Tarot For Writers - Three-Card Spreads For Story And Character Development

Create awesome stories with the Tarot

“You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” 

Jack London

The Tarot can be an excellent writing coach.

Let the magickal scenery of the cards fuel your imagination and help you with plot and character development.

Once you are familiar with the basic card meanings, you can use spreads to help you generate ideas.

Start off with 3-card spreads to keep it simple.

Character Development

You can explore a character’s

• Past – Present – Future
• Job – Love Life – Ambitions
• Strength – Weakness – Potential
• Goals and Motivations – Stakes – Internal conflict
• Dreams and Desires – Hopes and Fears – Inspiration

Sharman-Caselli Tarot

Example:

Job: Five of Cups - Funeral Director, Bereavement Counsellor

Love Life: The Devil - In a co-dependent relationship; sex addiction

Ambitions: Six of Wands - To escape the current rut and become a travel rep

Story Development

Develop a plot simply with

• Beginning – Middle – End 
• Dilemma – Action / Climax – Resolution 
• Action – Reaction - Movement 

Sharman-Caselli Tarot

Example:

Beginning: The Star - recovering from a serious illness

Middle: Queen of Wands - living life to the full 

End: Seven of Cups - new possibilities; dreams, desires; crossroads; an open ending

In order to get more specific ideas, you can pull one or two sub-cards for each position. 

For example, how does the Queen of Wands live life to the full?

Sharman-Caselli Tarot

Answer: Knight of Cups, Nine of Pentacles - She falls in love with an artist 10 years her junior, and together they take on a smallholding to convert into a bird sanctuary and B&B.

You can also adjust your ideas to a specific genre such as sci-fi, fantasy, crime, chick lit, horror, romance etc.

For example, in sci-fi terms, the Star could indicate a journey into space heading for an earth-like planet to find new living space for the human race.

The Queen of Wands suggests a charismatic female commander of the spaceship, whose task it is to explore the planet to see, if it is suitable as a new home for humans....

But how does the story develop according to the remaining cards? Now it's up to you to let your imagination run wild :)

I must stress that I'm not a fiction writer, so what I've come up with in this exercise may not be that brilliant, but the cards certainly made me think and challenge my imagination.

If you would like to learn the Tarot in order to use it as a story-telling tool, then consider enrolling on my correspondence course to unblock your blocks and accelerate your creative writing power.

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

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Six of Wands Messages on Leadership

The traditional meaning of the Six of Wands relates to accomplishment, public recognition, praise, victory and success, but the image also depicts a leader and his followers. 

This card can suggest a recent promotion into a managerial position, or having gained more followers/fans/investors, who openly support your project or business venture.

Either way, effective leadership is an important means to get to this point, especially leading by example.

What leadership lessons does the Six of Wands teach us? The rider on the image seems to take success in his stride and keeps moving forward. There is no time to be complacent. He's certainly not resting on his laurel.

When you draw this card in a reading, it may indicate an achievement, but it can also ask you to develop and nurture some leadership qualities, that can help you reach your goal. Which ones do you need to focus on? Here are some quotes relating to the Six of Wands, which may give you a few ideas:

"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." 

- John C. Maxwell

"It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership." 

- Nelson Mandela

"If you want to see the true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."
- J. K. Rowling

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." 
- Steve Jobs

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves." 

- Lao Tzu

"The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humour, but without folly." 

- Jim Rohn

"He that cannot obey, cannot command." 

- Benjamin Franklin

Affirmation: I achieve my goals by leading others towards greatness.

For more inspiring quotes and affirmations for each card please check out my ebook Empowering Messages from the Tarot

Warmest wishes,

Christiane



Transform your life this year:

Tarot Readings - Insightful guidance when you need it
Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life
Tarot eBooks - Great value, innovative Tarot study material
Make sure you subscribe to my updates via email or RSS feed to receive the latest content straight into your inbox.

You can also connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.