#aurevell

[thebestbooksaround]

Returning the Favor by aurevell (@aurevell)

Sterek | 5k | Teen

Stiles pays a nighttime visit to his boyfriend in secret, or so he thinks. Unfortunately, the Hale family has keener ears than he realizes.

[fanficwritersinterviewed]

FTF, aurevell

<<This post is a part of a longer conversation about fanfic writers, how they view fanfic, and their writing process. All views are the fanfic writers’ own, and whatever fanfic they choose to write is entirely their own decision. No judgment value will be placed on fic content. These conversations are meant to provide insight for other fanfic writers in whatever stage they are at in their writing life>>

Final Thought Friday (with aurevell, @aurevell​)

Talk fanfic to me I could go on for days about how storytelling is a part of being human, something hard-wired into us. How it helps us connect with each other.

I think we need fanfic because we need stories, and because fanfic allows us to be in control of those stories. It's not that you can't get stories elsewhere in the media. But to me, the fanfic experience I curate for myself consists exactly of the kinds of stories that speak to me most. They're not gritty or dark, they don't adhere to a rigid structure, they're not sending me pointed messages, and no one had to get an OK from some production company to create them.

Instead, fanfics feel like the oldest form of storytelling, the kinds of stories we share with each other just because we enjoy them. Their plots wander. They touch on personal experiences. They can be dark or whimsical or self-indulgent. Best of all, they let us recognize ourselves in someone else's words and perspectives. You get this sense of companionship just from reading or writing them - because they're just for us, just for our community, something we share. They're about characters we love and reimagine, and fanon ideas that we steal and run with. Fanfics help us connect and create together, and that's a beautiful thing.

[forthesakeofyourwolvelihood]

It May Simply Lie in Wait by  @aurevell (aurevell on ao3)

G | 5,549 words

“This place is haunted as hell,” one boy says under his breath.

The house remembers itself, letting out a subtle upstairs creak to let them know what they’re in for. They enter anyway, inspecting its shamefully crumbled furnishings, running fingers over its tattered walls, crouching to peer at the ceiling tiles fallen on its floor, and the house—

The house does not chase them away.

Years after the fire, Derek and Stiles return to the Hale House. It isn’t sure how it feels about this.

Sentient Hale house made me cry. This story is very poetic and poignant. 

[stetercreatorappreciation]

Another rec! “The Striking Complication” by aurevell. The premise of this fic is like 🤯🤯🤯. It’s amazing!!

[fuckyeahfanfictions]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 4/4 Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fae & Fairies, Fae Stiles Stilinski, slightly medieval setting, fae rules and trickery, two lonely boys who get better, Light Angst, Eventual Happy Ending Summary:

When he was younger, Derek’s mother taught him about the fae and their penchant for mischief. So when he meets one in the woods many years later, he steels himself for a trick. As it turns out, though, Stiles isn’t quite what he expected—and avoiding his spell may be much harder than it seems.

[thebestbooksaround]

Just Good Business by aurevell (@aurevell)

Steter | 21k | Teen

“I make it a point to be aware of…let’s say, parties of interest who might become important. The son of the sheriff?” Sharp blue eyes scrape down Stiles’s body. “It’s just good business to know who and where you are. What you do.”

Stiles comes home to find someone unexpected in his apartment. Peter might come to regret holding this specific guy hostage.

[thebestbooksaround]

For His Eyes Only by aurevell (@aurevell)

Steter | 6k | Teen

A spymaster’s work is never done. Until evening, when Peter lets his hair down—literally and metaphorically.

[fanficwritersinterviewed]

ITWW, aurevell

<<This post is a part of a longer conversation about fanfic writers, how they view fanfic, and their writing process. All views are the fanfic writers’ own, and whatever fanfic they choose to write is entirely their own decision. No judgment value will be placed on fic content. These conversations are meant to provide insight for other fanfic writers in whatever stage they are at in their writing life>>

In the Weeds Wednesday (with aurevell, @aurevell​)

Walk me through your writing process. It's so different for every fic, but recently I've been getting into more of a familiar groove for it. Usually, once I have the idea for a fic, I'll do the thing where I do not write anything at all for a while. But I'll think about the story when I'm doing other stuff - walking, housework, etc. - and it's not traditional "writing" but it really helps. For some reason, some of my best plot and character "eureka" moments happen when I'm not actively writing just yet.

When I kind of have a vague idea of where I want to go (though often without knowing the exact ending yet), that's when I'll sit down and make a general outline. For short fics, I'll start writing as soon as I've done a quick outline, but for longer fics I have to do wayyy more work.

I'm a big fan of the snowflake writing method, although a lot of the stuff about it online is MUCH too in-depth and intimidating for my needs. Basically, my method is to start with a quick summary, and then expand on it little by little until I have a 1-pg outline. Then I take each sentence of that outline and expand on it a little more. Then I'll take each piece of the larger outline and expand more, and so on. (I think it's kind of like painting? You aren't laying down all the details in one area all at once, you're jumping to add more details to each area in cycles.) An added bonus with it is that it means I'm going back to different parts of the story a lot, which is helpful so I remember to do foreshadowing AND because I have the memory of a goldfish and will otherwise forget continuity details in two seconds.

When do you find the ending? Is that a crucial thing to know before you start to write or does it sneak up on you later? It depends! I don't think of it as crucial at all though. Sometimes I know it right away, and sometimes it comes up later, after I've wrestled with the plot and developed the characters enough to go "oh, this ending would make the most sense."

Is it the same with beginnings? Oh the beginning is always the first thing I know. I've never had an issue (knock on wood, now that I'm saying it) with the beginning of a story - that part's always really fun for me. Maybe just because making a "hook" is so interesting, though.

Yes, hooks, let's talk about them, because that's something I haven’t touched on yet in any of these interviews. What sorts of things make for the best beginnings? Do you subscribe to common writing wisdom of starting in medias res? Hmm, I think some of the most fun hooks happen when you ask, "What's the most interesting thing about this situation/this character?" It's not about coming up with something wild for the sake of grabbing attention, so sometimes it can be a bit of a challenge. But there's always something you can work with.

As for in medias res, I do subscribe to it - but I'm realizing I don't always do it with my fics! I usually like to start at the moment of the action starting, the big change, the first meeting, the arrival, etc. I mean, I honestly think it depends on the story, so yeah a few steps before the big change works well if that's what is called for by the story you're telling, you know? But I tend to be suspicious of any writing advice that deals in absolutes.

Do you wanna talk about that? Writing advice and how to navigate other people's good intentions? Oof, that's a big question! I actually love trying new writing advice, but I have to remind myself to take things with a grain of salt. Otherwise you end up doing something crazy like taking all the adverbs out of your fic because someone said they're weak crutch words, and who wants to read something like that? (Coincidentally, you can pry adverbs out of my cold, dead fingers lmao) I think like you said, you have to assume people have good intentions, but that doesn't mean their advice is what your fic needs.

Where do you go when you want to find writing advice or new perspectives on honing craft, etc? Okay I'm gonna be honest and say that I actually get a lot of writing advice by going to the library vs. online! Don't get me wrong, I do like the occasional blog or video about writing from professional writers (shout out to Patrick Rothfuss who has great tips...though I'd love it if he put those tips toward finishing the last book in his trilogy lmao), but I've gotten some good tips from books! Probably my all-time fave is “Save the Cat,” which is technically a screenwriting book but a great read for general  "how do stories work" info.

Oh yeah, “Save the Cat” is great! Right? The only downside is it changed how I look at movies, haha!

Any others you like? Trying to think off the top of my head - I also liked “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott and “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleom. And I've been recommended “The Artist's Way” by Julia Cameron SO many times but haven't gotten around to it

Okay, so. Tell me about these outlines of yours. I know they’re epic. Ok sooo full disclosure that I DO use Scrivener (shout out to NaNo for that sweet discount), which makes this stuff a lot easier. I don't even understand half of the planning features in the program, but I run with what I know. And I do need to be kind of Extra even with my basic-ass plots, because (again) I have the memory of a goldfish and cannot remember plot details for more than five seconds.

One of the best things about Scrivener is that it lets you separate different scenes of your outline with color-coded labels. In the fics I've already published, I've been using different colors for different drafts to help me figure out where I am in the revision cycle. BUT going forward for fics I'm in the process of writing, I'm assigning colors according to subplots. Which is a minor shift, but it's been a HUGE game-changer because I really struggled to keep up with that stuff in the past. It helps me make sure I'm actually tying up all the loose ends!

How do you structure time to write in your day? Is it every day? I was JUST talking to someone about this actually! I try to set aside time for writing a few times during the week around work, but it's unfortunately the first thing that gets dropped from my to-do list if anything unexpected comes up. But in the past, when I was writing early in the morning before anything had a chance to "pop up," it felt much easier to make progress. So I might try that again.

Where does reading fanfic fit into your process? What do you admire that other writers do that you want to include in your writing? How is that going? Oh man, reading fanfic is everything! It's super inspiring to read a great fic and think, I wish I could craft something with a plot like this, or create this perfect phrasing, or juggle character arcs in this effortless way! A good fic gets me really excited to practice writing until I can get on their level. Which CAN be kind of daunting, but I like to think of it as more of a long-term challenge.

What's the hardest thing you've ever attempted with a fic, and why was it difficult? Soooo it's possibly because it's my most recent fic and therefore freshest in my mind, but I'm currently doing a Steter longfic that has felt like the single biggest writing challenge of my life for two reasons. It's a time-loop story, which means I have to stay on top of little continuity things that can be tough for me. Worse, one of the POV characters (Stiles) doesn't fully remember the previous loops. Which means I've had to figure out how to keep things interesting for readers while a character is literally repeating the same sequence of events that just happened. So it's been challenging but also super fun - I've had to get creative in ways I've never thought about before!

I think it’s taught me better ways of building tension. One of my favorite story vibes is when you know something is off, and maybe the POV character does too, but you can't put your finger on why. So I started finding ways to add little moments of "wrongness" into the mix. (Plus the cliffhangers. Plenty of cliffhangers.)

Coming to the end I promise. Here’s something I ask of everyone: say something nice about your own writing. Oh my god, you're winding down with the toughest question of all??? Well I guess the thing I like about my own fics, at least my longer ones, are the ideas. I'm always writing stories I really want to read, and I like doing imaginative stuff. Even though I'll probably always be working to hone my wording, or the pacing, or the character arcs, I really like the ideas and themes at the core of my fics. I feel like I have a good foundation to practice building on.

Any advice to the newbie writers out there, or the ones that are struggling with it? My only advice to ANY writers, including myself, is to jump in and do it. Unfortunately (in spite of my best efforts to do otherwise) writing appears to be the only way to get better at writing. That's true for everything from your first story to the scary idea you're not sure how to tackle. The sooner you jump in, the sooner "Can I do this" becomes "I guess I'm doing this" becomes "I've done this!" It may not always be pretty, but you can bet you'll feel good about it - and practice is the only thing that can make your stuff better in the future!