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Mapping the Hero’s Journey With Tarot: 33 Days To Finish Your Book
TELL YOUR STORY!
Any one can start a book. Finishing it is the goal. Like most goals, it can seem impossible to reach. Especially if you want to deliver a quality product that people will recommend to their friends. All published authors will tell you one thing—there is no one way to the finish line other than sitting down and writing. Arwen Lynch, published in fiction and non-fiction, knows how daunting it can be. She will show you how you can use a pack of cards to get your story line arced and sparked!
She has been in your shoes with great ideas bouncing around her head but never quite living up to their potential when fingers hit keyboard. When she applied her knowledge of Tarot to the craft of writing, things took off. Her characters stopped talking and started doing. Every plot point could be mapped out using the Tarot, but not in the metaphysical sense. This book takes you through mapping your hero’s journey in a down-to-earth way. There’s no need for crystal balls and neon signs here.
FINISH YOUR BOOK!
The Hero’s Journey is a tried-and-true method of building your story. Every memorable tale can be filtered through this method. From Star Wars to Shrek to the 3 Little Pigs, the steps are the same. This book guides you from the Ordinary World to the Return effortlessly. Because the goal here is to activate your voice and to use your imagination, there is no need to memorize anything. The Tarot is your tool because you are your own boss. Let this book give you a secret weapon disguised as 78 cards.
– No Memorization Necessary
– Your Interpretations Are The Key
– Easy-to-follow Instructions
– Tailor Your Voice
IMAGINE THE END!
You want to get to “the end” efficiently and effectively. With so many rules, it can be hard to navigate the waters of writing. This book puts control in your hand. Rather than tell you how to write, you will be shown. By turning the esoteric art of Tarot reading into a practical tool, you can finish that book.
– Learn How Mapping The Hero’s Journey Works
– Use Tarot In A Completely New Way
– Finish Your Book
GET YOUR BOOK PUBLISHED
You don’t have to be a punster or a plotter to use Tarot for your writing. Let this workbook take you point-by-point through creating your story’s arc. Vision boards can be created. Outlines defeated. You can even build a killer synopsis with this method. Because you aren’t using Tarot for prediction, your own creative voice comes out loud and clear.
Any one can start a book. Finishing it is the goal. Like most goals, it can seem impossible to reach. Especially if you want to deliver a quality product that people will recommend to their friends. All published authors will tell you one thing—there is no one way to the finish line other than sitting down and writing. Arwen Lynch, published in fiction and non-fiction, knows how daunting it can be. She will show you how you can use a pack of cards to get your story line arced and sparked!
She has been in your shoes with great ideas bouncing around her head but never quite living up to their potential when fingers hit keyboard. When she applied her knowledge of Tarot to the craft of writing, things took off. Her characters stopped talking and started doing. Every plot point could be mapped out using the Tarot, but not in the metaphysical sense. This book takes you through mapping your hero’s journey in a down-to-earth way. There’s no need for crystal balls and neon signs here.
FINISH YOUR BOOK!
The Hero’s Journey is a tried-and-true method of building your story. Every memorable tale can be filtered through this method. From Star Wars to Shrek to the 3 Little Pigs, the steps are the same. This book guides you from the Ordinary World to the Return effortlessly. Because the goal here is to activate your voice and to use your imagination, there is no need to memorize anything. The Tarot is your tool because you are your own boss. Let this book give you a secret weapon disguised as 78 cards.
– No Memorization Necessary
– Your Interpretations Are The Key
– Easy-to-follow Instructions
– Tailor Your Voice
IMAGINE THE END!
You want to get to “the end” efficiently and effectively. With so many rules, it can be hard to navigate the waters of writing. This book puts control in your hand. Rather than tell you how to write, you will be shown. By turning the esoteric art of Tarot reading into a practical tool, you can finish that book.
– Learn How Mapping The Hero’s Journey Works
– Use Tarot In A Completely New Way
– Finish Your Book
GET YOUR BOOK PUBLISHED
You don’t have to be a punster or a plotter to use Tarot for your writing. Let this workbook take you point-by-point through creating your story’s arc. Vision boards can be created. Outlines defeated. You can even build a killer synopsis with this method. Because you aren’t using Tarot for prediction, your own creative voice comes out loud and clear.
204 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 7, 2017
74 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Arwen Lynch
5 books60 followersJoin the Joy Seeker Tribe to get a free book! http://hyperurl.co/JoyTribe
Professional joy seeker, Arwen Lynch has studied and taught Tarot since 1985. She added Lenormand to her list in 2014 after falling in love with the system. She doesn't compare Tarot to Lenormand but finds the two systems each beautiful in their own way. As a teacher, Arwen has taught Tarot to writers from the pre-published to NYTimes/USAToday bestsellers.
She also writes fiction as Marilu Mann with another creative partner.
Currently living in enchanting New Mexico, Arwen makes her home with one very patient husband and a slew of four footed creatures. She enjoys doing weekly free Tarotscopes on YouTube and reviewing decks and products.
If you hear "Seek joy, y'all. Pass it on!", then you know you have found Arwen. She welcomes new friends and tries to respond to everyone who contacts her.
Professional joy seeker, Arwen Lynch has studied and taught Tarot since 1985. She added Lenormand to her list in 2014 after falling in love with the system. She doesn't compare Tarot to Lenormand but finds the two systems each beautiful in their own way. As a teacher, Arwen has taught Tarot to writers from the pre-published to NYTimes/USAToday bestsellers.
She also writes fiction as Marilu Mann with another creative partner.
Currently living in enchanting New Mexico, Arwen makes her home with one very patient husband and a slew of four footed creatures. She enjoys doing weekly free Tarotscopes on YouTube and reviewing decks and products.
If you hear "Seek joy, y'all. Pass it on!", then you know you have found Arwen. She welcomes new friends and tries to respond to everyone who contacts her.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 29, 2019
As I prepare for NaNoWriMo (2017 will be my eleventh year participating), I usually pick up a brand new writing tool that I've never used – it clears my mind and helps me see things from a completely new perspective. This year, I chose to utilize the Tarot as a way of deepening my story and my characters.
This book was an excellent introduction to the ways to use the Tarot to flesh out... well... everything. It isn't a book about how to make the Tarot outline your story for you, no. You still have to interpret the cards, figure out what a particular symbol means in the context of your story, give meanings to everything. You still need to outline. You need to build a world. You need to build characters. The Tarot will be there to give you hints as to what your character might feel or think or how they might change.
This works for Tarot pros as well as those who aren't super familiar with the cards – like me! As November approaches, I now feel more prepared to actually start writing my NaNoWriMo novel, and would like to say that I recommend this book to anyone who isn't afraid of spicing up their outlining or character creation with a bit of card-reading.
Concise and well-explained, this book was a five-star read.
addendum 2019: still awesome.
This book was an excellent introduction to the ways to use the Tarot to flesh out... well... everything. It isn't a book about how to make the Tarot outline your story for you, no. You still have to interpret the cards, figure out what a particular symbol means in the context of your story, give meanings to everything. You still need to outline. You need to build a world. You need to build characters. The Tarot will be there to give you hints as to what your character might feel or think or how they might change.
This works for Tarot pros as well as those who aren't super familiar with the cards – like me! As November approaches, I now feel more prepared to actually start writing my NaNoWriMo novel, and would like to say that I recommend this book to anyone who isn't afraid of spicing up their outlining or character creation with a bit of card-reading.
Concise and well-explained, this book was a five-star read.
addendum 2019: still awesome.
July 27, 2018
One of the best writing books I've read! And, bonus, it helped me to understand the story within my own tarot cards. I love the idea of using them as a tool to help with my own writing.
July 22, 2018
Arwen Lynch has taken what was a 33 day eCourse and turned it into an e-book, so that the reader can work at their own pace. (Note: This review is of the e-book. It is also available in hard copy.) In her foreword Lynch notes that we are the creator/creatrix of our own world. This e-book gives the reader a framework for the world(s) that they are creating, a space for their imaginations to explore and grow. I absolutely love that the bibliography is at the front of the book, as is the list of recommended Tarot decks. (Note: The decks recommended offer a variety of styles, from traditional to fantasy. The reader can choose a style that works for them. I am going to offer up one more deck – the "Shadowscapes Tarot", by artist Stephanie Pui-Mun Law.) The bibliography covers archetypes and how they relate to writing, with Mary Greer’s "Tarot For Yourself" acting as a foundation for interpreting each of the Tarot cards.
Lynch presents this e-book in thirteen primary lessons aimed at showing the reader how to use the Tarot to form a plot for their fiction writing. The first twelve lessons focus on the Hero’s journey, while the thirteenth lesson addresses the issue of theme for writing.
Lynch introduces Joseph Campbell’s work on mythology and the Hero’s Journey, as well as giving the reader a look at the background of the Tarot as it applies to writing. She also includes several spreads that will allow the reader to focus on the flow of their story. She explains how the imagery in the cards acts as a channel for intuition. She also notes that while the cards do have traditional meanings, that when using them as a tool for writing that there really is no set meaning. I am a professional Tarot reader and a writer – for me the traditional meanings in general do hold true in my writing. This may not hold true for those that are new to the Tarot.
This e-book is written using the structure of three “Acts”, following the Hero’s Journey:
Act I: DEPARTURE, SEPARATION
1. Ordinary World
2. Call to Adventure
3. Refusal of the Call
4. Meeting with the Mentor
5. Crossing First Threshold
Act II: DESCENT, INITIATION, PENETRATION
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies
7. Approach to Inmost Cave
8. The Ordeal
9. Reward (Seizing the Sword)
Act III: RETURN
10. Road Back
11. Resurrection
12. Return With Elixir
What a powerful template for writing! Lynch makes a point of saying that this template can be used for a new story, or for a WIP (work in progress). I found it interesting that she also chose to use film as a reference (specifically Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, Shrek, and Avatar). Emphasis is placed on the reader plotting their book with the big picture in mind.
We start out with building a character (or characters), using the Tarot Court Cards (who represent the people of the Tarot). There is a very nice, easy to use Tarot spread that will help you define/build your character. In this chapter we start to see the quotes that Lynch shares about writing, as well as her journal prompts.
She promptly moves into a spread that represents the Hero’s Journey for the reader’s story. This will form the plot for the reader’s book. The reader is shown how to read the cards that they draw – to differentiate what they see in the background from what they see in the foreground, to note any symbols that might be in the card, and to note how they feel about these symbols, what they feel the symbols might mean.
Each chapter is built around a Tarot spread created specifically for the topic, a story template, an example, a quote, and a journal prompt. Chapter Fourteen is an “added” chapter, in the Hero’s Journey is completed. Here Lynch addresses not the journey itself, but the theme for the journey. Here is where we make sure that the steps in the Hero’s journey reflect the theme of that journey.
Chapter Fifteen addresses the journal that the reader is encouraged to keep in each chapter. I have always been fond of journals, as they show my progress, and how I got to be where I am. A writer’s journal shows the progress of their writing, and how that progress developed.
Chapter Sixteen addresses the tool of Tarot, and how it is broken down. (Major Arcana and Minor Arcana). For each of the Major Arcana cards Lynch includes key words, symbols to be aware of, and key questions. For the Minor Arcana pips (numbered cards), she includes a keyword, and upright and reversed meanings. For the Court Cards there is a description of the individual represented in the card, and the energy they carry. There is also a discussion of each of the four suits, and what they represent.
Chapter Twenty-two is a presentation of Tarot spreads, including the Hero’s Journey spread.
The tone of this e-book is conversational, the topics easy to follow, and no knowledge of the Tarot is necessary. All the reader needs to do is to be open to developing a new way of looking at things, and to widening their perspective on writing. Lynch joins writers such as Corrine Kenner, Elizabeth Delisi, and Sierra Godfrey in applying the tool of Tarot to the field of writing. I found this e-book to be well organized, well written, easy to follow, and a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend it!
Lynch presents this e-book in thirteen primary lessons aimed at showing the reader how to use the Tarot to form a plot for their fiction writing. The first twelve lessons focus on the Hero’s journey, while the thirteenth lesson addresses the issue of theme for writing.
Lynch introduces Joseph Campbell’s work on mythology and the Hero’s Journey, as well as giving the reader a look at the background of the Tarot as it applies to writing. She also includes several spreads that will allow the reader to focus on the flow of their story. She explains how the imagery in the cards acts as a channel for intuition. She also notes that while the cards do have traditional meanings, that when using them as a tool for writing that there really is no set meaning. I am a professional Tarot reader and a writer – for me the traditional meanings in general do hold true in my writing. This may not hold true for those that are new to the Tarot.
This e-book is written using the structure of three “Acts”, following the Hero’s Journey:
Act I: DEPARTURE, SEPARATION
1. Ordinary World
2. Call to Adventure
3. Refusal of the Call
4. Meeting with the Mentor
5. Crossing First Threshold
Act II: DESCENT, INITIATION, PENETRATION
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies
7. Approach to Inmost Cave
8. The Ordeal
9. Reward (Seizing the Sword)
Act III: RETURN
10. Road Back
11. Resurrection
12. Return With Elixir
What a powerful template for writing! Lynch makes a point of saying that this template can be used for a new story, or for a WIP (work in progress). I found it interesting that she also chose to use film as a reference (specifically Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, Shrek, and Avatar). Emphasis is placed on the reader plotting their book with the big picture in mind.
We start out with building a character (or characters), using the Tarot Court Cards (who represent the people of the Tarot). There is a very nice, easy to use Tarot spread that will help you define/build your character. In this chapter we start to see the quotes that Lynch shares about writing, as well as her journal prompts.
She promptly moves into a spread that represents the Hero’s Journey for the reader’s story. This will form the plot for the reader’s book. The reader is shown how to read the cards that they draw – to differentiate what they see in the background from what they see in the foreground, to note any symbols that might be in the card, and to note how they feel about these symbols, what they feel the symbols might mean.
Each chapter is built around a Tarot spread created specifically for the topic, a story template, an example, a quote, and a journal prompt. Chapter Fourteen is an “added” chapter, in the Hero’s Journey is completed. Here Lynch addresses not the journey itself, but the theme for the journey. Here is where we make sure that the steps in the Hero’s journey reflect the theme of that journey.
Chapter Fifteen addresses the journal that the reader is encouraged to keep in each chapter. I have always been fond of journals, as they show my progress, and how I got to be where I am. A writer’s journal shows the progress of their writing, and how that progress developed.
Chapter Sixteen addresses the tool of Tarot, and how it is broken down. (Major Arcana and Minor Arcana). For each of the Major Arcana cards Lynch includes key words, symbols to be aware of, and key questions. For the Minor Arcana pips (numbered cards), she includes a keyword, and upright and reversed meanings. For the Court Cards there is a description of the individual represented in the card, and the energy they carry. There is also a discussion of each of the four suits, and what they represent.
Chapter Twenty-two is a presentation of Tarot spreads, including the Hero’s Journey spread.
The tone of this e-book is conversational, the topics easy to follow, and no knowledge of the Tarot is necessary. All the reader needs to do is to be open to developing a new way of looking at things, and to widening their perspective on writing. Lynch joins writers such as Corrine Kenner, Elizabeth Delisi, and Sierra Godfrey in applying the tool of Tarot to the field of writing. I found this e-book to be well organized, well written, easy to follow, and a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend it!
February 14, 2019
I loved this book so much. Its helped me out a lot with my writing. I highly recommend this.
December 30, 2023
I ended up skim reading this book. For a book on writing, it did not grab my attention at all. The repetitive nature of showing how to shuffle and cut the deck every other page was annoying to read. Half the book was just lists of tarot card meanings and the title says "33 days to finish your book" and there was legit not a single reference to timing your writing with this book. It was very bizarre.
I can absolutely tell this was a class turned book, and in my opinion it's not really "book ready".
I can absolutely tell this was a class turned book, and in my opinion it's not really "book ready".
June 4, 2024
Love it!
I really liked this book. It was very insightful and practical. The spreads are also fun to do. I recommend 100%!
I really liked this book. It was very insightful and practical. The spreads are also fun to do. I recommend 100%!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews