The Autumn Novels

Hello, my name is Laura. I'm a writer, and this is a goofy little Tumblr blog where I stash all of my ideas and inspirations. You can find any particular project by going to the Projects tab and clicking on it, or look for other tags (like "inspiration" or "writing advice") in the Links tab. Feel free to ask me anything. I like to make friends. I write dark fantasy, by which I mean fantasy with horror elements, not dark gritty realistic fantasy. (Just to be accurate.) I also love fairy tales (especially genre-savvy ones) and I have a sense of humor about things. (Or, I try to.) Besides writing, I like to draw. I keep most of my finished art on my main blog, but things related to my writing will go here as well. Sometimes my brainstorming process involves maps or doodles. Every year in November since 2012, I also do National Novel-Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and you'll find my daily NaNo ramblings here.

[the-lovely-pale-rose]

Bangs sliced jagged and frosty, eyes lined with kohl-black-sinister, lips bubblegum or cherry, all of us kissable as a plane crash.

The book Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater (via the-lonely-black-rose)

[evilsupplyco]

Autumn wanes.

Winter will soon be here, autumn at it’s furthest length away is just ‘round the corner.

Suck deeply into your lungs this haunted air while you can, pull it into your black blood, engrave it into your memory, do not let go gently.

Give no calm quarter to the approaching seasons as they are not your ally.

[cg-is-lying-in-wait-blog]

Stumbled across this really useful tool for anyone doing NaNoWriMo or planning any writing schedule—Pacemaker.

You can customize a variety of settings for your word count schedule—like writing significantly more on the weekends, or less, taking a few days off, or even generate a random daily word count target. Then you can display the schedule by calendar, graph, or table and share it with others.

Plus you can adjust the date range, so if you fall behind, it’s easy to update the word count plan and catch up.

Check it out here.

[theautumnnovels]

New Artwork: Night of the Valravn

[theautumnnovels]

Are pictures really worth 1000 words because I'm still below target.

[maxkirin]

If you want to write, you can. Fear stops most people from writing, not lack of talent, whatever that is. Who am I? What right have I to speak? Who will listen to me if I do? You’re a human being, with a unique story to tell, and you have every right. If you speak with passion, many of us will listen. We need stories to live, all of us. We live by story. Yours enlarges the circle.

Richard Rhodes (via maxkirin)

[writing-questions-answered]

Hi, i'm creating a fantasy world very different from ours and i'm stuck on the calendar. Not that I don't know how to do it but I don't know if I should do it. The world have already a lot of information and I feel that if a create a different calendar I will just overwhelm the reader and complicate a very simple thing. Do you think it would be a problem for me to use our calendar on a fantasy world or should I create a new one that will probably burden the narrative and confuse the reader

There’s no reason to create a new calendar if you don’t want to. Since our calendar isn’t random, it’s not far-fetched to believe that a planet with similar scientific details might come to a similar calendar. You may want to come up with your own names for the days of the week and months, though. Or, you can skip referring to day and month names entirely.

[theautumnnovels]

As a writer who over-prepares worldbuilding stuff, I have to tell you that for me, it is important to remember:

Only prepare what you need.

And as a writer who feels the need to meticulously research and worldbuild every time I hit a snag on the first draft, it is important to remember:

Write the action first. Pad and fix the pacing later.

Lastly, as someone who loves the worldbuilding in novels and tends to over-explore every aspect of every little piece of the world, it is important to remember:

Every worldbuilding detail should either enhance your plot or your characters.

If you're in a preparation stage -- brainstorming/outlining/whatever -- then make a list of things that are really important to your story and only detail those things. For example, if your story focuses on a wandering witch hunter, detail things like how she hunts and how magic works. If your story takes place in a sandy desert, you probably don't need to detail the culture of the snowy northern country aside from how it affects the one guy who's from there.

If you're not sure whether you need to do it, you probably don't -- and that's totally okay. You don't need a custom everything. Leaving some things simple will enhance the important details!

If you're afraid of overwhelming your reader, I have one last bit of advice, as someone who loves to read and explore detailed worlds:

Write as if your reader lives in the world you're describing.

Just write as if it's common knowledge, and let the reader infer things from context. It's immersive!

[explore-blog]

Ray Bradbury on failure, why we hate work, and the importance of love in creative endeavors – a wonderful addition to our ongoing archive of sage advice on writing and life.

[theautumnnovels]

Something dreadful walks the streets of Zollesse at night.

[reignofdreams]

NaNo Tip of the Day

If your inner editor really doesn’t like a word or phrase that you wrote and won’t move on until it’s changed, don’t erase anything.

Instead, try using the strikethrough font feature.  Word count remains and builds, while your inner editor is temporarily appeased.

[theautumnnovels]

Literally 1/3 of the research on my main antagonist.

[maggie-stiefvater-deactivated20]

Every so often I have this conversation at a school visit. THE CAST: STUDENT ENGLISH TEACHER ME THE SCENE: After my presentation, a student drags a beleaguered English teacher to my side. THE CONVERSATION: STUDENT (always with a rather mocking tone): So,...

[the-right-writing]

If she starts cleaning up imaginary lint from the sofa, one sort of person is suggested. If she spills her scotch and lets it sink into her skirt without seeming to care, that suggests another. Something prosaic like sitting down and reading the newspaper does not tell the readers much. But if she turns at once to the medical column, that might tell us something. The actions you give your characters should be densely informative.

Jerome Stern, Making Shapely Fiction (via the-right-writing)

[notapaladin]

Reblog if it's okay for people to come into your askbox and ask about your OCs

[aluox]

I don’t understand why but I really hate this shade of blue

[squxid]

God it’s actually making me uncomfortable

[blood-mages-anonymous]

No I am uncomfortable. As a color deficient person I almost never see the color blue and that is the bluest blue that has ever blued.

[aluox]

[mellow-sleep]

I believe our internal frustration with this stems from the fact that it is very similar to a certain type of computer message

do you feel the anger and frustration?

[whateversebastian]

REBLOG IF YOU ARE A WRITER ON TUMBLR

IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT KIND OF WRITER YOU ARE YOU CAN BE WRITING: POEMS, FANFICS, IDK NORMAL FICS, NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, IDK ANYTHING!! JUST REBLOG!!!

[im-little-miss-sunshine]

Magic | via Tumblr on We Heart It.