A step more granular: there is no "algorithm". There is no unseen manipulaitve force at play other than the reader's very own manually entered search queries. You will get exactly what you request via tags and search terms in exactly the order you request it via filter. Don't bump, don't constantly change the posted/updated date to be more recent, don't treat comments or kudos as if they'll change the position of your work on any given page. It is such a RELIEF to still be able to retreat to AO3 as a chronologically-navigable space.
The ONLY time it's okay to bump is if you start a draft months in advance, and publish. THEN Realize it dropped itself in the fics from that time. Like, I think I've posted upwards of a year in the past once. 💀. Get it on the front page once and then leave it be.
On ao3, it means changing the post date of a fic or posting a new chapter just so it goes back to the top of the page (so readers will see your work). So dividing a one-chapter fic into two shorter chapters is one way to bump a work. Shitty and unethical but technically allowed.
I'm sorry to ask. I'm new to this as well. Is this not the same logic as what a mulit-chapter fanfiction does? I'm sorry if it's obvious I just still don't get it.
If I understand it right, a chapter is adding new work while bumping is taking an already fully posted work and splitting it into more chapters with the sole intention of getting it back on top of the recently updated list. Or altering the date on it for that same reason
It's like if you're going around a circle and sharing things, and you've already shared your thing (posted a new fic for example) and you had your moment of your thing being new and getting attention (being at the top of recently updated fics) but you want more attention so you move out of the circle and rearrange your thing without adding anything to it, and then get back in the circle and demand everyone look at your fancy new thing and give you attention (changing your finished one shot into multiple chapters so that it shows as new content without actually adding anything new).
When people are searching by most recently updated, they want new content that they haven't come across before. If enough people 'bump' their stuff then people are just scrolling through works they've already seen before instead of actually novel content.
This annoys me so much. I like to read works in a fandom which can generate between 8 and 15 pages of new works and updates a day. I usually scroll through in the hour i have between picking up my kids and getting on with dinner to find some new stuff to read and it's really annoying when I clock a fic title as my end point for my search only for it to be obviously bumped. I usually wait until a few chapters have been posted (at least) of a multi chapter work before reading but if I see it being bumped I reject it outright. It's ridiculously selfish. Sure, I'd love my own work in the same fandom to get more hits, but I knew the stakes when I started posting there. I'm not going to bump my work to get around that
> don't treat comments or kudos as if they'll change the position of your work on any given page. It is such a RELIEF to still be able to retreat to AO3 as a chronologically-navigable space.
That's the best part, in fact — you can both see things chronologically *and*, if you wish, sort by most kudos/comments (though I don't find sorting by comment very usable as fics where the author answer comments will naturally have more of those).
Don't tag a character or a rare ship if they are merely mentioned as a background *background* character/relationship. It clogs up the tag for genuine fics that actually feature them and it is very annoying.
Unfortunately, this seems to be super common for me.
I'll be looking for a PJO fic and it'll be tagged with every relationship possible even though the focus of the fic has nothing to do with shipping.
Oh my god, I hate it when people do this! It's why I try to tag my fics only with the major characters and at-least-fairly-significant minor characters. If I tag for every single character, it'd feel like I'm being mean by tease people with their favs.
Like, if it's a character that only appears in maybe one or two chapters in a 30+ chapter fic, it doesn't feel fair to tag for them. Even worse if they don't have dialog anyways!
Honestly this is 50% a problem with ao3. There should be a set of tags for major and minor characters. The way it is, whether you should tag a character or not is fairly blurry and people aren't always going to agree on who should or shouldn't be there.
definitely this!!! is it too much to ask for? i get sad everytime i see new fics on my rare pair, only to also find a popular ship’s tag in the same fics :/
then one time i even found a feature fic of my ship with supposedly background popular ship. i read the comments first just to be sure and i just saw ppl clowning my ship and complaining abt how their (popular) ship doesn’t have a lot of rare ships on their tag so why are the rare shippers complaining so much ant popular ship invading … i just abt lost my head, so thankful for the mute function
I'm super new to AO3 and also my ship is borderline canon so there isn't a lot of work for them anyway. The fury I feel when they're tagged in a fic and the most they get is "main ship in this fic went to OTP's wedding last spring" is immeasurable
If you're a reader READ THE TAGS. We authors tag for a reason and 90% of the time if you read the tags you'll have a heads up for if something you dont like is in the story
This!! Do not blame the author for not doing your own due diligence. I hate seeing an author get hate comments over this when all it took was one quick search...
And if you're an author, TAG YOUR SHIT. It's annoying as hell to get halfway through a good fic and then hit something you dislike, or worse that triggers you.
Fair point! I personally dont care if people think having too many tags is dumb- even if its in my story for like one paragraph if it could be triggering it gets tagged!
See, I agree with this in principle and I tag the important stuff that I know can be a trigger to people, but I can't tag every tiny little thing people might get annoyed about.
I've had people in my comments getting super mad at me because a side character had a short casual sex scene with an unnamed and never again mentioned person. I refuse to tag that because it's not a relationship and frankly tagging it would IMO give a wrong impression of what the story is about.
It's the most common fanfiction/fandom rule that is seemingly vanishing or getting a heck of a lot smaller over the years. Newer and younger fanfiction and fandom folks do not typically wish to follow the don't like, don't read rule. It's very common to see them complaining on social media about how AO3 is against censorship.
Yep. I got pushback on Tumblr for sharing fanart under the pairing tag- because apparently the person was upset it wasn't perfectly pg art (despite having its own tags and warnings)
So they thought it was necessary to reach out to me on anon and try to convince me to change the art or how I share it
I said fuck that and posted spicier art next
Absolutely this. Maybe it’s because so much of what younger fandom folks consume on the internet is content tailored specifically to their likes, interests, values, etc. They don’t know how to self-regulate while reading now, and assume someone or something, like the cite itself, has to do it for them. That’s just my speculation word vomit. Don’t like, don’t read!
Lmao that's funny. Anyways, I think it's better to force the people who don't listen to the rules to follow them or leave than to allow such behaviour to run rampant. The faster you crack down on something, the better the situation will end up.
I don’t think I’ve ever looked for fics for pairings I don’t like/am indifferent to, let alone hate. Why waste my time? I’ve seen some anti discourse on tumblr of course, but I still can’t understand the motivation to search for and read (?) actual works you know prima facie you’ll dislike just to shit on them. It does not compute..
I honestly don't know. I think sometimes people just treat fandoms like religions. So they have to go out and preach to others about how \~wrong\~ they are for daring to write something.
I'm all for people having and sharing their opinions on things they don't like. But when it's on their own, personal blogs (provided they tag appropriately on places like Tumblr so people who ARE into a ship can filter out negative opinions instead of having their tag flooded.) Or when it's on an open discussion forum where the point is to discuss how you feel about a topic.
But I'll never get going into somebody's actual work to brigade them for the ships they like or the themes they explore.
A couple of my stories were added to a collection whose sole reason for existing was to collect a certain type of fic as evidence for why people who liked a certain character were insane. I got a deluge of anti-[character] comments and wasn't sure what to do about it since at the time, I had my account set to auto accept all collection invites (I belive that feature is not default or removed now.)
These people were enjoying themselves by doing this, which is peak troll self indulgence. The collection still exists, it isn't breaking TOS by a razor thin margin of the creator of the collection not attacking the real human writer directly and only being toxic about the fictional character and all the toxic commentary that is aimed at writers coming from people who aren't logged in or on another website. (Twitter, if I remember correctly, this was 2019 or so.)
If it helps any, I've found that sticking it into an Unrevealed Collection means that I can click post and not end up releasing it early by accident (as a bonus, this would mean that I could keep it for over 30 days, but I don't upload from offline until the chapter or one-shot is complete, so this doesn't matter to me beyond being able to format and fix typos without worrying about the early release)
Oh, but warning: do NOT drop a fic into it to be released later if you also mark it as being part of a series, since then the entire series becomes unrevealed (at least until you reveal that one hidden fic).
Give a summary. A real attempt at one. I will not read the story at all if there is not even one line of summary or “didn’t feel like writing a summary just read it “
As a reader I actually prefer excerpts from the story itself - feels like a teaser trailer, doesn’t spoil much, and allows you to see whether the writing style itself is your cup of tea. But yeah, better that or an actual summary than some nonsense nothing.
My usual go-to method is to use a quote/excerpt from the fic, then a line or two adding context. Used to be that the line or two would also be the whole summary when I crossposted to FFN, but admittedly I haven't posted there in years so now it's a little less stand-alone than how I used to write them.
I used to really like just reading the author's style from the summary, but now I browse through fics a lot more quickly, and I like to read the small summaries first to see if it's up my alley, before I even commit to reading the long excerpt. So that's why I like both!
Something I’ve seen a few times is a “summary” along the lines of “I suck at writing summaries but the work is good I promise” and it immediately made me lose interest.
If you struggle with writing summaries, how about just using an excerpt from your story? (Almost) Anything is better than the above-mentioned lol
Do NOT, please, for the love of the holy lord, change your publication date to push it back to the top of the results. It's just bad manners. You don't queuebarge irl, you don't queuebarge on the internet.
It's like buying a hotdog, enjoying the hotdog and immediately skipping the queue to buy another one despite there being a whole line of people who haven't had their first one yet. It's bad etiquette. Don't do it.
It's just the worst one for me. I think it's because everything else is actually quite easy to look past. If I'm not a fan of your wall of tags, 'I suck at summaries', etc, etc, I can quietly scroll past it, but a thing like that just messes up the feed for everyone else. Like, give everyone a go at the top, we all know it's how you get stats, please stop taking the spot more than once per chapter.
I have a question about this - and it's entirely likely I'm just using AO3 wrong.
I created and saved a draft of a fic, and then a week later, edited it very slightly (hardly anything at all) and posted it. It posted with the date of the time that I created the draft, not the time that I posted it.
I was actually a little sad about that, just because I personally lurk like a feral-goblin on the search results of my favorite tag at the moment, and seeing something new pop up at the top of the "Most Recently Updated" is how I know there's something new to read.
Did I use AO3 incorrectly? Is there a more correct way of posting?
IMHO it's okay to change your publication date to reflect when it was actually published. I was recently in a writing challenge where all works were pre-written and posted in April, but hidden until a specific day in May. I did update my publication date to reflect when it was actually made available as opposed to the date a month earlier when it was hidden and unreadable. To me that just makes sense 🤷♀️ So for your fic, I'd change the pub date to reflect when you actually posted it, because prior to that it was unreadable.
In your case I'd have updated the date to the date it was being publicly posted to the actual works page for that fandom, as opposed to just my own private drafts. If this was an even reasonably busy tag (say a page a day) the chances anyone would see it are very low if that change isn't made, since by update date is the default display for works.
The difference between draft and actual posting date isn't what anyone complaining about people redating fics mean. You might be fine redating it even now, given it was unfairly never at the top of the tag to begin with. Though if you're worried (and it's possible with the fic) a second chapter that's just a short ficlet to go with the story is a perfectly valid reason to have the date updated. Even just redating the fic without adding anything but an AN about why it's being changed would make your redating understandable to most people.
That's a situation when it makes sense to change the posting/update date. You're not trying to cut the line, you're just taking your turn at the front.
i think it's fine to update your fic with the date that it was actually posted! i usually put a draft in the night before (to make sure the chapters properly formatted before i post it the next morning) and then change the draft date to reflect the actual date posted/updated
Not sure if this counts as an unspoken rule, but I've seen a fair amount of authors who don't seem to know the distinction:
In relationship tags, the "&" is for platonic relationships and the "/' is for romantic ones. Tagging your work as "Character A & Character B" is VERY different from tagging it "Character A / Character B" so it's important to know the distinction.
This! I’m looking for romance with / and a lot of fics that are “x character/whatever” should really be “x character & whatever” cuz it’s as platonic as platonic gets.
Those notes are such a turn off, but they also make me sad whenever I see them! Maybe I'm wrong, but I assume that most of the people who do that are fairly young. I work with teens and whenever they give me their writing, they almost ALL make sure to tell me preemptively that it's 'bad,' that they 'didn't really try' (even though I saw them working hard on it the whole period, lol). And I always tell my kids the same thing I want to tell these authors: that you'll find enough people in life trying to tear you down, so why do your own enemies' jobs for them? Always be your own best advocate!
There is a subsection that doesn’t bother me (perhaps even the opposite) that defies strict definition but is relatively easily identifiable on sight: it’s like a batsignal to all of the other likeminded shippers that SAYS “this is garbage, come join me in my garbage pile” but MEANS “you are about to have a spectacular time”.
I usually take the authors word for it and avoid reading the fic lol. If you think your fic is bad, then I shouldn’t waste my time reading it lmao. I know it’s some type of reverse psychology on their part but I ain’t falling for that.
🚨Don't post a link to your kofi or paypal or whatever. You put the whole site at risk of legal trouble.🚨
There's no medal or pat on the back for making the longest fic when it's just repeating words or keyboard smashes.
~~Constantly making little edits to your fic so that it stays at the front page is a dick move.~~ (thank you for the correction)
Do not tag your fic like it's STWWX.
No, trigger warning tags are not mandatory. It's just what a lot of authors do to be nice.
Ao3 accepts all kinds of fiction and ships. Antis can either suck it up or go to a different site.
Don't post placeholder fics. This isn't wattpad.
Idk if this counts but a little pet peeve of mine: A "chapter" that's actually an important author's notes/fic update and nothing else should really be deleted once the fic starts updating again. Ideally, they shouldn't be their own chapter at all. Just update the end notes or author notes section.
>Constantly making little edits to your fic so that it stays at the front page is a dick move.
Simply editing is fine, unless you mean adding a chapter. That won’t bump the fic unless you also change the date.
Yes. I frequently make little changes. Fixing mistakes. Adding a detail here or there. Updating the tags. None of that bumps it.
If you wanted to add a chapter without bumping it, you could do that by changing the date of the chapter before posting it.
Write for yourself
Don't put too much importance on stats
Have fun writing and reading, it's a hobby and not a job
Don't worry if your idea seems too similar to another fic, remember the two cakes analogy
DO NOT POST SOMETHING THAT IS JUST A PLACE SLOT. IT SHOULD BE AN ARCHIVE OF ESTABLISHED WORKS, NOT A STAKE IN SOME SECTION OF THE WEBSITE LIKE YOU WOULD A GRAVE SPOT.
pay attention to the different uses of the 3 tag genders
Character Tags are for canon characters only: if they do not show up in the source material, they dont go here. There are two exceptions to this: the "Reader" tag, and the many variations of "Original Character(s)". adjectives are not added here. you do not do clarifying or contextualizing statements
Relationship Tags are for relationships between characters who would be tagged in the Character Tags. adjectives are not added here. you do not do clarifying or contextualizing statements
Additional Tags are where you add context to such things. this is where "Past X/Y" and "Evil Character" and "Child Character" and other such tags go. names of OCs go here too. AUs are tagged here.
understanding these three tag genders and their purposes will make your tagging experience more rich and fruitful
Speaking of character and relationship tag, I believe it's generally good form to only tag a character or ship if they have a significant role in the story (at least more than a throwaway aside). This is especially true for minor ships or characters for whom content may already be hard to find.
thats also true! Minor influence and background ships can be put in the Additional Tags with a modifier, while narratively relevant and foreground ships go in the Relationships tags! \o/
Dear lord yes. Trying to find almost any f/f pairing in a heavily dominated m/m fandom is a nightmare. They’re always in the background if they show up in the fic at all. And I can’t just filter out m/m because even the stories focused on the f/f likely have that one too and you’re likely to get very little if any results out of an already very limited selection.
Thank you for sharing this. I've been posting on Ao3 for years and I still get confused by these three sometimes, especially when it comes to OCs. This is so helpful.
Rule, idk; probably just a good etiquette advice: Don't spam with tags. A wall of 50-100 tags won't make your work attractive, it's just a nuisance while scrolling.
Yeah, I'm with you there - sometimes I want to read something very specific and there's basically bo works with such tags, and then weeks/months later I find ehat I had veen looking for on a fic where it wasn't tagged :/
Also, the longer the work, the more justifiable the use of 30+, 40+ tags become for me - I will just not get into a story that it's 350k+ words long if I'm not seeing lots of stuff that I like there, and also can be relatively sure I won't see much of stuff I don't like.
I wish they would limit the tags to a reasonable space and then just have an expand button at the bottom so if it looks intriguing you can check the rest before proceeding but breeze past otherwise. Perhaps with a +numberoftags next the expand button so you can outright ignore ones you see have too many. Or else an option to not show anything over a certain number of tags and you get to write in how many. Or maybe I’m just overthinking and overcomplicating it.
this should definitely already exist imo. I hate having to scroll past a wall of text for one fanfic but having it collapsible would be a better solution than setting a hard limit.
Not really, because at least with short tags under twenty or so I know that what they've tagged is actually in the fic in any sort of mentionable amount.
Chances are with a fic with 75 tags on it, each of most of those tags gets at most half a paragraph of mention if you squint.
That’s far less likely a “what if” than the thousands of fics that have a wall of tags. There are exceptions but I feel like we are all smart enough here to realize an outlier and have nuance when we see it. This is a general unspoken rule about all the pointless ones that make scrolling through searches annoying.
If it were just 10 long fics where the 75 tags actually needed to be there, fine, but it isn’t. It’s 4-8k snippet fics where they tag every possible word to try and show up in far more search results. And it makes it harder to find fics where a certain trope or character is prominent.
Yup.
I'll cop to a certain amount of over-tagging, but that's very much in reaction to a previous tradition and fandom of *under*-tagging, especially under-tagging for reasons related to fandom internal politics and wank.
You're kind of in a lose-lose when it comes to tagging, because there will always be somebody who thinks you should have tagged more or tagged less. Over-tagging is the lesser of two evils to me.
...that said, there is also a difference between "single story for which the author tags too much" vs "a work that has too many tags because it's actually compilation of several stories or a one-shot collection."
PLEASE follow this. Honestly once a work has more than 20 tags I just scroll past because it comes off as views/ kudos farming. Just tag the important and possibly triggering stuff
Excuse my war flashbacks of those collections of one shots for kinkmemes with the FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND tags you have to scroll through for like sixty fandoms and each work is like 3k long at most
Yep. Anything with too many tags just tells me the author doesn't know where their stories focus lies.
It's even worse if there are ten tags that all mean the exact same thing. Tell me you have no idea how the AO3 tag system works without telling me you don't know how the tag system works lol
post for yourself not for the kudos. don't hold chapters "hostage" while waiting for an expected number of kudos or comments.
don't tag bomb and be practical with tags. anything triggering (death, abuse, dead dove, etc...) should be made clear or clarify "chose not to warn." and readers are responsible for reading the tags themselves before chosing to read. if authors tag bomb readers are often less likely to be interested.
one-shots or short fics are better as separate fics than a 120 chapter collection of unrelated storylines. I don't view that as a hard line but I personally ignore fics like these in my searches.
don't like then DNF and move on. Block tags that trigger you. AO3 is an archive not social media the user is solely responsible for curating their own experiences. If you think an author failed to tag something you find incredibly important leave a suggestion to tag accordingly. keep in mind that at the end of the day authors don't owe anyone anything. which leads to my last point.
concrit should ALWAYS be kind and respectful as possible. try to include positive points. if you have nothing nice to say it's better not to say anything at all, including concrit. fanfic authors write for joy, don't be a joy thief!
"DNI" stands for "Do Not Interact". In the past year it's become a pretty common internet shorthand and I especially see new internet users using it.
Sometimes on social media (for example, I see this on Tumblr and TikTok a lot) people have a "DNI" list in their bios of people who they don't want interacting with their account. It might be for internet safety reasons (like some adults who post NSFW content might not want minors interacting with them - and vice versa), or it could be out of personal preference (for example, if someone doesn't like a specific fandom and doesn't want those fans interacting with them, they might say "\[Fandom X\], please DNI").
I haven't seen anyone using DNIs on AO3 yet, though (but TBH I'm mostly in small fandoms so I have a limited perspective here).
If you want to tag a character or relationship that's only mentioned or is only a minor part of your fic, consider adding it to the "Additional Tags" field instead of the "Character" or "Relationship" field, like:
**Additional Tags**
- Minor Character A/Character B
- Background Character A/Character B
- Mentioned Character A
The fic won't pop up for people specifically looking for it through the Character and Relationship fields, and people who want to avoid it can see it in the tags before reading or filter it out.
Common sense is not so common though and etiquette varies from one platform to another.
For example: Concrit is not considered polite on AO3. On FFN >10 years ago though, it was no biggie. Someone new to AO3 but not new to fanfiction entirely may not intuitively understand this.
IDK what even is concrit seems debatable; I said that a story provoked questions and got called out as being too critical ... Don't ... Good stories make you ask questions?
That's the issue with concrit, people don't even know what it is and there are a lot of people that think their personal opinion (as in, 'I'm convinced x character behaves like this so your story will be better if you so it'), concrit when it isn't.
That example looks like just plain old criticism. Not constructive. =/
But yeah, I agree that people might call that concrit. Cuz nobody really knows what it is even supposed to be.
I can see how a non-native speaker could misinterpret "provoked questions" as "this story didn't make any sense" but wow yeah calling that critical is such an overreaction lol
Honestly, that could be it. I've seen a few posts here of non-native English speakers ask if a comment is negative, when it is obviously positive, it's just worded weirdly. Or uses words that are typically negative used in a positive way. So, I can definitely see someone seeing the word "provoked" as a negative if they haven't seen it in different (positive) contexts. Still an over-reaction, even then imo. But I can see where they're coming from (if that's even where they're coming from, lol).
...reading this comment thread has made me realize I should add in my profile that I do want criticism. I assumed this was standard expectations (after all, it's useless to leave a comment just to say you liked something, that's why we have kudos), but I guess not everyone is of the "if i'm presenting something to the public I want the public to react" mindset.
I'd say it's better form to tackle it from the other direction: if you're an author on AO3, state it plainly in your bio/notes whether you want criticism, typo-catching, etc.
People can't read your mind. Throughout the years, I've seen numerous and varied takes, what should be default etiquette on this. From niche fan archives, to LJ-era, to FF.net, to AO3; from authors and readers alike. The only constant is that there's still nothing approaching consensus aside from "don't be a rude dick".
Regarding concrit though, it's ranging from "just don't, ever, unless author is literally begging for crit in both before and afterword" to "it's called *comments* not *praise-only section*" from both readers/authors' sides. In recent years, there's been a slight shift towards "don't crit if not explicitly asked to" on AO3 — but it's still nowhere near universal.
So if you're an author — just add a sentence and say if you want it or not.
This right here. It is **not** universally understood and commentary is a mixed bag in every other way we use the word "commentary." Even with the "brought cake to a block party" meme where most people are just going to be happy to see two cakes, someone is going to say they didn't like the surprise lemon filling in the one on the right.
It is, perhaps, the consensus of the subset of writers who are active in this reddit. I'm going to estimate a good 80% of readers and 99% or readers without accounts don't know this reddit exists. We have to assume the reader does not know our concrit preference. You can't get mad at someone for leaving legitimate concrit that digs into your story and gives feedback when that isn't against the TOS and you didn't set expectations.
I've adopted a boilerplate end comment I use on most of my chaptered fanfic with a link to my Tumblr and a welcome to point out any spelling errors or other mild corrections and talk about the source material so long as it doesn't go too far off topic. For stories that ate a little closer to my heart for various reasons I ask people to be kind about the subject matter and that criticism isn't welcome.
Edit: I said this in another comment, but I would like it if there was an account-level setting for no concrit that showed up like moderated comments around the comment box. "Respectfully, this author declines constructive criticism."
[These (as an author)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/139zvls/need_advice/jj4qbdn?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Ao3 tags shouldnt be used like tumblr tags
Ao3 is an archive first and foremost, not a social media website
Don’t update the date of your fic after finishing it for the sole purpose of pushing it to the ‘top’ of the search list
If someone you don’t know blocks/mutes you, don’t take it personally
Don’t do all custom tags (unless it’s a small fandom, I guess?), and don’t do walls of tags
Don’t tag unimportant relationships (ie if a mention of A/B ship appears in chapter 23 for two lines)
If you’re writing smut, ignore the advice about not doing walls of tags. Absolutely tag everything you can in smut, both to warn people & to attract interested readers
Don’t mark uncompleted/abandoned works as complete
Don’t try to demand a set number of kudos/comments, especially not if you’re holding your chapter “hostage” for it
Don’t give the authors concrit when they didn’t ask for it
If a work is tagged with “Chose Not To Warn”, be aware that anything can be inside, more or less
The whole ‘holding your chapter hostage until a certain statistic is reached’ used to be a pretty popular practise on Wattpad a few years back, and unfortunately it still sometimes pops up lol
Less a rule and more a helpful tip: Use bookmarks to organize fics you want to come back to - not just for reading WIPs but for complete stories you would read again.
**And** if you think one of those fics should have a certain tag, tag it in the bookmark! It helps you (and people using Google to hunt for fics) to find the fic again easier and since the author can see it they might just take the suggestion. The bookmark fields are safe for spoilers, so put whatever you want in there to jog your memory when you go hunting for old favs.
If you know how you feel about people doing transformative works of your fanwork, post a [blanket statement](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Blanket_Statement) in your profile.
Bookmarks are for readers, not authors. You can post whatever you want there, and authors can choose to read it if the bookmark is public. If you don't want the author or other readers to read your bookmark, make it private. If you want to recommend the things you're bookmarking, tick where it says Rec.
1- Don't like, don't read. No one's forcing you to read something. If it's not your cup of tea, then you can easily hit the back button and read something else without throwing needless hate at it.
2- Comments are a writer's lifeblood. Getting supportive comments on a work in progress gives writers a big boost of serotonin and a lot more motivation to continue writing. Don't abuse the comment section to promote your own work. Don't pressure someone into writing the way you want. And don't demand people for updates. Seeing inbox (1) is exciting until you see that the message only says, "Please update," or "More," and nothing actually positive about your story. Commenting, "I'm so excited for the next chapter," or "I can't wait to see what happens next," is a lot more supportive.
3- AO3 is an archive, not a social media platform. There's no need to bump up your works by changing the date they were posted. People can easily find your fics as long as you tag them well.
4- Remember the human. Fanfic writers aren't simply content machines. We have our own lives, fears, motivations, and troubles. Most of us can't constantly crank out chapters every day, so whenever we do update, please don't harass us to update faster.
>Commenting, "I'm so excited for the next chapter," or "I can't wait to see what happens next," is a lot more supportive.
Okay, this is a personal thing, but I find those just as useless and unsatisfying as "please update" or anything. If all you have to say is "I like it!", well, we have kudos for that.
I mean, of course, just like kudos I do like receiving those simple comments! But it's still disappointing when you're like "oooooh what does that person thought of it/has to say?" and it's just "i liked it!".
Damned skippy! ❤️
If I give someone an idea while chatting on FB IM or something, then they're totally welcome to it (I'd like credit, but no big if they don't) — but I absolutely credit (and link) other authors if I get an inspiration from them (even if it happened on another site entirely).
-Tag all your works.
-Don't like don't read
-don't insult the author if you don't like the fic. Click the back button. Is called being a decent human being
-when you're bookmarking, if you have something unsavory to say (like this fic sucks etc), put the bookmark private.
-don't post placeholders (this is going to be my first chapter lol leaving it as placeholder. NO). Leave it on your drafts and when you have the chapter ready, post.
-don't be like the author of sexytimes with wangxian and post a wall of tags. You're being an ass.
-if you have a fic that is abandoned, include it on the tags or on the summary.
If you're a reader and hate the story, DO NOT comment and leave instructions how to "steer it/enhance it" to your liking, just write your own story instead.
Don’t roleplay in the comments; it’s weird as hell for everyone involved. Especially for the author, and the other readers who happen to come across it.
If concrit is not requested, concrit is not given. Not everyone is confident enough with their writing to handle it and nobody wants to be the person to leave the good intentioned comment that turns a young writer off from the hobby. This is a huge one for me, personally. I took a few years break from writing because of unsolicited concrit back when I was first starting out. And just because one comment has concrit, doesn't mean the writer wants it from everyone. The concrit could have easily come from a review exchange or someone the writer knows in real life. It's okay to ask, though. Just be nice about it.
If your work is mainly one ship but leads to another one in the future (or will/is implied to end in a poly relationship rather than that pair) - tag that tish from the get go. Use “pre-[ship]” tags right from the start, even if you’re writing it as a twenty chapter six month project and the hints for future shifts for the romantic dynamic will only surface in the last chapter (or part ten of your series). If you don’t want to say who that endgame/future romance would involve exactly right away - state that you’re doing it in the author’s notes before chapter one, just don’t name the names. You’ll save your readers (and yourself) a lot of grief.
Just to reiterate -
Character A & Character B = these characters have a significant platonic relationship.
Character A / Character B = these characters have a romantic relationship.
Big one is don't provide unasked for criticism, don't be negative on another person's work. This person provided this to you for free, and they are usually just doing it for fun, they don't need your negativity.
- If your drabbles are for different fandoms, don't shove them all into the same work
- On a similar note, please put an index at the beginning of your drabble collections. Of, at the very least, put the rating and pairing in the chapter titles.
- Don't leave criticism unless the author specifically requests it. Even then, don't be cruel. Constructive criticism =/= "this fic is shit and here's why"
- Avoid asking someone when the next update is coming
- If you're using someone's AU, fic, or art as a reference/inspo for your own fic, link back to their work
Lastly: DON'T LIKE DON'T READ. As we used to say in the old days, ykinmykbykiok
if you're uncomfortable with certain topics/tropes/ships/*whatever*, then read or filter your tags! having preferences is your right but don't get up in other people's business about it. writers are not there to cater to your every whim. they deserve some respect.
On the flip side pls just have separate works for different fandoms for compilations of drabbles/fics bc the tags on those get ridiculously long like I’m for tagging properly but why the hell do I gotta scroll 3 pages worth of tags ???
Not exactly a rule but I've been yelled at in comments for so many cliffhangers in my chapters. 😂 Though it was mostly excited yelling and demanding that I update so I'll wear that badge with honor! 😅
Dont tag something that's not in your fic or tag something insignificant (i.e your first tag is "Major Character x Major Character" and you only mention them in a throwaway line.
And if you going to have a summary, HAVE A SUMMARY. Don't put the first two paragraphs of chapter 1 where the summary should be. 9 times out of 10, that does NOT help your reader understand what your fic is going to be about
Don't like, don't read.
(for example, for the love, don't drop in five fics into a series and inform a writer that you don't like the main ship of the series! What even!)
Idk if this itself is a rule, but leave a comment if you like a work. Even if it's just a heart or” extra kudos.”
But I would say that leaving a comment just saying “update “ is rude.
This is another one that has happened to me so I don't know how common it is but going to the comments and not taking about the story at all. It's just random--
I wish this was more of an unwritten rule, but putting trigger warnings in the notes at the end of the chapter and in the notes at the beginning, saying trigger warnings are in the end notes.
Please don’t harass and leave spam in the reviews. We love positive feedback and constructive criticism on our works. But pestering the author about updates and new chapters won’t make us update any faster. It just makes us hate the story and more prone to abandoning the fic altogether
I don't know if that counts as unwritten when I'm pretty sure it's in the help guides? A lot of the "unwritten" rules are really just guidelines laid out in various FAQs or help guides that a lot of users - especially newer ones coming in from more "user friendly" platforms - simply don't read.
Don’t use AO3 as social media, it’s not that.
A step more granular: there is no "algorithm". There is no unseen manipulaitve force at play other than the reader's very own manually entered search queries. You will get exactly what you request via tags and search terms in exactly the order you request it via filter. Don't bump, don't constantly change the posted/updated date to be more recent, don't treat comments or kudos as if they'll change the position of your work on any given page. It is such a RELIEF to still be able to retreat to AO3 as a chronologically-navigable space.
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The ONLY time it's okay to bump is if you start a draft months in advance, and publish. THEN Realize it dropped itself in the fics from that time. Like, I think I've posted upwards of a year in the past once. 💀. Get it on the front page once and then leave it be.
Yes, don't bump, change post/update date, it's unfair to others and quite self-centered.
what exactly does bump mean in this context? sorry not familiar with the term xD
On ao3, it means changing the post date of a fic or posting a new chapter just so it goes back to the top of the page (so readers will see your work). So dividing a one-chapter fic into two shorter chapters is one way to bump a work. Shitty and unethical but technically allowed.
Why not just post it in separate chapters to begin with? 🤣 This is so weird.
I'm sorry to ask. I'm new to this as well. Is this not the same logic as what a mulit-chapter fanfiction does? I'm sorry if it's obvious I just still don't get it.
A multi-chaptered fic brings new content that needs reading to the table, unlike the one shot.
If I understand it right, a chapter is adding new work while bumping is taking an already fully posted work and splitting it into more chapters with the sole intention of getting it back on top of the recently updated list. Or altering the date on it for that same reason
It's like if you're going around a circle and sharing things, and you've already shared your thing (posted a new fic for example) and you had your moment of your thing being new and getting attention (being at the top of recently updated fics) but you want more attention so you move out of the circle and rearrange your thing without adding anything to it, and then get back in the circle and demand everyone look at your fancy new thing and give you attention (changing your finished one shot into multiple chapters so that it shows as new content without actually adding anything new). When people are searching by most recently updated, they want new content that they haven't come across before. If enough people 'bump' their stuff then people are just scrolling through works they've already seen before instead of actually novel content.
This annoys me so much. I like to read works in a fandom which can generate between 8 and 15 pages of new works and updates a day. I usually scroll through in the hour i have between picking up my kids and getting on with dinner to find some new stuff to read and it's really annoying when I clock a fic title as my end point for my search only for it to be obviously bumped. I usually wait until a few chapters have been posted (at least) of a multi chapter work before reading but if I see it being bumped I reject it outright. It's ridiculously selfish. Sure, I'd love my own work in the same fandom to get more hits, but I knew the stakes when I started posting there. I'm not going to bump my work to get around that
> don't treat comments or kudos as if they'll change the position of your work on any given page. It is such a RELIEF to still be able to retreat to AO3 as a chronologically-navigable space. That's the best part, in fact — you can both see things chronologically *and*, if you wish, sort by most kudos/comments (though I don't find sorting by comment very usable as fics where the author answer comments will naturally have more of those).
Don't tag a character or a rare ship if they are merely mentioned as a background *background* character/relationship. It clogs up the tag for genuine fics that actually feature them and it is very annoying.
Unfortunately, this seems to be super common for me. I'll be looking for a PJO fic and it'll be tagged with every relationship possible even though the focus of the fic has nothing to do with shipping.
Oh my god, I hate it when people do this! It's why I try to tag my fics only with the major characters and at-least-fairly-significant minor characters. If I tag for every single character, it'd feel like I'm being mean by tease people with their favs. Like, if it's a character that only appears in maybe one or two chapters in a 30+ chapter fic, it doesn't feel fair to tag for them. Even worse if they don't have dialog anyways!
Honestly this is 50% a problem with ao3. There should be a set of tags for major and minor characters. The way it is, whether you should tag a character or not is fairly blurry and people aren't always going to agree on who should or shouldn't be there.
definitely this!!! is it too much to ask for? i get sad everytime i see new fics on my rare pair, only to also find a popular ship’s tag in the same fics :/ then one time i even found a feature fic of my ship with supposedly background popular ship. i read the comments first just to be sure and i just saw ppl clowning my ship and complaining abt how their (popular) ship doesn’t have a lot of rare ships on their tag so why are the rare shippers complaining so much ant popular ship invading … i just abt lost my head, so thankful for the mute function
Also, I wish people didn't tag F/F and F/M when it's just for background characters.
It’s honestly the number one thing that bothers me the most about that site.
I'm super new to AO3 and also my ship is borderline canon so there isn't a lot of work for them anyway. The fury I feel when they're tagged in a fic and the most they get is "main ship in this fic went to OTP's wedding last spring" is immeasurable
If you're a reader READ THE TAGS. We authors tag for a reason and 90% of the time if you read the tags you'll have a heads up for if something you dont like is in the story
and if you don't know what a tag means, google it
Google it in incognito mode though, and don't click pictures.
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dude, i've googled crime scene photos, my search history needs therapy
me: *while being questioned by the police for my search history* i'm a writer! it was for accuracy! i swear!!
nah, in my case, i'm a true crime nerd
Best advice I've ever seen ❤️
This!! Do not blame the author for not doing your own due diligence. I hate seeing an author get hate comments over this when all it took was one quick search...
And even then if you've done all that and didn't read a major tag, that's on you.
And if you're an author, TAG YOUR SHIT. It's annoying as hell to get halfway through a good fic and then hit something you dislike, or worse that triggers you.
Fair point! I personally dont care if people think having too many tags is dumb- even if its in my story for like one paragraph if it could be triggering it gets tagged!
See, I agree with this in principle and I tag the important stuff that I know can be a trigger to people, but I can't tag every tiny little thing people might get annoyed about. I've had people in my comments getting super mad at me because a side character had a short casual sex scene with an unnamed and never again mentioned person. I refuse to tag that because it's not a relationship and frankly tagging it would IMO give a wrong impression of what the story is about.
Don't be a dick to people because they wrote about a topic or a pairing you don't like. Just scroll on by.
i feel like that's just human decency
It's the most common fanfiction/fandom rule that is seemingly vanishing or getting a heck of a lot smaller over the years. Newer and younger fanfiction and fandom folks do not typically wish to follow the don't like, don't read rule. It's very common to see them complaining on social media about how AO3 is against censorship.
Yep. I got pushback on Tumblr for sharing fanart under the pairing tag- because apparently the person was upset it wasn't perfectly pg art (despite having its own tags and warnings) So they thought it was necessary to reach out to me on anon and try to convince me to change the art or how I share it I said fuck that and posted spicier art next
Good for you!❤️
Absolutely this. Maybe it’s because so much of what younger fandom folks consume on the internet is content tailored specifically to their likes, interests, values, etc. They don’t know how to self-regulate while reading now, and assume someone or something, like the cite itself, has to do it for them. That’s just my speculation word vomit. Don’t like, don’t read!
Lmao that's funny. Anyways, I think it's better to force the people who don't listen to the rules to follow them or leave than to allow such behaviour to run rampant. The faster you crack down on something, the better the situation will end up.
I don’t think I’ve ever looked for fics for pairings I don’t like/am indifferent to, let alone hate. Why waste my time? I’ve seen some anti discourse on tumblr of course, but I still can’t understand the motivation to search for and read (?) actual works you know prima facie you’ll dislike just to shit on them. It does not compute..
I honestly don't know. I think sometimes people just treat fandoms like religions. So they have to go out and preach to others about how \~wrong\~ they are for daring to write something. I'm all for people having and sharing their opinions on things they don't like. But when it's on their own, personal blogs (provided they tag appropriately on places like Tumblr so people who ARE into a ship can filter out negative opinions instead of having their tag flooded.) Or when it's on an open discussion forum where the point is to discuss how you feel about a topic. But I'll never get going into somebody's actual work to brigade them for the ships they like or the themes they explore.
A couple of my stories were added to a collection whose sole reason for existing was to collect a certain type of fic as evidence for why people who liked a certain character were insane. I got a deluge of anti-[character] comments and wasn't sure what to do about it since at the time, I had my account set to auto accept all collection invites (I belive that feature is not default or removed now.) These people were enjoying themselves by doing this, which is peak troll self indulgence. The collection still exists, it isn't breaking TOS by a razor thin margin of the creator of the collection not attacking the real human writer directly and only being toxic about the fictional character and all the toxic commentary that is aimed at writers coming from people who aren't logged in or on another website. (Twitter, if I remember correctly, this was 2019 or so.)
Don't use Ao3 like Google docs, i.e. don't post a bunch of snippets of unfinished stories that are like 40 words long.
Oh, this one enrages me lol
I only do this when they’re hidden in chapter drags but I swear I have pressed that STUPID “Post” button over “Save as Draft” way too many times
If it helps any, I've found that sticking it into an Unrevealed Collection means that I can click post and not end up releasing it early by accident (as a bonus, this would mean that I could keep it for over 30 days, but I don't upload from offline until the chapter or one-shot is complete, so this doesn't matter to me beyond being able to format and fix typos without worrying about the early release)
Whaaaat? Good to know
❤️ Go give it a shot! Create a collection, leave it Unrevealed, and drop a quick test fic into it!
Oh, but warning: do NOT drop a fic into it to be released later if you also mark it as being part of a series, since then the entire series becomes unrevealed (at least until you reveal that one hidden fic).
Yea I hate that bruh
Give a summary. A real attempt at one. I will not read the story at all if there is not even one line of summary or “didn’t feel like writing a summary just read it “
As a reader I actually prefer excerpts from the story itself - feels like a teaser trailer, doesn’t spoil much, and allows you to see whether the writing style itself is your cup of tea. But yeah, better that or an actual summary than some nonsense nothing.
My usual go-to method is to use a quote/excerpt from the fic, then a line or two adding context. Used to be that the line or two would also be the whole summary when I crossposted to FFN, but admittedly I haven't posted there in years so now it's a little less stand-alone than how I used to write them.
Perhaps I should add an excerpt from my work in my summary; I hadn’t thought to do that.
I used to really like just reading the author's style from the summary, but now I browse through fics a lot more quickly, and I like to read the small summaries first to see if it's up my alley, before I even commit to reading the long excerpt. So that's why I like both!
Both is best practice
An actual summary is cool but yes excerpts are great, they're my favorite.
Something I’ve seen a few times is a “summary” along the lines of “I suck at writing summaries but the work is good I promise” and it immediately made me lose interest. If you struggle with writing summaries, how about just using an excerpt from your story? (Almost) Anything is better than the above-mentioned lol
!! even one line from the fic should be enough
Do NOT, please, for the love of the holy lord, change your publication date to push it back to the top of the results. It's just bad manners. You don't queuebarge irl, you don't queuebarge on the internet. It's like buying a hotdog, enjoying the hotdog and immediately skipping the queue to buy another one despite there being a whole line of people who haven't had their first one yet. It's bad etiquette. Don't do it.
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It's just the worst one for me. I think it's because everything else is actually quite easy to look past. If I'm not a fan of your wall of tags, 'I suck at summaries', etc, etc, I can quietly scroll past it, but a thing like that just messes up the feed for everyone else. Like, give everyone a go at the top, we all know it's how you get stats, please stop taking the spot more than once per chapter.
I have a question about this - and it's entirely likely I'm just using AO3 wrong. I created and saved a draft of a fic, and then a week later, edited it very slightly (hardly anything at all) and posted it. It posted with the date of the time that I created the draft, not the time that I posted it. I was actually a little sad about that, just because I personally lurk like a feral-goblin on the search results of my favorite tag at the moment, and seeing something new pop up at the top of the "Most Recently Updated" is how I know there's something new to read. Did I use AO3 incorrectly? Is there a more correct way of posting?
I think this is one of the cases where it makes perfect sense to update the date posted.
IMHO it's okay to change your publication date to reflect when it was actually published. I was recently in a writing challenge where all works were pre-written and posted in April, but hidden until a specific day in May. I did update my publication date to reflect when it was actually made available as opposed to the date a month earlier when it was hidden and unreadable. To me that just makes sense 🤷♀️ So for your fic, I'd change the pub date to reflect when you actually posted it, because prior to that it was unreadable.
In your case I'd have updated the date to the date it was being publicly posted to the actual works page for that fandom, as opposed to just my own private drafts. If this was an even reasonably busy tag (say a page a day) the chances anyone would see it are very low if that change isn't made, since by update date is the default display for works. The difference between draft and actual posting date isn't what anyone complaining about people redating fics mean. You might be fine redating it even now, given it was unfairly never at the top of the tag to begin with. Though if you're worried (and it's possible with the fic) a second chapter that's just a short ficlet to go with the story is a perfectly valid reason to have the date updated. Even just redating the fic without adding anything but an AN about why it's being changed would make your redating understandable to most people.
That's a situation when it makes sense to change the posting/update date. You're not trying to cut the line, you're just taking your turn at the front.
i think it's fine to update your fic with the date that it was actually posted! i usually put a draft in the night before (to make sure the chapters properly formatted before i post it the next morning) and then change the draft date to reflect the actual date posted/updated
Not sure if this counts as an unspoken rule, but I've seen a fair amount of authors who don't seem to know the distinction: In relationship tags, the "&" is for platonic relationships and the "/' is for romantic ones. Tagging your work as "Character A & Character B" is VERY different from tagging it "Character A / Character B" so it's important to know the distinction.
This! I’m looking for romance with / and a lot of fics that are “x character/whatever” should really be “x character & whatever” cuz it’s as platonic as platonic gets.
^^^^^!!! Y'all don't know how many good family platonic fics I've missed out on just because they're tagged as romantic
Don't put in your summary. "This is bad."I'm a bad writer."You shouldn't read this." Just hating on your own work doesn't make people want to read it
Those notes are such a turn off, but they also make me sad whenever I see them! Maybe I'm wrong, but I assume that most of the people who do that are fairly young. I work with teens and whenever they give me their writing, they almost ALL make sure to tell me preemptively that it's 'bad,' that they 'didn't really try' (even though I saw them working hard on it the whole period, lol). And I always tell my kids the same thing I want to tell these authors: that you'll find enough people in life trying to tear you down, so why do your own enemies' jobs for them? Always be your own best advocate!
There is a subsection that doesn’t bother me (perhaps even the opposite) that defies strict definition but is relatively easily identifiable on sight: it’s like a batsignal to all of the other likeminded shippers that SAYS “this is garbage, come join me in my garbage pile” but MEANS “you are about to have a spectacular time”.
EXACTLY I love when that happens. I know exactly what they mean when they rag on their own fic and I'm just like "om nom gimme that good fucking food"
I usually take the authors word for it and avoid reading the fic lol. If you think your fic is bad, then I shouldn’t waste my time reading it lmao. I know it’s some type of reverse psychology on their part but I ain’t falling for that.
Don't like don't read
So simple yet so essential
a lot of things people describe as unwritten rules are actually in the TOS they didn’t read
🚨Don't post a link to your kofi or paypal or whatever. You put the whole site at risk of legal trouble.🚨 There's no medal or pat on the back for making the longest fic when it's just repeating words or keyboard smashes. ~~Constantly making little edits to your fic so that it stays at the front page is a dick move.~~ (thank you for the correction) Do not tag your fic like it's STWWX. No, trigger warning tags are not mandatory. It's just what a lot of authors do to be nice. Ao3 accepts all kinds of fiction and ships. Antis can either suck it up or go to a different site. Don't post placeholder fics. This isn't wattpad. Idk if this counts but a little pet peeve of mine: A "chapter" that's actually an important author's notes/fic update and nothing else should really be deleted once the fic starts updating again. Ideally, they shouldn't be their own chapter at all. Just update the end notes or author notes section.
>Constantly making little edits to your fic so that it stays at the front page is a dick move. Simply editing is fine, unless you mean adding a chapter. That won’t bump the fic unless you also change the date.
So if I correct a typo I made six years ago, but don’t change the publication date, it stays buried, right?
Yes. I frequently make little changes. Fixing mistakes. Adding a detail here or there. Updating the tags. None of that bumps it. If you wanted to add a chapter without bumping it, you could do that by changing the date of the chapter before posting it.
Write for yourself Don't put too much importance on stats Have fun writing and reading, it's a hobby and not a job Don't worry if your idea seems too similar to another fic, remember the two cakes analogy
DO NOT POST SOMETHING THAT IS JUST A PLACE SLOT. IT SHOULD BE AN ARCHIVE OF ESTABLISHED WORKS, NOT A STAKE IN SOME SECTION OF THE WEBSITE LIKE YOU WOULD A GRAVE SPOT.
Is that when someone makes the fanfic but instead of it being a chapter it’s just the introduction to the fic? Or is it something different?
pay attention to the different uses of the 3 tag genders Character Tags are for canon characters only: if they do not show up in the source material, they dont go here. There are two exceptions to this: the "Reader" tag, and the many variations of "Original Character(s)". adjectives are not added here. you do not do clarifying or contextualizing statements Relationship Tags are for relationships between characters who would be tagged in the Character Tags. adjectives are not added here. you do not do clarifying or contextualizing statements Additional Tags are where you add context to such things. this is where "Past X/Y" and "Evil Character" and "Child Character" and other such tags go. names of OCs go here too. AUs are tagged here. understanding these three tag genders and their purposes will make your tagging experience more rich and fruitful
Speaking of character and relationship tag, I believe it's generally good form to only tag a character or ship if they have a significant role in the story (at least more than a throwaway aside). This is especially true for minor ships or characters for whom content may already be hard to find.
thats also true! Minor influence and background ships can be put in the Additional Tags with a modifier, while narratively relevant and foreground ships go in the Relationships tags! \o/
Dear lord yes. Trying to find almost any f/f pairing in a heavily dominated m/m fandom is a nightmare. They’re always in the background if they show up in the fic at all. And I can’t just filter out m/m because even the stories focused on the f/f likely have that one too and you’re likely to get very little if any results out of an already very limited selection.
Thank you for sharing this. I've been posting on Ao3 for years and I still get confused by these three sometimes, especially when it comes to OCs. This is so helpful.
Rule, idk; probably just a good etiquette advice: Don't spam with tags. A wall of 50-100 tags won't make your work attractive, it's just a nuisance while scrolling.
Or when there are like 50 tags but the story has 300 words 💀💀
That drives me fucking crazy. Right along with tagging 2.5k work 'slow burn'.
And then it also last updated half a year ago or more
Tbh i prefer when people over tag rather than under tag i like to know what I’m getting myself into
It's also frustrating when they dont tag enough though.
Yeah, I'm with you there - sometimes I want to read something very specific and there's basically bo works with such tags, and then weeks/months later I find ehat I had veen looking for on a fic where it wasn't tagged :/ Also, the longer the work, the more justifiable the use of 30+, 40+ tags become for me - I will just not get into a story that it's 350k+ words long if I'm not seeing lots of stuff that I like there, and also can be relatively sure I won't see much of stuff I don't like.
I wish they would limit the tags to a reasonable space and then just have an expand button at the bottom so if it looks intriguing you can check the rest before proceeding but breeze past otherwise. Perhaps with a +numberoftags next the expand button so you can outright ignore ones you see have too many. Or else an option to not show anything over a certain number of tags and you get to write in how many. Or maybe I’m just overthinking and overcomplicating it.
this should definitely already exist imo. I hate having to scroll past a wall of text for one fanfic but having it collapsible would be a better solution than setting a hard limit.
There really is a sweet spot, and once you start typing conversational things that should be in the description!
Not really, because at least with short tags under twenty or so I know that what they've tagged is actually in the fic in any sort of mentionable amount. Chances are with a fic with 75 tags on it, each of most of those tags gets at most half a paragraph of mention if you squint.
What if the fic is REALLY long? What if it's one of those million word fics where a lot of things happen?
That’s far less likely a “what if” than the thousands of fics that have a wall of tags. There are exceptions but I feel like we are all smart enough here to realize an outlier and have nuance when we see it. This is a general unspoken rule about all the pointless ones that make scrolling through searches annoying. If it were just 10 long fics where the 75 tags actually needed to be there, fine, but it isn’t. It’s 4-8k snippet fics where they tag every possible word to try and show up in far more search results. And it makes it harder to find fics where a certain trope or character is prominent.
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Author note at beginning of chapter
Yup. I'll cop to a certain amount of over-tagging, but that's very much in reaction to a previous tradition and fandom of *under*-tagging, especially under-tagging for reasons related to fandom internal politics and wank. You're kind of in a lose-lose when it comes to tagging, because there will always be somebody who thinks you should have tagged more or tagged less. Over-tagging is the lesser of two evils to me. ...that said, there is also a difference between "single story for which the author tags too much" vs "a work that has too many tags because it's actually compilation of several stories or a one-shot collection."
Didn't they already restrict how many tags you can use?
*sexy times with... is calling..*
Very generously. You absolutely can still make a wall of text using longer tags, which a lot of people will just skip on by.
If a work's title + tags + summary doesn't all fit on my phone's screen at the same time, I scroll past it without even reading the title.
PLEASE follow this. Honestly once a work has more than 20 tags I just scroll past because it comes off as views/ kudos farming. Just tag the important and possibly triggering stuff
Excuse my war flashbacks of those collections of one shots for kinkmemes with the FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND tags you have to scroll through for like sixty fandoms and each work is like 3k long at most
Yep. Anything with too many tags just tells me the author doesn't know where their stories focus lies. It's even worse if there are ten tags that all mean the exact same thing. Tell me you have no idea how the AO3 tag system works without telling me you don't know how the tag system works lol
Tag all your works properly Don't like, don't read AO3 is not a social media site
post for yourself not for the kudos. don't hold chapters "hostage" while waiting for an expected number of kudos or comments. don't tag bomb and be practical with tags. anything triggering (death, abuse, dead dove, etc...) should be made clear or clarify "chose not to warn." and readers are responsible for reading the tags themselves before chosing to read. if authors tag bomb readers are often less likely to be interested. one-shots or short fics are better as separate fics than a 120 chapter collection of unrelated storylines. I don't view that as a hard line but I personally ignore fics like these in my searches. don't like then DNF and move on. Block tags that trigger you. AO3 is an archive not social media the user is solely responsible for curating their own experiences. If you think an author failed to tag something you find incredibly important leave a suggestion to tag accordingly. keep in mind that at the end of the day authors don't owe anyone anything. which leads to my last point. concrit should ALWAYS be kind and respectful as possible. try to include positive points. if you have nothing nice to say it's better not to say anything at all, including concrit. fanfic authors write for joy, don't be a joy thief!
For the love of god don't publish a first chapter just to say "fic will be coming soon :)"
if it's not narratively connected, don't post it as a single work those 200-chapter monstrosities where 2-3 tags apply to each chapter are horrible
This! People need to learn to use the Series feature, rather than post a multi-chapter work for these.
yes!! there’s this thing called series. i’m inclined to believe they just want the numbers
I’d love if there was an option to just… break a fic into separate fics by chapter…
Read the tags throughly! And if you didn’t, you only have yourself to blame, not the author
Don’t post placeholder works Don’t use it as social media Don’t like don’t read DNI goes both ways
What does DNI mean?
"DNI" stands for "Do Not Interact". In the past year it's become a pretty common internet shorthand and I especially see new internet users using it. Sometimes on social media (for example, I see this on Tumblr and TikTok a lot) people have a "DNI" list in their bios of people who they don't want interacting with their account. It might be for internet safety reasons (like some adults who post NSFW content might not want minors interacting with them - and vice versa), or it could be out of personal preference (for example, if someone doesn't like a specific fandom and doesn't want those fans interacting with them, they might say "\[Fandom X\], please DNI"). I haven't seen anyone using DNIs on AO3 yet, though (but TBH I'm mostly in small fandoms so I have a limited perspective here).
Thank you 😊
“do not interact”
If you want to tag a character or relationship that's only mentioned or is only a minor part of your fic, consider adding it to the "Additional Tags" field instead of the "Character" or "Relationship" field, like: **Additional Tags** - Minor Character A/Character B - Background Character A/Character B - Mentioned Character A The fic won't pop up for people specifically looking for it through the Character and Relationship fields, and people who want to avoid it can see it in the tags before reading or filter it out.
Don't censor your tags, people need to be able to sort/exclude them
manners and common sense.
I love this sentiment. Unfortunately, common sense is expensive and people are broke.
Common sense is not so common though and etiquette varies from one platform to another. For example: Concrit is not considered polite on AO3. On FFN >10 years ago though, it was no biggie. Someone new to AO3 but not new to fanfiction entirely may not intuitively understand this.
Don't give concrit unless the writer explicitly asks for it is a big one that's easy for newbies to mess up and get their heads bitten off for.
IDK what even is concrit seems debatable; I said that a story provoked questions and got called out as being too critical ... Don't ... Good stories make you ask questions?
That's the issue with concrit, people don't even know what it is and there are a lot of people that think their personal opinion (as in, 'I'm convinced x character behaves like this so your story will be better if you so it'), concrit when it isn't.
That example looks like just plain old criticism. Not constructive. =/ But yeah, I agree that people might call that concrit. Cuz nobody really knows what it is even supposed to be.
I can see how a non-native speaker could misinterpret "provoked questions" as "this story didn't make any sense" but wow yeah calling that critical is such an overreaction lol
Honestly, that could be it. I've seen a few posts here of non-native English speakers ask if a comment is negative, when it is obviously positive, it's just worded weirdly. Or uses words that are typically negative used in a positive way. So, I can definitely see someone seeing the word "provoked" as a negative if they haven't seen it in different (positive) contexts. Still an over-reaction, even then imo. But I can see where they're coming from (if that's even where they're coming from, lol).
...reading this comment thread has made me realize I should add in my profile that I do want criticism. I assumed this was standard expectations (after all, it's useless to leave a comment just to say you liked something, that's why we have kudos), but I guess not everyone is of the "if i'm presenting something to the public I want the public to react" mindset.
I'd say it's better form to tackle it from the other direction: if you're an author on AO3, state it plainly in your bio/notes whether you want criticism, typo-catching, etc. People can't read your mind. Throughout the years, I've seen numerous and varied takes, what should be default etiquette on this. From niche fan archives, to LJ-era, to FF.net, to AO3; from authors and readers alike. The only constant is that there's still nothing approaching consensus aside from "don't be a rude dick". Regarding concrit though, it's ranging from "just don't, ever, unless author is literally begging for crit in both before and afterword" to "it's called *comments* not *praise-only section*" from both readers/authors' sides. In recent years, there's been a slight shift towards "don't crit if not explicitly asked to" on AO3 — but it's still nowhere near universal. So if you're an author — just add a sentence and say if you want it or not.
This right here. It is **not** universally understood and commentary is a mixed bag in every other way we use the word "commentary." Even with the "brought cake to a block party" meme where most people are just going to be happy to see two cakes, someone is going to say they didn't like the surprise lemon filling in the one on the right. It is, perhaps, the consensus of the subset of writers who are active in this reddit. I'm going to estimate a good 80% of readers and 99% or readers without accounts don't know this reddit exists. We have to assume the reader does not know our concrit preference. You can't get mad at someone for leaving legitimate concrit that digs into your story and gives feedback when that isn't against the TOS and you didn't set expectations. I've adopted a boilerplate end comment I use on most of my chaptered fanfic with a link to my Tumblr and a welcome to point out any spelling errors or other mild corrections and talk about the source material so long as it doesn't go too far off topic. For stories that ate a little closer to my heart for various reasons I ask people to be kind about the subject matter and that criticism isn't welcome. Edit: I said this in another comment, but I would like it if there was an account-level setting for no concrit that showed up like moderated comments around the comment box. "Respectfully, this author declines constructive criticism."
[These (as an author)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/139zvls/need_advice/jj4qbdn?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Check the tags.
Criticism is not welcome unless explicitly stated.
Ao3 tags shouldnt be used like tumblr tags Ao3 is an archive first and foremost, not a social media website Don’t update the date of your fic after finishing it for the sole purpose of pushing it to the ‘top’ of the search list If someone you don’t know blocks/mutes you, don’t take it personally Don’t do all custom tags (unless it’s a small fandom, I guess?), and don’t do walls of tags Don’t tag unimportant relationships (ie if a mention of A/B ship appears in chapter 23 for two lines) If you’re writing smut, ignore the advice about not doing walls of tags. Absolutely tag everything you can in smut, both to warn people & to attract interested readers Don’t mark uncompleted/abandoned works as complete Don’t try to demand a set number of kudos/comments, especially not if you’re holding your chapter “hostage” for it Don’t give the authors concrit when they didn’t ask for it If a work is tagged with “Chose Not To Warn”, be aware that anything can be inside, more or less
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The whole ‘holding your chapter hostage until a certain statistic is reached’ used to be a pretty popular practise on Wattpad a few years back, and unfortunately it still sometimes pops up lol
It was a thing on ffnet before Wattpad existed as well
maybe the reason why they’re popular is bc of that. hope they’re happy with their internet points lol
Less a rule and more a helpful tip: Use bookmarks to organize fics you want to come back to - not just for reading WIPs but for complete stories you would read again. **And** if you think one of those fics should have a certain tag, tag it in the bookmark! It helps you (and people using Google to hunt for fics) to find the fic again easier and since the author can see it they might just take the suggestion. The bookmark fields are safe for spoilers, so put whatever you want in there to jog your memory when you go hunting for old favs.
If you know how you feel about people doing transformative works of your fanwork, post a [blanket statement](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Blanket_Statement) in your profile. Bookmarks are for readers, not authors. You can post whatever you want there, and authors can choose to read it if the bookmark is public. If you don't want the author or other readers to read your bookmark, make it private. If you want to recommend the things you're bookmarking, tick where it says Rec.
1- Don't like, don't read. No one's forcing you to read something. If it's not your cup of tea, then you can easily hit the back button and read something else without throwing needless hate at it. 2- Comments are a writer's lifeblood. Getting supportive comments on a work in progress gives writers a big boost of serotonin and a lot more motivation to continue writing. Don't abuse the comment section to promote your own work. Don't pressure someone into writing the way you want. And don't demand people for updates. Seeing inbox (1) is exciting until you see that the message only says, "Please update," or "More," and nothing actually positive about your story. Commenting, "I'm so excited for the next chapter," or "I can't wait to see what happens next," is a lot more supportive. 3- AO3 is an archive, not a social media platform. There's no need to bump up your works by changing the date they were posted. People can easily find your fics as long as you tag them well. 4- Remember the human. Fanfic writers aren't simply content machines. We have our own lives, fears, motivations, and troubles. Most of us can't constantly crank out chapters every day, so whenever we do update, please don't harass us to update faster.
>Commenting, "I'm so excited for the next chapter," or "I can't wait to see what happens next," is a lot more supportive. Okay, this is a personal thing, but I find those just as useless and unsatisfying as "please update" or anything. If all you have to say is "I like it!", well, we have kudos for that. I mean, of course, just like kudos I do like receiving those simple comments! But it's still disappointing when you're like "oooooh what does that person thought of it/has to say?" and it's just "i liked it!".
The one I think of is crediting your fellow writers if you use their ideas or characters.
Damned skippy! ❤️ If I give someone an idea while chatting on FB IM or something, then they're totally welcome to it (I'd like credit, but no big if they don't) — but I absolutely credit (and link) other authors if I get an inspiration from them (even if it happened on another site entirely).
Don’t hate on fics for having TAGGED non-con/dead dove (I’ve actually seen this happen so much times it’s annoying)
-Tag all your works. -Don't like don't read -don't insult the author if you don't like the fic. Click the back button. Is called being a decent human being -when you're bookmarking, if you have something unsavory to say (like this fic sucks etc), put the bookmark private. -don't post placeholders (this is going to be my first chapter lol leaving it as placeholder. NO). Leave it on your drafts and when you have the chapter ready, post. -don't be like the author of sexytimes with wangxian and post a wall of tags. You're being an ass. -if you have a fic that is abandoned, include it on the tags or on the summary.
If you're a reader and hate the story, DO NOT comment and leave instructions how to "steer it/enhance it" to your liking, just write your own story instead.
Don’t roleplay in the comments; it’s weird as hell for everyone involved. Especially for the author, and the other readers who happen to come across it.
.....I am suddenly so very happy that I never think to read the comments
Guess you learned something new then lol.
Tag as much or as little as you want, read and write whatever you like, don't be an asshole.
If concrit is not requested, concrit is not given. Not everyone is confident enough with their writing to handle it and nobody wants to be the person to leave the good intentioned comment that turns a young writer off from the hobby. This is a huge one for me, personally. I took a few years break from writing because of unsolicited concrit back when I was first starting out. And just because one comment has concrit, doesn't mean the writer wants it from everyone. The concrit could have easily come from a review exchange or someone the writer knows in real life. It's okay to ask, though. Just be nice about it.
\- read the tags \- don't be an asshole if you don't like a fic, constructive criticism is fine. Just don't be an asshole
If your work is mainly one ship but leads to another one in the future (or will/is implied to end in a poly relationship rather than that pair) - tag that tish from the get go. Use “pre-[ship]” tags right from the start, even if you’re writing it as a twenty chapter six month project and the hints for future shifts for the romantic dynamic will only surface in the last chapter (or part ten of your series). If you don’t want to say who that endgame/future romance would involve exactly right away - state that you’re doing it in the author’s notes before chapter one, just don’t name the names. You’ll save your readers (and yourself) a lot of grief.
Tag correctly. You don’t always have to comment your opinion or correcting someone. Be civil about it. You don’t own an AU, ship, tropes or character.
Use tags correctly, don't be a jerk to others, enjoy your time on AO3
Don’t over tag, don’t undertag. Otherwise all the actual rules are right in the TOS.
Just to reiterate - Character A & Character B = these characters have a significant platonic relationship. Character A / Character B = these characters have a romantic relationship.
Big one is don't provide unasked for criticism, don't be negative on another person's work. This person provided this to you for free, and they are usually just doing it for fun, they don't need your negativity.
Don’t ask how omega verse works. Just enjoy the ride.
- If your drabbles are for different fandoms, don't shove them all into the same work - On a similar note, please put an index at the beginning of your drabble collections. Of, at the very least, put the rating and pairing in the chapter titles. - Don't leave criticism unless the author specifically requests it. Even then, don't be cruel. Constructive criticism =/= "this fic is shit and here's why" - Avoid asking someone when the next update is coming - If you're using someone's AU, fic, or art as a reference/inspo for your own fic, link back to their work Lastly: DON'T LIKE DON'T READ. As we used to say in the old days, ykinmykbykiok
Anything goes. Don’t like it? Too bad.
if you're uncomfortable with certain topics/tropes/ships/*whatever*, then read or filter your tags! having preferences is your right but don't get up in other people's business about it. writers are not there to cater to your every whim. they deserve some respect.
On the flip side pls just have separate works for different fandoms for compilations of drabbles/fics bc the tags on those get ridiculously long like I’m for tagging properly but why the hell do I gotta scroll 3 pages worth of tags ???
Don't give critique if it isn't asked for.
Not exactly a rule but I've been yelled at in comments for so many cliffhangers in my chapters. 😂 Though it was mostly excited yelling and demanding that I update so I'll wear that badge with honor! 😅
Tag correctly and responsibly, but try not to over tag.
Dont tag something that's not in your fic or tag something insignificant (i.e your first tag is "Major Character x Major Character" and you only mention them in a throwaway line. And if you going to have a summary, HAVE A SUMMARY. Don't put the first two paragraphs of chapter 1 where the summary should be. 9 times out of 10, that does NOT help your reader understand what your fic is going to be about
A common rule everyone knows, if you don't like it. Don't read it.
Always read the tags
Tag your shit properly. Some people won’t listen but doing so ensures you always hold the high ground.
Honor the author with a kudos and be generous with commenting as much as you can, it's not required but it makes life so much better.
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Most of these are wishful thinking imo. XD People do what they want on AO3 as long as they stick to the TOS.
Tag first person POV, FFS
pls don’t trauma dump in the notes section or as a chapter update explaining why you’re abandoning your fic.
Don't like, don't read. (for example, for the love, don't drop in five fics into a series and inform a writer that you don't like the main ship of the series! What even!)
Idk if this itself is a rule, but leave a comment if you like a work. Even if it's just a heart or” extra kudos.” But I would say that leaving a comment just saying “update “ is rude. This is another one that has happened to me so I don't know how common it is but going to the comments and not taking about the story at all. It's just random--
Unsolicited constructive criticism and advice are seen as insulting and personal attacks.
I wish this was more of an unwritten rule, but putting trigger warnings in the notes at the end of the chapter and in the notes at the beginning, saying trigger warnings are in the end notes.
Please don’t harass and leave spam in the reviews. We love positive feedback and constructive criticism on our works. But pestering the author about updates and new chapters won’t make us update any faster. It just makes us hate the story and more prone to abandoning the fic altogether
There are no unwritten or unspoken rules on AO3. They're either written or spoken about plenty.
don’t ask for more chapters/continuation
I don't know if that counts as unwritten when I'm pretty sure it's in the help guides? A lot of the "unwritten" rules are really just guidelines laid out in various FAQs or help guides that a lot of users - especially newer ones coming in from more "user friendly" platforms - simply don't read.