Fall 2019 Horoscopes for Writers

After an emotionally torrid summer, this fall settles down (somewhat). Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius season are on deck as we get back to work and dig up those projects that may have taken a beat to allow for vacations, mental and otherwise. 

Fall is busy for writers. We’ve got the last Mercury retrograde of the year, traipsing through Scorpio October 31–November 20, which will offer all of us the opportunity to review, renew, revise, rethink, redo. Anything with a re in front of it: that’s the key to working with, and not against, retrograde energy. (But also: back up your hard drive.) We’ve also got lucky, expansive Jupiter changing signs at the tail end of Sagittarius season, right before the winter solstice. If there’s an area of your life that’s been particularly blessed or big this year, chances are good Jupiter was involved. 

What does this fall have in store for you, and for the work? Read more to find out. 

P.S. If you’re into learning more about the nitty gritty of what goes on every other week, you can sign up for my astrology newsletter, geared to writers and creatives: astrology for busy bitches.

ARIES

If the summer was about creative inspiration and getting a handle on your daily routines, this fall is all about partnership and shared resources—and what you can build with and through them. Libra season, in particular, puts the spotlight on your most committed relationships—romantic and business. As writers, we get into bed with people by way of contracts all the time: literary agents, publishing houses. Who are you in partnership with, and why, and what kinds of resources are both of you bringing to the table? A full moon in your own sign on October 13 puts particular emphasis on making sure that your individual needs are being respected in any ongoing negotiations. 

Meanwhile, Jupiter, that big ol’ planet of bounty and good fortune, is finishing its year-long trek through your zone of travel, education, long-term journeys, and—most notably—publishing. Have you taken advantage of this extra boost, Aries? If you haven’t, be sure to pitch your ass off this fall—especially after Jupiter finally and fully clears Neptune in the week following September 21. It’s clear skies from late September through early December, when Jupiter enters Capricorn and your zone of career and public image. Get ready to take that pitching energy you worked on during Jupiter in Sagittarius and put some long-term strategy behind it. This is an entirely new glow-up coming your way, one that will hopefully capitalize on the advances you’ve made in the realm of publishing and/or education this year. 

Aries writer inspo: Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, Maya Angelou

TAURUS

For you, Taurus, this summer was about creative nesting: about really refining your relationship to your regular writing schedule and to your nearest and dearest—the folks you let into that inner circle when you’re in the thick of imagining. As we move into fall, the emphasis moves to a more expanded vision of your daily routines: how you’re taking care of your body, and how that subsequently impacts your partnerships and the resources you share and create within those partnerships. You feel and create from your body more than most, and making sure that you have a schedule and routine (however limited or liminal) that keeps you in your ideal state of being is the focus as we enter Libra season. The full moon in your own sign on November 12, during Scorpio season, puts an emphasis on how you can reclaim time and energy for yourself, even in the midst of an energetic wave of focus on the other. 

Meanwhile, Jupiter—the most expansive planet in the galaxy, where we find our luck and fortune—wraps up its journey through your zone of shared resources. Sagittarius season puts a particular point on whatever issues around shared intimacies you’ve been working through this year. It’s hard to be vulnerable, especially in business, but if you used this energy to your benefit, then there was a lot to gain. And this will help you as we move into 2020. In early December, Jupiter enters Capricorn and your house of publishing, education, and long-term journeys. What projects are ready to move to center stage, Taurus? 

Taurus writer inspo: Angela Carter, Adrienne Rich, Louise Gluck

GEMINI

Summer was about the fundamentals: getting your money, everyday communication, and home in order. Fall? That’s where you see the payoff, Gemini: how getting the everyday essentials in order sets you up for creative success. This fall highlights your creative energy, how that funnels into your work routines, and then—finally—how you manage all of those things in your committed partnerships. There is a transition in this season, for you, from considering your individual needs—what you require for the writerly life you want—to an expanded bigger picture (cause you’ve been growing, growing, growing). What does that look like when you bring people like editors, agents, and writing groups into the fold? How does your creative energy blend with, nurture, and perhaps even challenge those around you? On a very pragmatic level, Gemini, how has your creative growth this year impacted your personal relationships? These are all questions that will come up for you this fall—and success lies in the road directly chosen and communicated. A full moon in your own sign on December 12 highlights this choice. 

But then, you’ve had some practice this year at considering your own needs both with and against the demands of partnership—professional and otherwise. Jupiter, the largest, luckiest, most expansive planet in the sky, has been traipsing through your opposite sign of Sagittarius and, consequently, your zone of committed partnerships. Perhaps you’ve seen some luck in the realm of folks wanting to partner with you long-term on professional, creative projects; perhaps this has manifested in a more personal way. Jupiter is at home in Sag, where it can do so much good if we work with its energy consciously: you’ve got until December 2 to take advantage of this transit before Jupiter enters Capricorn and your zone of shared resources, where new blessings and challenges (and perhaps, even, a book deal) await. 

Gemini writer inspo: Gwendolyn Brooks, Louise Erdrich, Jamaica Kincaid

CANCER

Summer is your season, all about renewing yourself as a snake sheds its skin. You get to reconsider your sense of value (and what you value); you take another look at how you best communicate. And then, before you know it, we move to fall, where it’s still all about your individual needs, but where we press deeper. Where that work you’ve done around identity and value provides the building blocks for any changes that need to happen around the home (Libra), for a renewal in creative energy (Scorpio), for how your daily routines may need to find a little more room to breathe to fit this new self you’re building (Sagittarius). Fall is about praxis; it’s about putting the version of you that you want to build into practice. Easier said than done. 

There are blessings to be found in this work, if you accept the journey ahead. Jupiter, that big, beneficent bringer of blessings, has been sifting through your daily routines and your relationship to your own body: what do you quite literally, physically, require for daily success, whatever “success” means to you? How can you best support yourself? This is the question Jupiter asks. In Sagittarius, Jupiter has been home and consequently particularly powerful; we all have until December 2 to work with this Jupiter in Sag energy before Jupiter moves into Capricorn and your zone of committed partnerships for the next year. What 2020’s Jupiter transit will bring for you, who can say: perhaps new agreements or renewals in your most important relationships, perhaps—if you’re in the market—a new partnership with someone who is just as committed to your career as you are. Focus on laying the track now. 

Cancer writer inspo: Jhumpa Lahiri, June Jordan, Lucille Clifton

LEO

For you, Leo, summer is complicated: you move from a deeply contemplative state in Cancer season to complete and utter buoyancy in your birthday season to and how do we put everything together and reshape our values? in analytical Virgo. If you’ve been feeling it lately, there’s a reason why! But fall moves you further into that stage of building or, perhaps, rebuilding: of considering what kind of communication most feeds you, what kinds of workspaces—and work/life boundaries—you need in the home, and then, at last, how you can best work with your creative energy. Everyone’s life is individual, of course, but these are major themes that are on the table for you as the days get shorter. 

The big story this fall is that Jupiter, the planet of big faith and big luck, is wrapping up its journey through Sagittarius and your zone of creative and erotic energy. If you’ve had big ideas—and a correspondent thirst for inspiration—this year, that’s where that energy is coming from. This energy is a huge blessing for the artistically inclined, especially for short-term flings and generative new directions you’d never before considered. You’ve got until December 2 to take advantage of this transit, when Jupiter goes into Capricorn (your zone of daily routines and health) and asks you to take a serious look at what is and isn’t working when it comes to your physical body and its relationship to your work. 

Leo writer inspo: James Baldwin, Beatrix Potter, Alexander Chee

VIRGO

Fall is about moving through the deep internal work you’ve been doing around your communities and subconscious patterns and into a renewed sense of self: how are you using the information you gained over the summer to transform your sense of value, your communication patterns, and your very conception of home? These are foundational questions, Virgo, that may not always be explicitly about the writing but that deeply inform the writing: an ever aware and evolving understanding of self—and the foundations on which you build your life—is what lends a sense of stability to your ever growing body of work. 

So: home. Let’s talk about that. If you’ve had changes around your home that felt more inspirational than oh fuck, that was Jupiter, sifting through the base of your chart throughout this entire year. This may have felt sensitive—planets, no matter how lovely, pushing on this particular zone usually bring up tender things. But you’ve had opportunities to bring changes to your home that serve who you are now: what are you creating for yourself? These changes could have manifested physically, by moving or redecorating a home office, or conceptually, by working through deep-seated beliefs around your ideas of home and family. And the transit isn’t done: Jupiter will be in Sagittarius until December 2, when they move into Capricorn and your zone of abundant (if structured) creative and erotic energy. Yes. 

Virgo writer inspo: Mary Oliver, Leslie Feinberg, Stephen King

LIBRA

Happy birthday, Libra! You are probably ready to take a load off, because for you, Libra, summer has been all about the work. Whether getting work done, networking your ass off, or working through some of your most subconscious, self-sabotaging patterns, you’ve been at it. And now, with the fall equinox, we officially enter your season. This is all about taking the lessons from summer and sifting through what works, and what doesn’t: what career goals and friendships serve who you are, now, and who you most want to be—and how are those informed (and challenged) by your roots? As we move deeper into fall, you’ll take these fundamental questions to your sense of value—which may also impact your money-making—as well as your daily communication habits. The end of the year is about shedding, shifting, and realigning. A new moon in your own sign on September 28 brings an opportunity to particularly powerful intentions for the months ahead. 

What have you learned about setting intentions within the last year, Libra? With Jupiter in Sagittarius in your zone of daily communication, you’ve had a crash-course reminder in how our words have power: what we say to ourselves, about ourselves, is, truly, what we believe—and what will come to pass. So… what are you saying these days? What are you writing? What are you putting out there, into the universe? Make this manifestation happen as Jupiter wraps up this transit; it’ll enter Capricorn and your zone of home on December 2, where you’ll take what you’ve learned about the extraordinary magic of small daily routines and apply it to your nest. 

Libra writer inspo: Oscar Wilde, Zadie Smith, Nora Roberts

SCORPIO

Did you get a lot of work done this summer, Scorpio? This summer lit up your zones of publishing, career, and professional networks—if you were open to working with that energy, then you’re seeing a payoff now, as your birthday season dawns and brings with it a time of shedding and rebirth. Some folks are less comfortable with the deep, subconscious dive that some seasons demand of them, but let’s be real: you love this. You live for this. You are energized by this: by working through the deep subconscious—even facing those fears—and coming out the other side, in a new skin that suits the creative individual you are ever becoming. There’s a reason Scorpios are associated with the phoenix. You rise, and rise, and rise again. (Take a minute on October 27 to enjoy the new moon in your own sign.) 

While you’re in the process of being in process, you’re also being asked to consider your relationship to value and, specifically, money. Jupiter, that big, beneficent planet of expansion, has been traipsing through your financial sector, probably bringing you some wonderful money-making opportunities over the last year but also asking you to get right with your budget. Are you charging your worth, Scorpio? On another level, Jupiter is often thought of as a blessing, but it can also blow things out of proportion—say, in the realm of over-spending. If you need to get back on track, you’ve got until December 2 to use this energy; then, Jupiter moves onward to Capricorn and your zone of those daily communications that need tending. Is it time for a new writing routine? Jupiter in Capricorn says probably.

Scorpio writer inspo: Sylvia Plath, Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman

SAGITTARIUS

You’ve had a year, Sag. The last few months of summer have been all about translating your resources into publishing opportunities that buff up your public image and move your career forward. But fall brings a bit of a slowdown: the opportunity to invest in the community that supports the work (and let them invest in you). However, it’s also time to invest in yourself. For you, the further we get into fall, the more it’s about dreaming: about tapping into your subconscious, about reflecting on the lessons you’ve learned this year, and then—when your birthday season arrives in November—translating those insights into a renewed sense of self. A new moon in your own sign on November 26 marks your new year. 

But then, you’ve been enjoying a renewed sense of self all year already: Jupiter, the biggest, most inspirational planet in the sky, has been traveling through your own expansive, freedom-loving sign of Sagittarius, bolstering you as you expand your conception of self. Jupiter has been home here in Sag, and particularly powerful; if you’ve still got some work to do around shedding what doesn’t serve and establishing what does, you’ve got until December 2, when Jupiter enters Capricorn. Here, at the very end of 2019 and throughout almost all of 2020, Jupiter will turn its lucky focus toward your money and overall sense of value. Get ready for a shakeup. 

Sagittarius writer inspo: Jane Austen, Willa Cather, Joan Didion

CAPRICORN

If you’ve been a little obsessed with how your partnerships—romantic and business—fuel your resources, there’s a reason: astrologically, that was what summer was all about for you. Major eclipses in Cancer and your own sign of Capricorn set off chains of events that will continue to unfold over the next few years. As we turn to fall, your focus is how the work you’ve been doing on yourself and also on your most committed relationships impacts your career. For you, Libra season kicks off a renewed season of focusing on your career and public image, and you carry that energy into how you invest in your community and professional networks—and also yourself. As fall trails into early winter, you get quiet; you go deep. All of these big projects, big plans, big career moves: what’s the foundation for them? 

You’ve been thinking a lot about how the behind-the-scenes impacts that perpetually having-your-shit-together persona that you like to project, Cap. Jupiter, the planet of expansion and faith and luck, has been traveling through your most psychic, subconscious zone: in many ways, the quietest part of your chart, but also the most potentially disruptive. Here lives all the long-buried secrets; all the shit you don’t want to have to deal with. But if you’ve worked with this energy this year, Cap, if you’ve done the damn thing, then Jupiter has blessed that work. And you’ll see the benefits when Jupiter goes into your own sign of Capricorn on December 2. The very end of 2019 and most of 2020 will bring all kinds of opportunities through other folks seeing you—really seeing you—and rocking with what you’re putting out in the world. 

Capricorn writer inspo: Zora Neale Hurston, Patricia Highsmith, Susan Sontag

AQUARIUS

How have you revised your daily routines, your expectations, your relationship to your resources—especially the ones you share? That was summer’s focus for you; as we move into Libra season and, with it, the first light of autumn, your task is to translate these renewed and refined everyday habits into Big Work. Publishing opportunities? Coming your way, if you’re willing to put in the work. The writing you do in the next few months may be different than what you started the year expecting, but that’s okay; here, in the depth of fall, what feeds your vision for your career and long-term legacy is what’s on the table. Low-hanging fruit isn’t what you’re here for. You’ll take the deep work that requires you to be rigorously self-aware. That’s where the gems are.  

Your community is here to support you as you do this work, Aquarius. Jupiter is home in Sagittarius and your zone of community, and it’s been a particularly blessed time for y’all, as Jupiter absolutely loves helping us out when it comes to friendships and professional networks. If you’ve had opportunities come to you through people you know—and especially from people you’ve been building relationships with in recent years—that’s all Jupiter, creating pathways of ease between the personal and the professional. This transit doesn’t end until December 2—it’ll be all systems go until then, when Jupiter enters Capricorn and your most dreamy, subconscious zone and takes a lot of this year’s energy deep, into a time of reflection. 

Aquarius writer inspo: Langston Hughes, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison

PISCES

If summer was about digging up new sources of creative inspiration to introduce into your daily routines, then fall is about expanding the vision: considering the resources you share with other people, deciding which stories to tell and why, looking at the long-term vision. You move from your individual concerns to more social concerns as the days get shorter, Pisces; you’re thinking not only about how your work feeds you but also how it works in the public and perhaps even for the public. No writer is an island; the work exists in conversation, if you put it out there. (And you want to put it out there.) 

You’re more aware of this than ever, in part due to expansive Jupiter in Sagittarius lighting up your zone of career and public image. But here’s the thing: though you may crave emotional connection and understanding as a person, when it comes to your career, you want freedom. You don’t want to feel penned in or tied down, which may have caused some hiccups over the last year as you gain more professional prominence. But there’s a silver lining to this, Pisces. On December 2, Jupiter moves into Capricorn for a year-long journey through your zone of professional networks and community. After a year of bringing new career opportunities to your door, you focus on building your community. Who do you want to do the work WITH, long-term? This is a year where you figure out who you want to really build with, and opportunities feed your need for freedom while building your brand. 

Pisces writer inspo: Edna St. Vincent Millay, Anais Nin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez