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Hi everyone! We wanted to share a quick note about how tags work on fanfiction.lol.
What Are Tags For?
Tags are meant to communicate information about the content of your work. They help readers find works that match their interests and avoid content they don't want to see. Good tags tell us about the tropes, themes, relationships, and other elements that make up your story.
Tags About the Work vs. Tags About the Author
We've noticed that some users have been using tags to share personal commentary about themselves or their writing process - things like "I worked really hard on this" or thoughts about how they feel about the fic. While we totally get the impulse to share these thoughts, tags aren't really the right place for them!
However, tags that "ramble on" about the work itself are totally fine and often useful! Even if a tag isn't perfectly filterable, if it helps readers understand what they're getting into or decide if they want to read the work, it's a good tag. For example, tags like "this is angst but with a happy ending" or "slow burn with lots of pining" give readers valuable information about the work, even if they're not standard filter categories.
Use the Notes Section for Author Commentary
If you want to share your thoughts about your writing process, your feelings about the fic, or other personal commentary about yourself as an author, please use the Notes section when posting your work! That's exactly what it's there for. Notes are the perfect place for:
- Your thoughts on the writing process
- How you feel about the work
- Thanks to betas or friends
- Any other personal commentary about you as the author
A Simple Rule of Thumb
When deciding whether to add a tag, ask yourself: "Is this communicating something about the content of the fic that would help a reader decide if they want to read it?"
If the answer is yes, it's probably a good tag! If it's about you as the author rather than the work itself, consider putting it in the notes instead.
Our Tagging Philosophy
On fanfiction.lol, we aim to have all tags be canonical and properly organized. This makes the archive more useful for everyone. Our wranglers work hard to keep tags consistent and helpful, and you can help by using tags for their intended purpose.
Thanks for helping us make fanfiction.lol a better place for everyone! If you have questions about tagging, feel free to check out our Wrangling Guidelines or contact the admin.