Favourite Thing In The World Is When The Pages Of A Book Go All Soft And Yellowy And The Edges Are Slightly

dark academia book list

The Secret History by Donna Tart

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman

A deadly Education by Naomi Novik

The Decay of Living by Oscar Wilde

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Dead Poets Society by Nancy H Kleinbaum

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

The Little Friend by Donan Tartt

Vicious by V. E. Schwab

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marissa Pessl

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Gentlemen and Players by Joan Harris

The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

Maurice by E. M. Forster

A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde

Vita Nostra by Marina and Serhiy Dyachenko

Poems by Oscar Wilde

The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson

Ace of Spades by Fradiah Àbíke-Íyímídé

If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde

The Lessons by Naomi Alderman

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Wilder Girls by Rory Powers

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

The Bellweather Revivals by Benjamin Wood

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Truants by Kate Weinberg

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

In the Woods by Tana French

The Atlas Six by Olivia Blake

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Persuasion by Jane Austen

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Love and Friendship by Jane Austen

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

Bunny by Mona Awad

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

The Ivies by Alexa Donne

For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing

The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

Emma by Jane Austen

The Watsons by Jane Austen

The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino

The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L. Carter

The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring

Confessions by Kanae Minato

Truth Exercise by Susan Choi

We Wish You Luck by Caroline Zancan

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

The Basic Eight by Daniel Handle

Confessions by Kanae Minato

Lady Susan by Jane Austen

While writing an adaptation of a character who in mythology time used a sword, I'm wondering would it be ineffective to still make them use a sword but a thinner flatter type. Or is it just better to just stick to a knife?

I'm not going to harp on it, but, "mythology time," is a weird way to phrase it. Usually you'd say, "a character who used a sword in myth," or. "in their myths," not, "in mythology time." This is because there is no fixed, "mythic era," in history.

Myths vary, but it's often impossible to pin down a specific moment they come from. The British give us a pair, one example and one counterexample. The myth of Robin Hood is remarkably easy to pin down, because it includes historical figures. It occurs sometime in the 12th century. (Worth noting, the written records regarding Robin Hood first pop up in the 14th century, so it may have been floating around in a oral form for a couple centuries before anyone recorded it, or none of the previous written records survived.) In contrast, it's basically impossible to pin down a specific timeframe for the King Arthur legends, because there's no historical frame of reference. There's a lot of academic study on the subject, but while you can say that Robin Hood is set in the 1190s, you can't say the same for King Arthur.

Mythic characters are a little tricky to work with. By their nature, they have a well established backstory and identity. Messing with that is feasible, but requires some care. It also requires passing familiarity with the myths they appear in.

For example: If you wanted to write a modern incarnation of Hercules, it would ring a bit off to have a character with a warm and loving parents.

Artificially creating a mythic character (for a fantasy setting) is a lot more complicated. This requires you to create a character who left enough of a legacy on their world that they're still a household name millennia later, conveying those stories to the audience, and then also introducing a modern version of that character in the setting, without the entire work being very heavy handed or cliché, is quite difficult, and time consuming.

And, I still haven't talked about your main question, their weapons.

The artifacts of mythic characters often have legacies that, in some cases, outstrip their owners. In spite of being inanimate objects, they're characters, with their own identities, that extend far beyond simply being, "a sword." I'm reminded of multiple starships in different settings named Excalibur, and even, just the name, is evocative.

This is where the real danger is, you're talking an artifact, where the name alone, is (supposed) to be enough to cue the reader in to the significance of the object. (Having said that, I recently had to explain the significance of Gjallarhorn to a friend, so, depending on the object in question your results may vary. There are a lot of mythic artifacts, and not all of them carry the same name recognition.)

If your mythic hero has a sword, chances are it has a name, and probably a legacy of its own. Mythic artifacts in a modern setting may be the original object, or the, "soul," of the artifact in a new object (the rules for this are dictated by the author), but, "downgrading," a mythic artifact is something you probably don't want to do without a lot of careful consideration.

-Starke

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You see, the problem with writing is that it is always easier to just lie facedown on the floor and make incoherent noises.

i will never not be angry at white fantasy authors being like "this is fake russia and this is fake germany and this is fake scandinavia and this is fake netherlands and this is fake amsterdam" then turn around and be like "oh but there's only one fake collective african country and one fake collective asian country"

Don't you sometimes get an absolutely extrodinary, mind blowing, such an awesome idea for a story, but you just don't have enough skill level to pull it off?

nobody might not relate to this but im posting it just incase XD

one of my very favorite obscure story tropes is when there’s an episode/plotline/tabletop campaign session where the conceit is ‘each member of the gang gets trapped in a specially tailored dream/nightmare/illusory mindscape and has to break out’

omg this is so useful, tysm for the tag!

calling all authors!!

i have just stumbled upon the most beautiful public document i have ever laid eyes on. this also goes for anyone whose pastimes include any sort of character creation. may i present, the HOLY GRAIL:

https://www.fbiic.gov/public/2008/nov/Naming_practice_guide_UK_2006.pdf

this wonderful 88-page piece has step by step breakdowns of how names work in different cultures! i needed to know how to name a Muslim character it has already helped me SO MUCH and i’ve known about it for all of 15 minutes!! i am thoroughly amazed and i just needed to share with you guys 

Tips for Finishing a First Draft

Credit: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-novel-rough-draft

Set a goal

You want to get the main points of your story down quickly, without getting hung up on word choice and sentence flow. By giving yourself deadlines to complete certain exercises or sections, you become more ambitious with your time and waste less of it lingering on minor details. Commit to completing a certain number of words, or a set number of pages, or writing for a fixed amount of time. A routine will keep your writing consistent so you do not lose momentum and fall behind on your writing. 

Meeting goals can give you the motivation you need to make and complete another one. For example, I set a minimum word count goal for 35,000 words for my WIP because I hadn’t written anything of that length before. I ended up surpassing it by a lot! 

Prewriting

Prewriting is helpful for getting started, and can include performing writing prompts or exercises. For example, freewriting allows a writer to write unencumbered—jotting down ideas fast without a strict form to follow—which is also useful for stimulating creativity when you’re suffering from writer’s block. Prewriting can also be outlining your next chapter, or plot point, etc...whatever you choose to do, it prepares you to write!

Invite all ideas

Let ideas flow free. A rough draft is where your wildest ideas come out. Don’t be shy about content or switching point of views, and don’t hold yourself back from ideas that might be worth exploring. This phase of your writing is for your eyes only, so there’s no need to feel self-conscious about what you put down on paper. The first draft is all about getting it out on the page--save insecurity for later!

Outline

I can’t express how important this is. Even if you’re a pure pantser, you need to have some idea of your major plot points and ending. This is where you start to form the initial structure of your scenes. Laying all the pieces out before you assemble them will give you the clearest picture on how to put together your novel, as well as figuring out which pieces you’re missing and which ones you don’t need.

Don’t edit as you write

This is a bad habit of mine, as I’m a perfectionist, and it becomes a problem, especially when I’m writing my longest project ever. I’ve always focused on making everything right, and it’s hard for me to realize that there is no possible way to do that in a novel.

When you’re writing your story, don’t worry about punctuation, writing complete sentences, or grammar like passive voice or inconsistent tenses—leave the whole editing process behind. As long as you get your ideas down in a way that’s understandable to you, what you write in your first draft is between you and your vision. You can worry about well-written sentences in your second or third drafts.

Start where you want

You want to begin where you’re most excited. Not every story needs to start at the beginning and go step-by-step. If you’re anticipating writing the climax of the story before you have a beginning or end, then write that down first! You don’t want to bog yourself down with story details you’re not ready to establish yet. Writing a novel is a long process, and you want to keep it enjoyable for yourself as long as possible.

Take breaks

The last thing you need is to experience burnout before getting through your first draft. Sometimes walking away from your writing and coming back later with a set of fresh eyes is exactly what your writing process needs. 

Writing every day can be unhealthy or lead to an unhealthy mindset. It can also make you tire of your story. 

Finish it

I know, this seems kind of weird when the post is giving advice on how to finish a first draft. But it actually means  You shouldn’t start the next draft until you finish the one you’re on, and the sooner you get it down, the better. Sticking to your goals and putting in the time will yield workable pages that you can eventually start sculpting into another draft of your novel!

autumn? i think you mean red (taylor’s version) season