(Tarot Prompts for Writers)
Keep the image and meaning of The Chariot in mind as you develop a story. But go beyond the card — don’t stress about any aspects you “should” include. The card is just a tool to prompt ideas. You can take it anywhere. Control your narrative, like the Chariot.
First line prompts
- She’d never been so well-prepared for a journey.
- I don’t care what’s in the road; I’m not stopping for anything.
- “Say cheese,” the photographer shouted, and the charioteer made plans to run him down once the shoot was over.
Continue the scene for another 500 words, in any direction you wish to take it. Change to third or first person or switch genders as you see fit. Make this an opening to a longer work or a complete flash fiction.
Object Prompt
A vehicle.
Ponder the meaning of the Chariot, but go beyond the card itself to imagine a means of transportation for a very powerful person. This vehicle can look like the Chariot — but it doesn’t have to! Imagine any vehicle that excites you.
What does it look like, feel like, smell like? Think colours, textures, moving parts. What’s it powered by? What sort of road is it meant to travel on? Is it noisy or quiet? Is it alive?
As you imagine your vehicle, think of the characters who might be in its story. Who created your vehicle? When? Is it one of a kind or one of a crowded transit system? Who is using it? Where did they get it? Where are they taking it? Why is it important?
Think of someone inside the vehicle, taking control. Or someone dreaming of buying it. Or someone begging on the street as it passes by. Does it trigger memories or ideas? Emotions? Fear? Yearning? Loathing?
Write a scene where characters drive or steal or run from this vehicle.
Thematic Prompts
Everything is under your control.
It’s a struggle to keep mind and body at peace.
Nothing to fear.
Freewrite for five minutes on any of these themes. Just run with it.
Happy writing!
Images on this page are by the following artists: Banner (and top box), left to right: Marseilles deck engraved by Nicolas Conver; Druid Craft deck illustrated by Will Worthington; Dragon Tarot illustrated by Roger and Linda Garland (also shown in the box below); Tarot Balbi by Domenico Balbi; Radiant Rider-Waite deck illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith; Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti.
Catherine Austen 