(Tarot Prompts for Writers)
Keep the image and meaning of The Judgement 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. Toot your own horn.
First line prompts
- He’d been in that grave a long time.
- The sun hadn’t risen fully before the horn blasted and they rose up, one by one.
- It was one of those occasions, he thought, that didn’t require a shirt.
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 horn.
Your horn can look like the bugle or trumpet in The Judgement card — but it doesn’t have to. Maybe it’s a musical instrument that hasn’t yet been invented, or a magical horn that talks to animals, or a unicorn horn (attached or detached is up to you).
Imagine any horn that grabs you and let it roar.
Imagine the horn in detail. What does it look like, feel like, what sound does it make? How do characters react to the sound? Who made this horn? Who holds it now? Was it a gift? A discovery? A theft? Does it trigger memories or ideas? Emotions? Zombies?
Why is this horn important? Does it cause or solve a problem? Is it at risk?
Write a scene where characters lose or find or fight over this horn.
Thematic Prompt
** Rebirth
** Judgement
** Afterlife
Freewrite for ten minutes on any of these themes. Invent a setting or character to embody the theme. Or invent two characters discussing it. Reach back into your own life and turn a memory into creative non-fiction.
Wax poetic. Write loud. Let your words ring out across the page and call the dead to life.
Happy writing!
Images on this page are by the following artists: Banner, left to right: Marseilles deck engraved by Nicolas Conver; Dragon Tarot illustrated by Roger and Linda Garland (also shown in the box below); Tarot Balbi by Domenico Balbi; Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti; Radiant Rider-Waite deck illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith; Druid Craft deck illustrated by Will Worthington.
Catherine Austen 