Oh Tarot.
Here we are again.

I know I have a project problem. But there are worse things.

So, aside from the stories (and blog posts and newsletters and life stuff), I’ve long wanted to make my own Tarot cards. I’ve said this many times before–as some of you know.

But this weekend more motivation came my way.

Now, a while back, I had an idea (or an angle, so to speak) for how to approach making my own deck. Cards abound out there. Cards with crows, with cats, with moons, with literary figures, with elves…and in endless artistic styles. What do I have to add to the conversation?

I’m dithering.

What kind of cards would I be able to make? This is a massive project, and I need to know my idea can work for 78 cards. I need a strong idea and a strong plan for executing it. Recently, I listened to an episode of Start with This. The recent episode was “I Have an Idea for a Podcast,” and they (Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor) state that to a successful podcast needs specificity, novelty, practicality, and repeatability.

These things can be applied to varying degrees to other projects as well. Let’s think about Tarot cards.

Specificity. What’s the theme? Just google Tarot cards and see all the cards that come up. Whew.
Novelty. How would my cards stand out? Again, look at those google results. Oh boy.
Practicality. Hahahaha! I don’t know if anything is practical about Tarot cars. But I’ll look at this from my own situation. How much time would this project take? How much would it cost? (Just to make them might not cost that much but if the goal is to sell them, then they have to be made–printed and packaged and marketed. THAT won’t be pocket change.
Repeatability. Well, for this, we’re talking 78 cards. That’s 78 images that go together but that are each different. Illustrating a children’s book made me realize how difficult this could be.

This is a project that could take years.

But there’s no time like the present.

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Edited:
I came across this article about writers and the Tarot today. Seems relevant! Also, last week I went to a writing workshop held by Typewriter Tarot, which is mentioned in the article. It was fun and inspiring.