Story Outline Generator using Tarot Cards
Brainstorming
After doing the readings, a bunch of ideas were popping out at me in regards to how I should approach this assignment. I personally use Tarot Cards as a way to make sense of my life when I'm feeling lost. I don't necessarily believe that they have a mystical power, but I do think they can help illuminate patterns or assist in creating connections which that you didn't see before (although that is my own belief, and others do not have to agree with it). Also, Tarot has a rich history and already has its own system for storytelling and meaning making.
Before the readings, I had a couple ideas going into the prototype, such as having multiple players, strict rules for how to play cards, and specific written out descriptions assigned to every card. I'm a big table-top game player, especially card games, RPGs, and social-deduction games, so I can see why I went in that direction of game-ifying the generator. Ultimately, I didn't like that and that's not how I'd like to approach story telling. I think prioritizing interpretation as the method for story generation is much more important to me than simply rearranging pre-planned ideas. This was cemented by the Jesper Juul reading/game, from which my big takeaway was that the definition of reality is up to interpretation and the rules/context of the world you're building. In that reading, Juul quotes Roland Barthes and the sentiment was that details make reality. On top of that, my favorite part about Her Story was that no matter what, you're not given all the information (or at least it is really hard to attain), and the information you get is determined by how hard you want to work for it and the key words you think are important. These were the ideas I wanted to reflect in my protoype. This may be roundabout, but if my favorite part of Tarot is that my interpretation is my own and I can come up with the details that I think make sense, then why would I want a story generator which creates the reality and details for me?? That's the fun part! I would rather have something that encourages idea generation with guiding themes & concepts that I can manipulate myself.
So rather than creating a story generator exactly, I decided to make a story outline generator, which can be used as a tool for story making.
Goals
I wanted to make sure that the important aspects of a story are accounted for, but the method is easily tailored to the user's needs. Tarot cards already have meanings attached to them, which can work together across cards in interesting ways. The Major Arcana are meant to be overarching and have powerful meaning, while the Minor Arcana focus on day to day emotions, desires, and action/reaction to events.
In my mind, stories require a character with motivations, a beginning, an ending, and a varying number of action/reaction combinations. I thought saying 'conflict' would be too vague, because how are we defining conflict? What if I don't want conflict, but just want to tell a story with a flow of events? I'm thinking about, specifically as an example, fluff romance fanfictions which don't necessarily have an overarching conflict. So in this generator, I didn't want to imply that conflict was entirely necessary.
I developed a spread with rules, guidelines, and contextualizing questions which the user can user to come up with a story outline.
Execution
In the spread, you select one or more Major Arcana to contextualize your story. This could be for the overarching theme or worldbuilding. Then, from the face cards of the Minor Arcana (page, knight, queen, and king), you pick your characters. You have the option to choose as many characters as you like, or add more as the plot progresses to meet your interpretive needs. The suits in combination with the card type will determine your character's motivations and personality. You can pick the characters and worldbuilding/themes randomly or choose specific ones for your taste.
For the story itself, you will randomly choose a Major Arcana for the beginning, change of pace (optional), and ending. Keep in mind orientation can change the meaning of the card. Within that timeline, you will pick from the Minor Arcana, numbers 1-10, and randomly select action & reaction combinations. You need at least one without a change of pace, or at least two when using a change of pace. The suits will be sorted, so you'll get to choose if your action/reaction is related to emotional states & relationships (cups), the physical aspects of the world (pentacles), power/conflict (swords), or consciousness/self-actualization (wands). Lastly, you will use your understanding of Tarot or the booklet given with your deck of cards to interpret the timeline of events.
Questions, Doubts, & Ambitions
This prototype was exactly what I was looking for, although I do have some thoughts about the type of person this is for. After playtesting it myself, I do think that it puts A LOT of responsibility on the player. I think it's a tool for people with writer's block or those who want to come up with and build on an idea. It does not produce a fully fleshed out story you can just read unless the player does the interpretation themselves. I find it incredibly entertaining, but someone else might find it tedious. Regardless, it does what I wanted it to do, and provides the kind of freedom that I enjoyed in Her Story. When I use it, I feel creatively in control. I love that two people could have the same spread in front of them and produce a completely different story from one another, while still following the same outline. Overall, I think this prototype is for a specific audience and that's okay with me.
Here's the spreadsheet linked again!