Adding a little Pumpkin Spice

The other day, I bought pumpkin spice flavored yogurt covered pretzels. They were absolute genius. There’s something about autumn and pumpkin spice that just makes the season to me.

I like to both write and read seasonal details in stories. When a character pulls a sweater closer to them because it’s chillier outside than they expected or a kid has a few leaves stuck to their sweater after jumping in the leaf pile, those little seasonal details help set the stage.

Books allow us to travel vicariously with the characters and most places change subtly along with the seasons. Even Hawaii, although perhaps less noticeably in the winter than in Michigan.

I find it’s the little things that help to shape a seasonal fiction world. For example, in autumn a character could be testing out recipes for a Thanksgiving showstopper dish or competing in a pumpkin pie competition at the office. Maybe if it’s later in the autumn they are complaining about the inconvenience and cost of having to get snow tires added onto their car.

Autumn brings deep gem tones into our wardrobes, pumpkins, and Halloween. So many fun details to throw into any writing project to help create a sense of the season – regardless of where you stand on pumpkin spice. 🙂 Keep going, writers and artists! Let autumn inspire you!