Recently, I released Tarot for Storytellers on DriveThruFiction.com. This book is sourced from my personal experiences studying the narrative aspects of tarot and the writing workshops I’ve been teaching. For the past couple of years, I’ve been running a writing workshop called “Tarot for Storytellers” at the Gen Con Writer’s Symposium and online. Often sold out, I walk participants through writing exercises designed to spark inspiration by leveraging a deck of tarot cards and voluntary critiques.

At the beginning of the book, I write that: “The writing exercises in this book are designed for people who love the art of tarot and storytelling. As you use the exercises and guidance in this book, you’ll learn how to rely on your intuition and author’s instincts.” When thinking about how I wanted to convert the workshop into a book, I opted to blend a mixture of timed and untimed writing exercises, lots of examples, and tips to create variations. The ten exercises I designed to intersect with tarot are:

1. Character Sketch
2. Advanced Character Sketch
3. Mind, Body, Heart
4. Past, Present, Future
5. Beginning, Middle, End
6. Four Act Structure
7. Five Act Structure
8. The Calendar
9. Major Arcana Arc
9. Major Arcana Arc
10. Minor Arcana Arc

Each section has a call-out for game masters that draws on feedback I’ve received over the years to help the reader customize the exercises for their needs, too. I wrap up the exercises with a deep dive into the narratives present in modern tarot, then follow it up with game design essays that talk about how to incorporate tarot, either as rules or as setting, and an expansive list of references.

Unlike any other book I’ve written, the development work on Tarot for Storytellers benefited from in-person feedback I received over the past few years before I sat down to write it. Following my second draft, I worked with editor Robyn Bennis to address her comments, and consulted with Matt M McElroy to ensure the game master advice, for both TTRPGs and LARPs, was clear, too.

If you’re curious about the intersection between storytelling and tarot, I hope you’ll check out my new book! Happy writing!

Tags | Fiction, Games, gm-advice, tarot, writing