1. plug in some earbuds and pull up Rainymood, or even some autumn ambiance sounds, you can find lots on youtube.

2. put on a flannel!

3. make yourself a cup of tea. warm drinks do the soul good.

4. watch a halloween movie with the lights off!

5. do a fall craft; it sounds boring but truly puts you in the fall mindset.

6. change your phone/desktop wallpaper to match the fall mood.

7. turn down the lights and light some candles, literally nothing sets a better mood than candles.

8. put on some fuzzy socks and cuddle up with pets/netflix/loved ones.

9. paint your nails an autumn color.

Mr. Darcy: You’ve got to stop introducing me like that.

Here’s the thing.

I read a lot of scripts.  A lot.  From professionals to aspiring writers to complete newbies.  Features and pilots.  Specs and treatments.

And 8 times out of 10 the fan fic that I’ve read over the last, oh, 15 years is leagues better than this stuff.  It’s more inspired.  It’s more compelling.  It’s genre bending and creative and heartfelt.  It’s well-paced and intense and funny and sexy and meaningful.  It’s smart and thoughtful and good.  It’s novel-quality.  Better than, sometimes.

Rare is the script I don’t want to put down, but how often have we stayed up until 3am to get to the last chapter of a 100k fic? And it’s not even a fan fic author’s day job.  This is what they do on the side.  In their spare time.  For free.

So my point is, fan fic authors, you’re good.  You’re good writers and great storytellers.  I know it doesn’t always feel like it, especially if you’re one of the authors who’s not a BNF and doesn’t get the notes/hits that a few do.  And  because some people still view fic as “not real writing.” You guys know the shit that gets made into movies.  You’re better than that.  So be better than that.  If writing is what you think want to do, then just know you’re already doing it.   You’ve already started.