Picture yourself curled up on your favorite cozy sofa, a cup of tea by your side and a paperback in your hands. You’re feeling accomplished, fulfilled and grateful. When you look at the book in your hands, you see YOUR name on the cover. Yep, YOU wrote a book! You journeyed into the depths of your imagination and a story emerged. What was nonexistent became a novel. Woah, MAGIC!
I know how delightful the experience described above feels because it has happened to me. This November will mark my fifth time participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I haven’t been published, but I did get one of my novels printed as a tangible, physical book! If this is something you dream about, you can make it happen. This three part series will get you to the starting line. If you hang with me, by the end of November you’ll have finished a 50,000 word novel. All you need is an open mind and a tarot deck.
(Let me be clear: I’m not a professional author. I’m just a chick who has, with tarot as a companion, gone through the highs and lows of NaNoWriMo multiple times. I invite you to take my suggestions if they work for you, and leave them in the dust if they don’t.)
The great (and terrifying) thing about NaNoWriMo is the timeline. You’ve got one month to bust out a 50,000 word novel. Let’s get a few things out of the way right off the bat: your novel isn’t going to be perfect. But it can (and will) be rocket fuel for your creativity. Since you only have 30 days, you can’t mess around with overthinking and procrastinating. You’ve got to write, baby, write! The most important thing is to have fun and let your imagination run wild. We’ll talk more about this in Part 3, which will be all about your mindset and preparation.
Don’t you DARE tell me it’s too late for you to participate. You still have three weeks to get ready! If you follow along with me in this guide, you’ll have zero excuses not to write a novel next month. If this is something that calls to you…DO IT!
If you already have a story idea, this guide will help flesh it out. But if (like me) you have no idea what to write about, these posts will do what the title says: take you from nonexistent to novel. I’ll be going through the process with you (because right now, I have no idea what I’m going to write this year). I’ll share some of my insights with you in these posts, and I’d be tickled if you leave comments telling me about YOUR process. Let’s win NaNoWriMo together! By the way, if you’re a NaNo newb, “winning” just means finishing 50k words during November. But hey, finishing is the best kind of winning, right?
Now, let’s move into the heart of Part One!
In this post, we’ll talk about building the big, broad picture of your novel. By the time you go through these exercises, you’ll know your genre and five w’s. You’ll get better acquainted with your characters. You’ll form a overarching understanding of your plot. I’ll then give you a few pieces of optional homework to complete before we move into Part Two next week.
If you’re not sure what genre you want to write, I think it’s best to start by considering what you like to read. Start a brainstorming word document (or notebook) for your novel and journal on the following: picture yourself walking into your favorite bookstore. Which section do you gravitate towards? What kind of book would pique your interest? What would you be absolutely enthralled by, so much that you couldn’t wait to get home and sink into that sucker?
If you are consistently sucked into science fiction…write science fiction. If you’re ravished by romance…write romance. If you’re, like, YOLO for young adult thrillers, write young adult thrillers. I could go on, but you get the point. Write what you like reading. Things will flow better that way.
When I did this exercise for myself, I decided I’ll be writing middle grades fiction. This is what I read the most of, after all. When I pictured the kind of book I couldn’t resist in a bookstore, I had vague visions of trains, snow, fire and polished wood…and maybe even a circus? Hopefully you got some vague (or specific!) ideas, too. We’ll see how they take shape as we move forward.
Got your genre selected? Sweet! You’ve just made the first broad stroke on the canvas.
Remember learning about these guys in school? Yeah, the five w’s (plus that sneaky bastard h) are kind of cliché, but they are infinitely helpful. When you know the who, what, when, where, why and how of your novel, you’ve got a pretty good foundation to build from.
There are two ways you can go about this exercise. If you already have a concept for your novel, you may wish to jump right back into your brainstorming document and write about your five w’s. Come up with as many details as you can for each.
If you’re still feeling your way forward blindly (or if you just want to go even deeper into your existing ideas), it’s time to call upon your tarot deck. Shuffle your cards and draw one card (or more, if you’d like) for each category: who, what, when, where, why, how.
Start by looking at the spread’s overall scope. Do you see any themes already? For example, have you drawn multiple cards from the same suit, or multiple major arcana cards? Do you see any correlations in the images? Thinking about how your cards connect as a whole can spark some potent inspiration.
Three of the five cards I drew for my own novel were cups. This gave me the understanding that emotions, connections and relationships will play a major role in my novel. I only drew one major arcana card, and it came up in the ‘who’ position. This suggests to me that my plot will be very character-driven.
Once you’ve looked at the big picture, write out as much information as you can for your w’s and h. If you get stuck, shake it off. Go for a walk, or head to a comfortable coffee shop. Put on headphones and get in the zone. Don’t filter yourself, let any and all ideas flow. You can always cut things later.
When you’ve thrown around as many ideas as possible here, consider how all of this connects to start forming a plot. What story are you seeing in your cards? You don’t need to know absolute details, but things should be starting to come together. What does the overall theme and scope of your plot look like so far? Get all these insights on paper.
When you finish this exercise, you’ll have a more usable notion of what your story looks like. Your novel is now well on it’s way to being something real!
When you think about your favorite books, what makes them stand out to you? For me, it almost always comes down to the characters. Interesting, dynamic, complex characters draw us into their worlds. It may once again be pertinent for me to mention that I am not a teacher or a published author. But in my distinctly unprofessional opinion, it’s good to build your characters up before you get too wrapped up in creating your plot. If you’ve got strong characters, they will often take the lead, pulling the plot in directions you hadn’t even considered!
You should already have some ideas about your characters based on your ‘who’ from the previous exercise. Your novel might have a large numbered crew, or it might center on one crucial character. Authors can easily spend months creating their characters, but since we are trying to get ready for NaNoWriMo in three weeks, we’ve got to expedite things. I recommend deciding on 1-3 main characters to flesh out in-depth. If you have a lot of supporting characters, you probably only need a few sentences of information on them.
Start a section in your brainstorming journal for each of your main characters. Write down anything and everything you already know about this character. What are their most defining traits? What do they want? What obstacles do they face? What kind of attitude do they have? Where do they live? What makes them angry? What makes them happy? What moves them? What lurks in their subconscious?
The tarot’s court cards are often associated with people, personalities, or approaches to life. Which court card do you feel best represents this character and why? What traits does this court card have and how do they manifest in your character? You might also find it useful to compare your character to a person you know, or another fictional character. This isn’t to directly imitate, but rather to give you a basis for your character’s unique behavior.
Here’s a character creation tarot spread I originally posted last year. Between now and next week, do this spread for each of your characters. Keep detailed notes about any insights that come up.
What’s in a name? I am a huge nerd when it comes to naming my characters. Having a name (both for a character, and a title for the book) makes something feel more real. However, it’s also easy to get hung up trying to find the perfect name and dwindle away precious time that should go towards developing your character’s personality. For NaNoWriMo, I think it’s best to use the first name that comes to mind (trust that intuition, yeah?), or you can use a temporary filler name (such as MC for main character).
Once you’ve done this work on your characters, come back to how they influence the plot. One of the most enjoyable things about writing is considering what kind of bizarre situations your characters will be thrust into, and how they will respond to those circumstances. This can largely influence the details of your plot.
In next week’s post, we’re going to talk more in-depth about plotting and outlining. But by now, you’ve already done a lot of the initial excavation. You’ve probably gleaned insight into your plot as you considered your w’s and your characters. Before we go too much further, let’s make sure you have at least a bare-bones overview of your story’s progression.
There are countless formats that can be used to consider plot. You can base your plot around the three act structure. You can use a hero’s journey format. You can do, really, whatever you please. But any way you go, you’ll need a beginning, middle and end. Focus on that for now.
Look back on what you’ve already achieved so far. Can you already see the beginning, middle and end taking shape? If so, great! Take some notes about that. If you’re still struggling to see an actual plot among your work, it’s time for some more tarot illumination. Get out your deck and draw three cards to represent the beginning, middle, and end of your plot.
Jot down what you see in these cards. Once again, look for similar themes. Do your cards tie in with those you drew for any previous exercises? Use these three cards, combined with the ideas you already had, and do your best to describe the beginning, middle and end of your story.
Whew! Okay, you are well on your way. You’ve got your genre, you have a basic idea of the beginning, middle and end of your plot. You’ve got some strong characters and things are starting to become real!
Make sure to check back next Tuesday for Part 2! We’ll be taking a more in depth look at plot. We’ll also talk about establishing the theme of your story. Then, we’ll put together a one sentence elevator pitch to describe your novel.
In the mean time, your homework is to register for NaNoWriMo and set up your profile. If you have friends who are also adventurous enough to write a novel in 30 days, you can add them as a writing buddy and track their progress once November starts (you can add me if you like, my username is happyfish).
Until next time, remember: stories have magic. Stories are transformative. You’ve got stories within you – it’s time to explore them and let them unfold in all their wild glory!
I want to hear from you! Leave me a comment and let me know how your process is going so far. Putting this series together has been a labor of love – any feedback you have would be wonderful. I’d also be INCREDIBLY thrilled if you share this post with anyone who might find it useful.
Part two of the series is here!
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I'm a tarot reader and mentor. 
I wasn’t going to do Nanowrimo this year. I keep telling myself I am too busy and too stressed. But your post is really inspiring and maybe it would be an act of self care to give myself permission to just play around on the page with no expectations…just to try some new techniques. I always gravitate to paranormals, post-apocalytpic, dystopian teen lit novels (not all in the SAME novel lol). Hmmm maybe I should write a paranormal, post-apocalyptic, dystopian teen novel haha.
Hi Amy! In the third post in this series, I’m going to talk about time commitment. Some people really ARE too busy, I totally get that, and I also get that the time commitment is different for everyone. For me it’s usually about an hour a day, which is still manageable. I think it’s awesome that you may use this as an act of self care, giving yourself permission to play. You can be a “nano rebel!” and write whatever you want! I did short stories one year, and I might end up doing that again this year. I think as long as you’re writing words, you can’t go wrong. 🙂
Hey Carrie,
I won´t participate in the NoNoWriMo because I am a German writer but I will definately follow the rest of your posts about it! The first one was already very helpful because it gently guided me away from thoughts like “if I don´t even know what to write about – how do I have the right to call myself a writer at all?!” Only by following your post and the way you describe developing Genre etc. I figured out that I made things waaaayyy too complicated 😉 A big Thank You for the precious time you put into your posts and for sharing your own personal experiences. Wish you all the best for getting published soon!
Claudia
Hi Claudia! Thank you for your kind comment. 🙂 I am so glad you’ll be following along with my posts, that means a lot to me!
Thank you for all these ideas, Carrie! NaNoWriMo always scared me a lot because I’m a sloooow writer, but I may give it a try this year just for fun, as Amy said. I swore to myself that I wouldn’t be holding too many expectations from myself in 2015, so I may as well tag along and get into the playground^^
Hi Bianca, you’re very welcome! NaNoWriMo might actually be particularly useful for you, depending on WHY you’re a slow writer. It kind of forces you to just keep going without letting perfectionism or overthinking interfere. I think looking at NaNoWriMo as something to do just for fun is an awesome way to frame it. It SHOULD be fun! Thanks for your comment 🙂
I love this post Carrie! I did Camp NaNo back in April and hit my goal, but for November I’m writing a new a story, using tarot cards as inspiration for my character and plot. I always end up hitting the 50k mark when I’m only half way through my story, so for me it’s more of an issue of actually finishing the novel. I already have some great plot and character ideas and I haven’t done the in depth character readings yet, but I’ll be doing that now so I can flesh things out more. I’m excited! Heading over to the website to register my novel now:)
Hannah, that’s awesome! Two years ago, my “novel” was actually a series of short stories inspired by the Major Arcana. I am super impressed that you did Camp in April and are gonna do NaNoWriMo in November. You are on FIRE, writer! 😉
Carrie,
I did the spread for the mother of my main character. I’m pretty sure she is a minor character, although a major influence on her daughter. I’m continuing the family saga I started with my first Nano in 2011.
Last year during Nano I added a section about the birth of my main character, Penumbra. At the time, I intended her mother to die very shortly after Penumbra’s birth. That might change.
I’m including the link to my post on Tumblr where I posted the spread. I need more time to “read” it, but I can see some correspondence to Minerva Clufire as I know her at this point.
http://tinyurl.com/q7d3utt
looking forward to your next Nano post : )
Joy
aka holofernia on Nanowrimo
Hi Joy, I’m thrilled to hear you used the thread, and I’m especially happy to hear it’s given you some unique insights into your character. Thank you for letting me know!
Hey Carrie,
This post was wonderful! I used my Bohemian Gothic Tarot to do all the spreads, because I knew right off my genre would be gothic horror. My Beginning, Middle, End Spread was all Pentacles, so I’m thinking it will be a very plot driven story. So far my characters are a witch/warlock, a necromancer and a thief. I’m pretty excited!
How very cool that you associated pentacles with a plot-driven novel!
Epic! Thank you Carrie! I haven’t felt called to write fiction in a good long while, but who knows? This series may fuel me to write a short story or two …I’m a sucker for tarot play!! Thank you for your time and insights!xo
Hi! I don’t leave comments often, but I’ve enjoyed reading some of your posts. I’m always happy to hear about other NaNoNovelists. I’ve been doing it for five years, and I originally got into tarot because I thought it would be fun to help with characters and plot development.
I’m looking forward to trying out your method for figuring out my story this year.
Pearl
Hi Pearl, I am happy you DID leave a comment this time. 🙂 It means a lot to me! Working out characters and plot was one of the first things I did with my tarot deck, too. Best wishes for your writing adventures this year!
OMG!!!! Finding this blog was proof that my crazy idea to do this NaNoWriMo thing is exactly what I need to be doing! I am new to tarot-like two weeks into my new found addiction (I feel like a teenager I am SO obsessed!) and was thinking that if I didn’t know what to write I’d just journal on a card of the day and try to make it a story. BA-BAM! I stumble across this. SHUT THE FRINT DOOR! Thank you. I’m on to the next parts now❤️
Hi Sue! YAY! You are in for an adventure. 😀
Thank you for this brilliant sharing. I would love it if you would share your novel at the end of November.
Working through this a bit at a time.
First I selected the court card for my main character. Then after pondering that for a day, I drew 3 cards for the What, Why and How.
Then a couple days after that I took the Pages and Knights (since I am doing YA) and drew a card for a fried and another for a love interest.
Then I took all the court cards I hadn’t drawn already, mixed in a few majors (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9 and 15) and shuffled, drew 3 cards for a character that helps, a character the hinders and a wild card character.
Now to work on fleshing those characters out with the spread you share above!
Question, I’m having a hard time connecting an idea of When to a tarot card. Any thoughts you can share about that particular W?
Thanks!
First off, I must say I am really impressed by these exercises you’ve come up with (I know they are based on my suggestions, but you’ve modified them to make them a lot more specific). I decided to write this series at the last minute, so my process has been a little more rushed then I’d like. Next year, I might try to go through and make this guide even more detailed. I might incorporate some of your ideas here (such as separating out court cards an majors, etc) because I think they’re really useful!
When I look at the ‘when’ card, there’s a few different ways I might go with it. The first is to inspire more of an overarching time period. For example, if I got the Three of Wands, that might make me think about visions of the future, which might make me think my novel takes place in the future. Obviously there’s really no right or wrong way to do this, I just use the card as a base jumping off point. More often than looking at a specific time period though, the ‘when’ card helps me think about what stage of life the story revolves around. For example, once I got the Eight of Wands here. That made me think about quick changes and hormones, which made me think about teenagers. So in that case, instead of looking at a more broad time period, my when was just ‘when this character was/is a teenager. Does that make sense at all?
Thanks – That’s cool you like my idea of working with the court cards specifically for the characters and stuff.
Your thoughts about the ‘when’ helps a lot. I’m going to revisit that for my novel-to-be now.
And I just want to say again how much I appreciate this set of posts for NaNo with Tarot. I really love what you’ve written, and I feel like tarot is my (not so) secret weapon that is going to help me get to 50,000 words!
I’m gearing up to participate in NaNoWriMo in November, too :-). I chickened out last year, but I’m determined to participate this year. I’m writing a nonfiction book which I am seeing as the foundation for a tarot/coaching practice. So this month (October), I’ll be working on an outline. I want this to be the first in a series of books. I have one book published on the KDP platform that’s related to tarot. By publishing more, I’m hoping to reignite sales of that book. At some point, I may try fiction. I explored it back in the 90s, thinking it would be easy to write. NOT. Had a big learning curve as I’d been a nonfiction writer for years. Anyway, thanks for this series. Perhaps I’ll try fiction next year.
Hello
I am interested in participating in NaNo Wri ….for November
Thank you.
Cool blog post! Using tarot for NaNoWriMo is such a creative idea. I love how it breaks down the process. I can’t wait to try it!