Nothing sucks more than wanting to write but you're empty of ideas. Especially when you know your imagination works but it's just blocked up with writers flu.
Here's a guide to unstick yourself by using Tarot cards to build a story. This could ai...
The deadliest of the writer's blocks hit you when you're in the middle of a story. This happens when you run out of steam of writing yourself into a corner and lose all hope.
I hope with the outline you've built in Chapter three this will never happen to you. Yet if it does do not lose hope there are other ways the cards can help you. Remember, meditate, shuffle, ask and select the card.
When you've written yourself into a corner:
Method 1: Go back to chapter three.
Sometimes you need to go back to the planning stages to help unblock your story. You'll need to write a new treatment of where your story is now and where it is going. Pull a new batch of cards to the three act structure and see what new ideas it might bring. Don't be scared to rewrite and cut the parts which don't work anymore. Give your story a spring clean! At the end of the, you should have a new outline to work with.
Method 2: Question time
One traditional way to beat writer's block is to write down simple questions and answer them. This is perfect for Tarot since readings revolve around asking the cards questions. With writer's block, this can help take the pressure off answering these questions yourself.
Don't: When asking the cards questions don't go for ones with yes or no answers. Also, avoid any questions which go into too much detail like 'when my character falls off a cliff edge should they do x or y?'
Do: Ask questions which relate to your characters or stories journey. After three chapters you'll start to get a sense on the kinds of answers the cards can give. This will help you form questions the cards can answer.
Writing new adventures:
For example, when writing a story about an adventuring mage I felt like she had more to her story but I was stumped for ideas. I wasn't 100% sure which direction the story should go next so I meditated, shuffled my deck asked the cards these questions:
Who is she now?
What should she seek?
What will stop her?
Where will she end up?
This is a lot like the cards we picked in Chapter 1 but this time we are asking from the middle point of a story. With my cards selected I read up on their meaning and thought about what this could mean in my story.
Character Issues:
If you're writing a story and are stuck because you feel a character is too dull or basic you can ask some character development questions like:
What are their strengths? What is their weakness? What were they like in the past? What are the like now? Who will they become at the end of this story? What event in life had/will have a huge impact on them?
With these questions and the cards you pick you can start to look for themes in the story and your character. It'll help you develop ideas further.
Non-Story Questions
Sometimes you just want to know what's going wrong with your story. Like you don't want to ask for new plot points! You want to know what's going wrong by how you're approaching the idea as a writer
With this, you will want to ask more traditional Tarot card readings. Try asking the cards questions like the below in the following spread.
What are my stories strength? What is its weakness? What should I avoid doing? What should I keep doing to complete my story?
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The next part deserves its own chapter. What if your writers block is caused by personal issues.
