When Your Story is Stuck...
When Your Story is Stuck...
Take a Foolish Trip!
National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo, is in high gear! If you’re participating, how will you overcome writer’s block should you find yourself struggling? Because each day includes valuable time associated with achieving your word count goals, you will need to be sure you have a plan in place for when you need a creative and/or energetic boost.
The Foolish Trip is a tarot spread and storytelling activity I designed to help writers with creative direction when their story is stuck. Although this tarot activity can be used anytime and with any writing project, if you’re participating in NaNoWriMo, keep it handy while penning that first draft!
Don’t know what to write? Unclear about where in the world your main character is headed? Or are you feeling uninspired? Try jogging your creativity by taking a Foolish trip.
1. Shuffle your deck until you are satisfied that the cards are ready for pulling.
2. Find The Fool, which represents you or your character(s) in this dilemma. Lay the card in front of you, as far left as your space will allow.
3. Next, lay every card that follows The Fool in a line until you arrive at The World, which represents a conclusion. If you run out of cards before finding The World, continue with the cards that were ahead of The Fool.
4. From The Fool to The World, study the cards and then write the story that unfolds.
I would love to read the story you see in these cards and know what you think about this activity. Share in the comments!
If The Foolish Trip spread resonates with you and your own experience dealing with writer’s block, you can find similar activities and templates to jog your creativity in my Shuffling Through Writer’s Block resource available in my shop, The Intuitive Storyteller.
Participating in NaNoWriMo? Available through November 30, 2023, the NaNoTarot Tool Kit is busting at its hinges with resources and templates — including the Shuffling Through Writer’s Block resource — to help you plan, outline, and write a novel.
As always, THANK YOU for your support of my creative dreams!
In her more than thirty years as a storyteller and visual designer, Amanda “Mandy” Hughes has written and designed over a dozen works of literary, Southern Gothic, and women’s fiction under pen names A. Lee Hughes and Mandy Lee.
Mandy is the founder of Haint Blue Creative®, a space for readers and storytellers to explore, learn, and create. She holds a Bachelor and Master of Science in Psychology, and she has worked as an instructional designer for nearly twenty years.
When she’s not writing, Mandy enjoys the movies, theater, music, traveling, nature walks, birdwatching, and binging The Office. She is a tarot enthusiast who uses the cards to enhance creativity and foster wellness. She lives in Georgia with her husband and four sons, two of whom are furrier than the others (but not by much). Visit her website at haintbluecreative.com and follow her on Instagram @haintbluecreative.