Experiencing writer’s block? Stumped for a solution to a personal problem? Lacking inspiration for an upcoming project? The Bright Idea Deck is the perfect tool for supercharging the brainstorming process and getting the creative juices flowing. Designed to generate ideas, expand creative expression, and stimulate thought processes, this brainstorming companion is ideal for the workplace or home.
Contemporary and Clever This is a tarot deck and book set that nowhere mentions the word tarot (except in the “About the Author” note inside the front cover). It instead describes itself as an “idea processor and brainstorming tool” suitable for business and personal use. Nonetheless, it is a true tarot, with 22 Trumps (with purple borders) and four suits, named Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green. The courts are renamed Learning, Doing, Feeling, and Controlling. The cards have keywords/titles (mostly compatible with Golden Dawn/Rider-Waite-Smith meanings), and the suit cards are scenic.The illustrations are very contemporary. Many characters are depicted in business suits, and the Chariot (titled “Advancement”) is a Segway! I quite like the illustration style–bright, defined, and, yes, business-like. Also, many of the characters are gender-ambiguous, which is good for wider interpretations.My main impression of this set is clever, clever, clever. The trumps each have a design…
One of the Most Underestimated and Under-Exposed Decks Out There Feeling chained to your desk? Boxed in by the demands of your current project? Trapped in a maze of predictable plot lines? Stymied by interpersonal conflict? With the Bright Idea Deck, you can deal yourself an idea, solution, or new perspective!Creativity consultant, Tarot teacher and author Mark McElroy has created an ingenious, practical, and portable brainstorming tool: a powerful idea processor disguised as a deck of cards. This box set includes the deck, companion book, and white cardboard box for deck storage. Tarot enthusiasts will recognize the astrological symbols peppered throughout the cards, while Qabalists will easily identify the meanings of Hebrew letters portrayed in the cards. (For example, Cheth, the letter associated with The Chariot, means “fence”–and this card shows a Segway busting through a nice white picket!)The Bright Idea Deck features 78 colorful cards illustrated by Eric Hotz which provide multiple perspectives for any situation…
Marvelously Useful! I have to produce short stories regularly — three stories every month for a paying audience. I’m always eager to find tools that I can call upon if, at the last minute, my deadline is tomorrow and I don’t yet have a story idea.I also teach creative writing to graduate students, professional writers and advanced amateurs. I like to give students no-excuses tools that they can use to get back on track when they are feeling stuck, blocked, or creatively numb.The Bright Idea Deck has already been a wonderfully flexible tool for my own writing. I have used it to help me think about my novel in progress. I used it yesterday and today to plot a story from scratch, a story that just went out to my subscribers. (For a detailed description of the cards I used and how I used them, see my May 3rd 2005 process journal at […]In the past, I have adapted divination systems like the Tarot or the I Ching for brainstorming. One problem with using a Tarot…