OUTLINE YOUR STORY WITH THE TAROT
We cover:
Three methods of plotting your whole novel using the tarot
How to outline specific scenes and/or arcs with the tarot
How to solve plot holes with the tarot
I also created a supplementary mini-workbook for you! Get it here ⬇️
NOTE: This workshop was first recorded in October 2023, as part of my TAROTWRIMO workshop series to help writers prepare for NaNoWriMo.
Wherever participants have been invited to share in the chat, I encourage you to share in the comments below.