The Tarot Card Exercise

The "Tarot Card" Exercise

I developed this exercise at the Yale Writers' Workshop around 2015. It contains no actual tarot cards, but it does use physical cards when I do it in class, and, like a tarot spread, it encourages you to make connections among elements that are not obviously related. To do that, you have to engage your subconscious, your intuition-- the part of your mind that writes stories, which is the same part that gives you hunches, dreams, and visions.

The Exercise

Get three random numbers between one and sixty. Go to the list below and write down the words or phrases associated with your numbers. 

Set the timer for fifteen minutes and write without stopping. Write whatever comes to mind. The only rules are: The first word or phrase must go in your first sentence. The second word or phrase comes anywhere after that. The third must be included in your last sentence.

If it feels strange or difficult, don't worry, just keep your pen moving. The end result does not have to be "good" writing or even to make any sense at all. Just follow the rules and see what emerges.



1.  a premonition

2.  torrential rain

3.  a very hot night

4.  mysterious lights at night

5.  a stain that won't come out

6.  eggs

7.  an unexpected inheritance

8.  inappropriate laughter

9.  crickets

10.  an angry outburst

11.  the taste of salt

12.  stairs

13.  a stranger

14.  a foul odor

15.  a ship

16.  something buried in the earth

17.  sweat

18.  an ancient custom

19.  a castle

20.  a drunken argument

21.  something sticky

22.  a curse

23.  a small door

24.  a woman's arm

25.  a sudden realization

26.  something sharp in the dark

27.  a death

28.  a cellar

29.  a man's leg

30.  a reunion

31.  sand

32.  a windowless room

33.  a fan

34.  the wrong body

35.  feathers

36.  children singing

37.  sparks

38.  a repetitive noise

39.  a weapon

40. very, very sweet

41.  a bout of dizziness

42.  echoes

43.  claws

44.  stars

45.  the smell of smoke

46.  cold water

47.  startled awake

48.  a small animal

49.  glittery

50.  shivers

51.  something burning

52.  ticking

53.  the scent of gardenias

54.  whispering

55.  the sound of someone crying

56.  utter darkness

57.  the smell of winter

58.  a swarm of beetles

59.  an empty theater

60.  artificial snow