Sierra Godfrey and Kasey Corbit 

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not in any way spiritual or mystical. I’m also a pretty dedicated plotter, with some pantser allowances. But I’m always on the lookout for useful writing and plotting tools.

Then, one day last spring, I attended a writer’s retreat among the redwoods on the coast of California and with the ocean making gentle sounds far below. I learned of a new, intriguing tool: using tarot decks for writing.

Before that day, the sum total of my knowledge about the tarot equaled a pill bug’s. So when fellow writer and friend Kasey Corbit asked if we were interested in learning, I wasn’t all that excited. After all, isn’t tarot a bunch of mumbo jumbo?

Then she brought out her cards and we began playing around.

It turns out that the tarot is not weird at all. It taps right into your intuition and connects to universal human experiences. Heavy on story and imagery, tarot is almost like it’s made for writers. Maybe we already know who our characters are, but sometimes pulling out the details requires a little work. The images on the cards can be prompts in themselves. All good, right? And it turns out, tarot as a writing tool is not new to writers. According to author Corrine Kenner, Stephen King and John Steinbeck use/used them!

That day of the retreat, I liked what I saw enough so that when I got home, I purchased my very first tarot deck (a particularly pretty deck called The Wild Unknown, listed below). I would describe myself as a casual user, but was interested in using it more. In writing this post, I really discovered more and I’m glad I did.

Are you interested? Good! Here is a 3-step primer on tarot for writers, with some added help from my friend Kasey:

1. Get a deck.

Find one that speaks to you: You can get a deck pretty much anywhere: Amazon, bookstores, online shops. A frequent recommendation is to get a deck with images that speak to you. I purchased The Wild Unknown by artist Kim Krans because I loved the artwork, the cards were large, and it also came with a substantial booklet, which I felt was key since I knew absolutely nothing beyond what Kasey told me on our retreat day. I didn’t like the darker ones. Kasey, though, has a whopping total of 20 decks. She told me she knows people with over 200 decks! (Her favorites are mentioned below under Resources.)

My second tarot deck purchase—because there is always a second (“like tattoos,” Kasey remarked)—turned out to be Tarot of Pagan Cats by Barbara Moore and Lola Airaghi. Because, cats.

You should choose a deck that has a full deck of at least 78 cards, and you want them with the major and minor arcanas. Still with me? Good, because even though I’m writing this post, I’m still not even sure what arcanas are. That’s okay. We’re learning together.

Don’t confuse them with Oracle Cards: There is something called an Oracle Deck, which has fewer cards, and you don’t want that because the meanings are different than the cards in traditional tarot. Kasey did note, however, that “While the tarot is more archetypal in the way it sets up its journeys, some folks REALLY dig oracle cards. Oracle decks are their own thing and don't follow the same set-up as mentioned here, but for writing the goal is to switch out of that inner critic mode that shuts it all down and opens up the inner knowing and thinking.”

2. Learn about the cards.

Okay, this step is admittedly a bit harder and takes a while, but you can learn as you go. You don’t need to be an expert. 

• Earth/Pentacles represents practical things like money, physical work, home.
• Air/Swords represents activities of the mind. (The 9 of Swords I pulled below is about nightmare scenarios, but what we fear is usually a product of our own mind.) It also goes to communication and that includes writing. So, it’s not all bad (though air/swords has the highest number of “challenging” cards of any suit).
• Fire/wands is about passion, creativity, and sexuality.
• Water/Cups is the suit of our emotions. So these suits each include their own journeys, but they’re more the day-to-day dealings of life instead of the key archetypal moments.

3. Do a few writing-centric card layouts.

 As you handle the cards, have a question in mind. Avoid yeses or nos, but rather “what” or “why,” like “why does my protagonist want to stay (or go)?”

Then, shuffle the deck by hand over hand shuffling. Finally, cut the deck into three.

In the book Tarot for Writers, author Corrine Kenner offers some classic spreads that go from easy to more complicated, like the Celtic’s Cross. She also offers writing prompts and a great way to use cards to look at the Hero’s Journey plot arc.

Here are three easy ones to start:

One card spread: General character or story card

• What story do you see in the card you drew?
• What does the card tell you about your character?
• Can the card inspire a whole scene?
• Does the card hint at the character’s past?
• Does the location come through?

For purposes of this post, I pulled a card from my Wild Unknown deck and was horrified at all the eyeballs and worms! It was the nine of swords—a dark card indeed. (See Kasey’s note about the minor elements above.) In this card, I saw a complicated mess of things for my character to sort out. If she doesn’t sort out her issues, then she’ll die (worms?) a spiritual death. That is—she won’t move on with life. The character battles with herself and must act to find joy.

Okay, so far, so good.

Two-card spreads: Best and Worst Traits

Pull two cards to represent the best traits and the worst traits of your character and see what you get.

I pulled the 6 of wands for best traits and the 7 of swords for worst traits. Right off the bat, I liked that there was a pretty butterfly for my character’s best trait. She can move and change. For her worst trait, there’s an intriguing fox peeking out from its tail. The guide kook says that fox is all about keeping secrets either from yourself or other people. My character needs to admit things to herself in order to move on.

Three-card spreads: Past, present, and future

For this illustration, I switched to my Pagan Cats deck because it’s so cute.

For my character’s past, I pulled the knight of swords—a very fetching image of a cat on an owl. What on earth could that mean? It means someone who acts decisively when confronted with ideas. Hmm. Interesting –I’ll give that some thought. This card is also about influences from the past that could still affect your character today.

For my character’s present, I pulled the Knight of Pentacles, which is a tabby sitting on a goat. (I don’t know, either.) My booklet says this is someone who acts carefully when dealing with the physical world, finances, or resources.” Okay, that’s definitely interesting—especially because in my current manuscript, the character’s present is the one I’m grappling with the most. This card is also about the elements that surround the character now, either positive or negative.

For my character’s future, I have the king of swords with a very royal long-haired cat on a chest. This is someone who has authority or makes decisions and is a pro at dealing with things. I can get with that. That’s certainly where my character needs to go. This is all about where she needs to end up at the end of her story.

Maybe what I would do with these three cards is see if I can work in a line about my character’s desire to be more in control of her world or her problems, and at the end, in the resolution of the story, she is.

Plot Structure Spreads: any plot structure—the Hero’s Journey, Save the Cat beat sheet, three-act structure—can be used as a spread. Pantsers can flip through cards to generate ideas for scenes and fit them together afterwards.

I liked the idea of trying to use the Hero’s Journey spread because I was having trouble developing the Refusal of the Call scene in my manuscript (also known as Debate). I used the cards and thought about what I drew.

I made a worksheet for you for this on my website – the Hero’s Journey Tarot worksheet. Download it free.

Another idea is to pull a card with a scene or story beat in mind and study the image. What would happen if you stepped into the card? What do you feel, taste, smell, see?

In sum

I hope this post has sparked your imagination or expanded your writing toolbox. I think one of the most important things about using the tarot that I’ve learned is to be causal if you want to. You don’t need to wear a caftan and set off the fire sprinklers with a hundred lit candles from being mystical about it. Some people only spread cards on a velvet cloth—but man, I don’t have time for that. Kasey says she usually does it on her wood kitchen table, and she’s also done it on her desk at work and a bar. I used my mostly-cleared desk. For me, it’s enough to know about it, and use it when I can.

Have you used the tarot for writing? If this is something new to you, do you think you’ll give it a try?

Resources:

Books:

• Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner

Decks I like:

• The Wild Unknown Tarot deck by Kim Krans
• Tarot of Pagan Cats
• Steampunk Tarot (for fantasy writers)
• Tarot for Vampires (dark! For thriller, fantasy, and scifi writers)
• Rider-Waite Deck (traditional)

Kasey’s Deck Recommendations:

• The Wild Unknown as mentioned above
• Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert (a little old-school-hippie in some cards, is a beautiful and very gentle deck; sometimes, you need a spoonful of sugar)
• Deviant Moon Tarot by Patrick Valenza (the opposite of the Gaian; it’s dark and good, Kasey notes, for shadow issues)
• Ghetto Tarot by Alice Smeets  (modeled after the traditional Rider-Waite-Smith deck but is set in Haiti and uses Haitian actors to present gritty and real imagery.

Links:

• My Hero’s Journey tarot worksheet
• Aecletic Tarot spreads for writers and artists
• Raelyn Barclay’s excellent intro to tarot for writing
• Troi’s Tarot Study for Writers
• WordHunter’s Tarot for writers
• Storytelling with Tarot Pinterest board
• A goal, motivation, and conflict spread from a romance writer

Bios:

In addition to writing fiction, Sierra Godfrey is also a graphic designer specializing in author websites and Swag (sites she’s designed include Pitchwars.org and ManuscriptWishList.com.) She is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association and moonlights as a sports writer covering Spanish football. She lives in the foggy wastelands of the San Francisco Bay Area with her family and way too animals. Visit her at www.sierragodfrey.com or tweet to her @sierragodfrey.

Kasey Corbit spends her days weaving narratives in one form or another, be it to readers, to other lawyers, her tarot clients, or her own children. She aims to bring a little more cheer and a little more justice to the world every day. Find her at https://thedharmadiva.wordpress.com/ or on twitter @thedharmadiva.

I learn something new with every book I write. Usually, it's craft-related, or characterization, high concept--concrete things. 

But this next book taught me something deeper and more important. I'm hoping something in my pain and suffering will keep some of you from the same.

First, a bit of backstory. The past almost two years, I've taken huge hits in my career as an author. I love romance, but have wanted to break into women's fiction fo-evah. So:

• I wrote the book of my heart. I loved it. NY loved the writing, but eventually turned me down - not a large enough audience for a Western Women's Fiction. Okay, fine, I self-pubbed it. (Days Made of Glass).
• I started a hard-hitting, Jodi Picoult-esque women's fiction proposal. I slaved over every word. The editors loved it. Except. It was too sad. So I rewrote the proposal and synopsis. They still thought it was too sad. Ouch. I've put the book in the drawer until I can find a way to appease NY, and still write the book I want.
• I took time out of chasing NY to write a romance novella for an anthology with some friends of mine. (Cowboy Karma).

I was lost. I had a heart-to-heart with my agent and she suggested I go back to what I know NY wants - my brand of romance. My publisher, Grand Central, wanted more books from me (thank God).

This book. It started differently. The character came to me - a funny, irreverent voice that is so not me. She came with an opening scene that just flew off my fingers. But that's all I had. I could have just smiled, and put it in a drawer. Except, I really liked it! 

So, in my normal pantser style, I dug in and started writing. I didn't know anything about this woman except her town, and surface things. And the plot wasn't developing with the writing, as it usually does. 

That's where everything fell apart.

My critters didn't like it. They usually make comments, I fix it, and move on. This time, they didn't like my character - they didn't 'get' her.

Do you have this fear? That the ideas will dry up? that you'll never figure out what comes next? That your editor will line the bottom of her bird cage with your pages?

Yeah. That's where I was. 

Thank God I have amazing writer friends who buck me up, and talk me off the ledge. I called, and they helped. But if I called a lifeline every time I was lost in The Pit of Despair with this book, they'd be dodging my calls.

Then vultures showed up

I was freaking out. Literally. Nightmares, depression, thinking about backing out of the contract. I was out of options.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. This crisis pushed me places I'd never been before. See, I'm a doer. I believe that the best way out of a mess is action. As my Alpha Dog says, 'Do something, even if it's wrong.'

What To DO?

I did what scared me the most. I sat with the fear. I sat with the looming possibility of disaster. 

I. Sat.

You know what I found? There's an eye in the middle of the storm. When I stopped fighting, expected nothing, and just sat with the story, a calm came over me. I wasn't afraid. I was almost disassociated from the mess, seeing it from the outside. 

Did I have an epiphany? No. Did I unravel the plot? No, I didn't. 

I got something better.

I remembered that I can do this. Those eight books weren't a fluke. I remembered - I'm a goddamn WRITER! I'll figure this out, type The End, turn it in, and go on to the next. 

It was like my brain sent me my own lifeline. But it didn't do it until I was willing to fail. Until I was willing to take on my worst fear in a stare-down. 

I'm now writing the second half of that book. I know the end, but not how I'll get there. But I'm no longer freaking out, because I have my confidence back.

If you're stuck in this horrible place (and I pray you never are), try it. The weirdest recommendation ever:

Just sit.

What do you think, WITS readers? Have you ever tried this? Are you willing to?

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For a limited time, Laura's RITA winner, The Sweet Spot, is on sale at all retailers!

Piper Bayard
of Bayard & Holmes

We writers tend to be an odd and solitary lot, lurking in the corners of libraries and coffee shops and playing with our imaginary friends. Though most of us are content with our solitude, we periodically meet up with writer friends or migrate like spawning salmon to conferences, where we bounce ideas off each other like ping-pong balls. Usually, we hit these ideas back and forth and then take our balls and paddles back to our corners, where we once more play with imaginary friends.

Sometimes, in the course of batting around ideas, something magical happens. That rare successful writing partnership is conceived and book babies are born like little miracles.

Let’s take a look at how those little miracles can come about by examining the “W’s” of Writing Partnerships – the What, Why, Who, Where, When, and How. Yes, I know. “How” doesn’t start with a “W.” Which brings me to . . .

The Cardinal Rule of Writing Partnerships: Be flexible.

What #1

A writing partnership is a business partnership, and the purpose of business is to make money. I want to be very clear about this. Writing is an art. Publishing is a business. Writing partnerships for the purpose of publishing are businesses.

Business partnerships require controlling documents that establish the nature of the business, define the scope of the partnership, spell out how expenses and profits will be divided, and establish a legal method for the partnership to dissolve. I highly recommend you talk to an attorney in your home state and get them to draw up these essential documents. Even if the two of you are only working on a single project rather than going into long term business together, if it involves money, have a contract that defines the expectations and the financial specifics.

Bottom Line: Lay the foundation of the writing partnership in writing.

What #2

What are you going to be writing?

Make sure that you and your partner are on the same page, so to speak. If one of you is writing a romance and the other is writing a literary dystopian high fantasy thriller, you’re going to need the Dissolution Clause from the “What #1” in short order.

Bottom Line: Know what you are writing.

Why?

Why would you write with this person?

A. Because we’re friends.

B. Because we came up with the idea together.

C. Because it was my idea first, and I’m afraid they’ll steal it if I don’t tag along for the project.

D. Because each of us brings something to the partnership that the other person doesn’t have.

"D" is the only answer that is likely to bring you a successful business partnership that spawns book babies.

For example:

I am half of Bayard & Holmes. My writing partner is a 40+ year veteran of field intelligence. Together, we write factual fiction spy thrillers and non-fiction books about espionage, history, and current events. I bring the writing skill. He brings the espionage experience.

As a partnership, our finished fiction products are the result of our stories, his experience, and my writing. Our finished non-fiction products are his experience, his research, our writing, and my editing. We each have something to bring to the table that is wholly independent of the other, and it results in 1 + 1 = 3.

In another example, it’s a thing now for big name writers to team up with lesser known writers to produce books that have BIG NAME WRITER and lesser known writer on the cover. What that often means—though not always—is that the lesser known writer actually wrote the majority of the book, and the big name writer did some degree of editing and directing of the project. The big name writer brings the audience, and the lesser known writer brings the sweat. Each has something to give that the other doesn’t have.

Trouble starts rapidly when two writers are wearing the same dress to the writing party. When two writers have the same strengths and the same weaknesses, they are lopsided in their overall potential. Competition over the same tasks will arise, and at that point, 1+1= 1/2. Not the best equation for a successful business venture, and Dissolution Clause of “What #1” is imminent.

Bottom Line: Writing partners who enhance each other’s abilities are going to be more successful.

Who?

Our best writing partners are people with the same ambition, ability level, and work ethic.

Nothing is more frustrating than being the only horse in the team that is pulling the wagon. Don’t look at what your potential partner promises they will do, look at what they actually have done.

If they have been writing for five years, but they have never completed a manuscript, they’re not a good bet for finishing a book in the next six months. If the manuscript they have completed is not fit to use as kindling for small fires, they aren’t going to magically start writing bestsellers.

If they are aiming to one day self-publish their memoirs, while you are shooting for the bestseller lists, you’re going to be at What #1 before you get through the first draft. Partners need to be able and willing to work at the same pace and at the same level.

Bottom Line: If you’re a draft horse made for heavy hauling, don’t hitch up with a Shetland pony. If you're a Shetland pony, stick with those who will match your pace.

Where?

The where of partnerships is not a physical where. Technology puts us all at each other’s fingertips, which is kind of a creepy thought, but moving right along . . .

The “Where” of writing partnerships is “Where is this project going?”

Every business needs a business plan, because the saying “All who wander are not lost” never applied to a business. You need to spell out and agree to timelines for plotting, drafting, and editing, and you need to be on the same page about the delivery details of your book baby. Are you going to self-publish, go indie, or seek out an agent and one of the Big Five? Any of those paths can work, but you both have to be on the same path.

Bottom Line: Make a business plan that suits you both at the beginning of the partnership.

When?

The “When” can be the true beauty of the writing partnership, or it can be the killer blow. Even in the best of partnerships, it’s hard to say which it will be. That’s because Life happens when we’re making plans.

Well-matched partners can produce better work faster than the solo writer. Tasks can be divided and accomplished in three-fourths or even half the time.

For example, Holmes and I often divide by non-fiction and fiction tasks, with him working on our non-fiction titles, while I draft our fiction and ask him lots of questions about the sound of bodies dropping and the finer points of jungle warfare. Together, we have compiled eighteen non-fiction and fiction manuscripts over the past few years, ready to take to market at the time of our choosing. But that’s when things are going well.

In real life, even if we are diligent and write something every day, every writer has down times—times when our creativity is sapped, our kids are sick, we are sick, house guests are visiting, we’re dealing with storms or other natural disasters, or a loved one has died. Those down times can set our plans back, and with two people, those down times can be doubled.

If one partner has a child in the hospital, the other must do double duty to keep to the schedule, or they must agree to let the schedule slip. And sooner or later, the time comes when both partners are down. At that point, it can take monumental commitment to each other and to the project to stay hitched as a team.

Bottom Line: Partnerships can produce twice as much, but they can experience twice the drag.

How?

How do successful writing partnerships work? With communication, humor, and, above all, respect.

You and your partner have to find a way to work together without crushing each other. We all have egos, or we wouldn’t sit down at the [eventual] page thinking it’s okay for trees to die if that’s what it takes to get our words out. We also all come up with different ideas, and many of those ideas suck. Blurting out “That sucks!” at the wrong time can end what would otherwise be a successful partnership.

Diplomacy is always an excellent alternative to crushing condemnation, but style for successful communication depends completely on the individuals in the partnership.

For example, I grew up in the rural Southwest, which means direct verbal confrontation was unheard of unless you were ready to take it outside and mix it up. When I’m off in what Holmes calls My Little Pony Land with my fanciful tangents, and I throw out a horrific idea, he says, “Let me chew on that a while.”

Inevitably, I call him back a few hours later and say, “That idea sucked. Let’s not do that.”

“Yeah. It was epic.” And then we both laugh—hence the humor part of the equation. All writers have to be able to laugh at their stupid ideas if they are going to survive.

Holmes, on the other hand, grew up in a part of New York City where the cops only stopped in to get freebies from the brothels. If he comes up with something that doesn’t work, I say, “That won’t work.”

He says, “Okay. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.” And we move on. He has worked hard over the years to get me comfortable with skipping the diplomacy and going straight to direct contradiction.

You’ll notice, though, that I still don’t say, “That sucks!” Because even hard core Yankee city boys require a certain modicum of . . .

R – E – S – P – E – C - T

Let’s get straight to the bottom line on this point. If you don’t respect each other, or at least become a master of behaving with respect even when you don’t feel it, the partnership, IMHO, is a non-starter. I’m not saying you have to like each other, but you do have to keep top of mind that you chose to work with this person for reasons, and if you took care of your “Why,” they are good reasons. We can’t let any impatience or differences overshadow our respect of our writing partners, or the partnership will not thrive for long.

That takes us back to The Cardinal Rule of Writing Partnerships . . . Be flexible!

Have you ever worked in a writing partnership? What was your experience? What tips would you give?

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About Piper

Piper Bayard is an author, a recovering attorney, and the managing editor of the Social In Worldwide network. Her writing partner, Jay Holmes, is an anonymous senior member of the intelligence community and a field veteran from the Cold War through the current Global War on Terror. Together, they are the bestselling authors of the international spy thriller, THE SPY BRIDE. You can find Piper at BayardandHolmes.com.