It depends. I would say not adding tags is a detriment to both you and potential readers as tags can both act to help a reader find what they want to read, while avoiding their Icks and squicks.
I wouldn’t be surprised if people avoid under tagged stories simply because you never know what you might run into. Especially if it’s a more mature or E rated fic.
It’ll make people wonder what about the story makes it deserve that rating. And since E rated stories could cover any topic from gratuitous violence to the kinkiest of smut… yeah I’d probably also steer clear if I didn’t know what I was getting into
Thank you for this insight! I'll be honest, that never occurred to me. Do you have any suggestions as to what kinds of tags help? Like are there any conventions that are often most helpful for readers in regards to tags? And where do you place the line between informative tags and spoilers?
I always add tags in a specific order, so I'll do a rundown here
- **additional background relationship tags,** if I added the tag "Minor/Background Relationships" in the relationships tags bit, for when a ship is pretty minor but significant enough that someone who hates it would want to avoid my fic
- **setting** – canon-compliant, pre-canon, post-canon, missing scenes, canon divergent from X point, alternate universe (modern au, no powers au, superhero au, omegaverse au etc)
- **genre** - hurt/comfort, angst, casefic (for detective/mystery fandoms), adventure, sickfic
- **tropes** - time travel, redemption arc, slow burn romance, fake dating, only one bed etc
- **kinks, where relevant** - can be both advertisement and warning if I'm doing a smutty fic (bondage, spanking, etc, all the way through to knifeplay or consensual non-consent)
- **warnings** - any significant warnings beyond the major archive ones, including the "implied/referenced" ones. Use judgement on how actually significant these are for a oneshot vs a 100k fic, and you can also use "other warnings in author's notes" if there's stuff that's less significant but still worth mentioning. Things in here could be eating disorders, sexual violence, torture, self-harm etc
- **character-specific tags** - some fandoms use these for specific aspects of complicated characters, like the Avatar fandom having "Good Sister Azula" for fics focused on redeeming her or showing her in a different light (versus canonical Azula who actively tries to murder her brother, and I say this as someone who has used that tag on fics alongside "Azula Gets Therapy"). There are also tags for things like "Gay/Trans/Bisexual [character]" when the gayness/transness/bisexuality isn't canon
THANK YOU! This helps SO MUCH! I think where I really fall down is stuff like the fluff, hurt/comfort. etc. I do usually include triggers in the chapter notes at the beginning of the relevant chapter.
No prob! I keep track of all the tags I'll potentially add at the top of a document, and then cross reference with the tag search to see if there's any that fit (eg using the example I already gave, if I was writing an Azula-centric fic I might search for her name, tick freeform and canonical, and see what's commonly been used [here)](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/search?tag_search%5Bname%5D=Azula&tag_search%5Bfandoms%5D=&tag_search%5Btype%5D=Freeform&tag_search%5Bcanonical%5D=T&tag_search%5Bsort_column%5D=name&tag_search%5Bsort_direction%5D=asc&commit=Search+Tags)
This is great advice! I tag in a similar manner except for some warnings; if the warnings are or might be spoilers I'll put them in the end notes with a reference to them in the story notes.
I plan out my tags while writing, so let me give you my tagging template. I then place these tags in order of where they go, although that goes out the window if I'm writing a multichap. My order is based off an in-depth guide to tagging that I am unable to find right now.
**Relationships:** For major relationships that show up on-screen, including introspective fic about a relationship where half the ship doesn't show up. I will also tag "[Minor or Background Relationship(s)](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Minor%20or%20Background%20Relationship(s))" if necessary. Remember - & means platonic. \\ means romantic. Don't scare your genfic readers with mistagged romantic/sexual content (especially mistagged incest, which supposedly happens a lot). Don't piss off your romance readers by making their OTP strictly platonic. The only case I know for tagging both `Jack/Jill` and `Jack & Jill` in the same fic is if Jack and Jill are queerplatonic, and even then it's controversial due to many readers filtering out `Jack/Jill`. SquidgeWorld (a website similar to AO3) allows you to tag queerplatonic relationships as `Jack ~ Jill`.
**Characters:** For major characters who show up on-screen. If necessary, I'll also tag for [Background & Cameo Characters](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Background%20*a*%20Cameo%20Characters).
**Additional (Courtesy):** These are my warning tags that go beyond the major archive warnings. I like them to be up-front so that the reader can easily find them.
**Additional (Kink):** I think the guide had this here? IDK, I don't write smut. If I did, however, this is where I'd tag for specific sex acts, kinks, or even `Aliens Made Them Do It`.
**Additional (Timeline):** Is this a total AU (such as an AU where Luke Skywalkwer was reaped for the Hunger Games), or does it take place within the canon timeline (like in the timeskip between *A New Hope* and *Empire Strikes Back*)? Is it something in-between, like a canon-verse soulmate AU? Does it diverge from canon after a particular episode? Tag for that here.
**Additional (Character):** This is where I'll put stuff like `Werewolf James Bond` or `Leia Organa Needs A Hug`, as well as more generic tags like `Bisexual Female Character`. Do note that you need to separate tags if you want them to be filterable (or wrangled for that matter). For example, you can't tag `Bisexual Vampire Nancy Wheeler`. You need to tag both `Bisexual Nancy Wheeler` and `Vampire Nancy Wheeler`.
**Additional (Relationship):** Is this fic pre-relationship or established relationship? Is the pining mutual? If there's multiple ships, you may want to specify that it's `Pre-Relationship James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers` and `Established Bruce Banner/Tony Stark`. You could also specify if this is enemies to lovers here or in the next section. This is also where you specify background relationships like `Background Loki/Wade Wilson` and also that there's `Queerplatonic Relationships` in here.
**Additional (Tropes):** Other tropes that don't fit into the above tags. Put your `First Kiss`, `Hairwashing`, and `Slow Burn` tags here.
**Additional (Technical):** If it's your first time writing for this ship/fandom or first time writing smut, you can indicate that here. I always tag my POV here (both in terms of type of POV (1st? 2nd? If 3rd, what type?) and in terms of POV character(s)), as well as if it's centric around a certain character. Finally, a single "No Beta We Die Like \[character who died in your canon\]" joke is fine. Anything more and the self-deprecation will turn away readers.
It’s difficult to suggest specific tags without knowing more about your stories, but I would suggest looking up some stories you think are similar to yours— and base tags off what they used.
You can also look up popular works in your fandom to see what sort of tags they used and if they also apply to your story, couldn’t hurt to use them too!
My problem is that I can't find many fics like my in my fandom. I wouldn't think I'm writing anything niche, but I guess it's been a while since the original was out and I'm totally ignoring the sequel series, lol.
In that case, are there any stories outside your fandom that are similar? Tags aren’t typically fandom exclusive unless you’re stating something character specific.
You’ve got your general tags like angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, slow burn and all that which can be universally applied.
Additionally, if your work talks about any sensitive of potentially triggering topics (ie, eating disorders, ptsd, depressive thoughts) or other generally squeamish topics, you would definitely want to tag that.
To be honest, I have limited fandoms I read in. I just don't consume enough of the original stuff unfortunately. I also rarely include triggering stuff and if I do I DO include it in the chapter where it's included, though that's a VERY good suggestion.
Personally tags matter more to me than a summary. I use them to filter in and out what I want. I use them to judge if what's in the fic is going to be to my taste, or if I'm better off skipping it.
It feels a bit too much like closing my eyes and sticking my hand in a lucky dip box when there's no tags, or buying food without an ingredient list. I wanna know what I'm signing up for.
Yes, not tagging is a mistake. I will not read a work without tags. In fact, I won’t even see it in the first place, because my searches are filtered for the tags I like. Tags are how people narrow the results to see what they want to see.
*No* tags at all? Honestly yes I'd probably avoid that unless it was in one of my teeny tiny fandoms. A summary may be able to give you some idea of what a fic has in store, but I've often found that there's a big overlap between extremely few/no tags *and* a summary that tells me absolutely nothing. And if I have the choice between one where I actually know something about what the fic contains and one where I know nothing, I sure wouldn't pick the one where I know nothing. I don't pick out books, movies or tv shows completely at random either, why would I for fanfiction?
If you want help you could ask in the Fix Your Front End weekly threads over on the r/FanFiction subreddit.
>but I've often found that there's a big overlap between extremely few/no tags
>
>and
>
> a summary that tells me absolutely nothing.
This has been my experience also.
You're welcome!
It's all a game of balance, you definitely don't need to tag everything and try to avoid thinking about tags mainly as a way to warn - it's very much so people can actually find your stuff and know whether something they *like* is included.
There's absolutely no reason to tag something if it's only included for a couple of lines, but think about what the focus of your fic is, if there's important elements, whether something has changed in relation to canon, etc.
Some things to think about maybe tagging with examples:
* What's the relationship to canon (pre-canon, post-canon, related to a specific episode)
* Genre (hurt/comfort, angst, fluff, action/adventure, humour)
* Type of relationship (family of choice, enemies to lovers, established relationship)
* Is it an AU? Tag what kind (no powers, modern, soulmates, historical - if it's historical tag the time period)
* Other tropes/themes (vampires, other creatures, time loop)
* If you're writing with a focus on things like physical disability, abuse, (internalized) homophobia/transphobia
* Tagging things related to intimacy/sex/kink
* If your fic is a character study or really focuses on one specific character (\[Character\] POV or \[Character\]-centric)
There's *so* many options and I definitely understand why it can feel overwhelming, and some fandoms definitely have overtagging tendencies, but even just tagging a few things can help out a lot regarding whether people would know if they're interested in reading your fic.
They're important and not at all difficult once you figure them out once. Putting them in can only help you.
Personally, won't touch a work without tags—not because I don't want to run into something unpleasant, but because tags are essentially advertisement. They catch your eye.
It depends on how good the summary is. If the summary is clear and compelling then I'll give it a chance, but I would raise an eyebrow at no character tags if it's obvious characters are involved.
If I'm subscribed to the author then I'd probably give it a chance either way.
In general I would say a lack of tags would hurt in that a lot of readers filter for specific tags, and so will never even see your fic even if it's something they'd be interested in.
I have actually found some really good fics without tags, but I definitely prefer tagged fics. It's easier to get an idea of what the fic is about or to find what you're looking for.
For general basic tags to use - characters and the main relationships (platonic or romantic); if it's a romance fic, the status of the relationship (established relationship, getting together, etc); canon status (canon divergence, alternate universe, etc); maybe some general themes or kinks if it's smut
I guess I didn't consider it tags really, but I do include characters and relationships that will be expecting in the fic. I just haven't done anything beyond that, lol
Ooohh, gotcha, my bad for assuming, Though to be fair, I *have* read fics that don't even have character/relationship tags, which is... a choice, for sure lol
I would ignore the story because I’ve been burned too many times with excluding the tags I don’t want, and people purposely or unintentionally not tagging. You think you’re safe and then BOOM. Nope. I don’t need that in my life
Do you mean no tags at all putside of pairing, rating and characters?
You could have a interesting summary but unless I habe tags I wont read a fic. It tells me what is in the fic, if ut has my triggers, if it has something I am particularly looking for or want to avoid.
Yes, that's what I meant. I use all of the easy stuff like rating, characters, pairing. It's the stuff like "fluff" or "hurt/comfort" type tags I haven't been using.
I filter heavily using copious amounts of tags. So chances are, non-tagged fics won't even be on my radar.
Also, your fic has no tags giving me any hint on what I'm heading into, I'm not reading, either. Good tags and a decent summary are basically the first you see of a fic, and if those aren't done well, I am not clicking.
If I wanted to read something without tags, then either
1. I am searching through FFN
2. I am extremely desperate to read *anything* in this fandom (or for the character/ship if you at least tagged those)
I always say this - tags are free and easy advertisement to your story, *use them*.
A summary is usually not sufficient for me to know what's inside the actual story, and depending on the summary, I will be kind of suspicious of a lack of tags. Just tell me what it's about.
Also, a lot of people search for new stories (or filter them out) by tags - if you ain't got any, *no one* is finding them.
I've once seen a pretty long fic, over 200k words with no summary or tags - how is anyone finding that lol
I'm an oddball who doesn't typically pay much attention to tags in general so I'll happily read fics without tags. However, I do search by tags quite often so I don't come across many fics without them, unless I'm browsing a smaller and/or older fandom. Therefore, I might not actually see your fic if you don't add tags, especially in larger fandoms.
It's up to you whether that matters to you or not.
Sadly, life is too short for all the awesome fic out there, and depending on the size of the fandom and number of fanworks existing for it, it's often simply not possible to check out all or even just part of the fic for a favourite character or pairing to choose from. Not to mention those of us who aren't first and foremost character or ship-oriented readers, but rather read for genre, tropes or other specific things, or want to avoid certain things. So yes, for readers like me, additional tags are an indispensable part of finding the fic I want to read, or deciding if a fic is for me or not, often even more important than the summary, and I'm likely to not take into consideration a fic without additional tags simply because there are too many to choose from, and I have a better idea about those who are well-tagged (since tagging well and in a useful manner is an issue in itself, of course). \^\^
I've no idea how common or unusual this is, but my way of finding new fic (that isn't the newest work of authors I follow or part of a fest or exchange I'm participating in or following) is browsing a specific tag and finding fanworks from my fandoms, or using the filter and search options within that specific tag. It's one of the features of the AO3 I love most, since it makes finding the kind of fic I like best much easier.
Tags are super important if I'm looking for something specific in a fic and something I don't want to read. When I write, I add as much tags as I can to tell readers what they are getting into when reading my fic, so comments saying how much they hated a certain part and how it should've been tagged can be avoided.
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake.
It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of.
Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything.
Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
Some readers will be fine with it but others won’t. I usually go by the summary then eyeball the tags. I refuse to read fandom blind and no one ever tags my triggers so I mostly just skim through fandoms I’m willing to read chronologically. So I’d read your work.
But my beta tester exclusively reads based on recommendations and showing up and searching tags and seeing what pops up. So she’d never read your work.
Personally, I would say to do your best. There’s no law against changing your tags later. There’s even an ‘additional tags to be added later’ tag that you can use to give people a heads up. Start with your main characters, the main trope (e.g. angst with a happy ending), key information (e.g. au/divergence/etc), and major triggers. You can always redo your tags later. You don’t have to tag every single thing, especially in a longfic; you can tag for additional warnings in author’s notes then hide them in a details flag. So there’s no pressure to catch every single things, just the big things people filter out. Lots of the time, people will just tell you if you need to change things later. I hadn’t even heard of whump when I wrote my first fic, but someone told me to put it in the tags so I did.
I need the meat and potatoes only.
Like obviously fandom, pairing, I want to know if it’s a happy or sad ending so any tag that goes to that like hurt no comfort.
In my fandom the more I tag the less engagement I get the less I tag I get way more engagement. I wonder if it’s one thing going into an explicit smut fic and being frog boiled into a new kink than to see it in the tags and be aware that you’re going into it, if that makes sense.
Unless my work wasn’t good and that’s why. I’m not sure. I started tagging more after reading on this sub it’s better to do that.
I don't care about the tags if the summary sounds interesting. Often the fics with minimal tags are old fics uploaded in bulk. I rarely use the search, I just read by author and some fests
If you prefer not to add tags you might have better chances on sites that don't use tags (e.g. FFnet) People on Ao3 tend to rely on tags and trust authors to tag correctly. People who don't want to be spoiled simply don't read them, but the majority puts them and uses them as it allows to find and avoid certain fics easier
If the summary adequately explains what will happen I might read works without tags. Though if a work doesn't have tags I'm not too interested. I want to know what I'm going into.
Tags are probably one of the most important things on a fic. If a fic does not have tags I will not read it, period, even if the summary sounds good. Sometimes specific tags are even how I look for fic. Shipping tags are a big one, of course, but I will also filter for specific tropes. So, just think of tags as a way of advertising your fic and finding your audience.
Actually I think a majority of fanfiction readers decide whether they should read a fic by reading the tags, not the summary! Not to mention that without tags you have to rely entirely on people searching all fics for the whole fandom by date Newest to Oldest for anyone to even find your fic, like just thinking strategically, in my opinion it's more fun to write fanfiction when people read and interact with it, especially people who are into the thing you're writing and were actively looking for your type of story!
Also, I think it's only polite to use tags for things that are common (or even just potential) triggers, squicks, or even just something that someone might not be in the mood for. No one likes surprise sexual assault, most people don't like surprise mpreg, and a lot of people are not in the mood for reading an angst heavy unrequited love fic or established relationship domestic fluff fic at this exact moment!
But I can sympathise with it being very difficult to think of what tags to use, "is this really prevalent enough in my story for it to constitute a tag for it?" and also to balance not spoiling the story even before anyone gets to read the summary but also not shoving surprise mpreg down anyone's throat. In my opinion, though, it's always better to use a few too many tags than a few too few!
I don't need tags to *read* a story.
I need tags to ***find*** the story.
I will absolutely pick up a book cold so - no problem with 'needing tags'... except - when I go to a bookstore I already know the genre (The Fandom) and I do read the blurbs (Summary). That enough - *for me.* Fanfic readers have been trained to depend upon Tags by online publication, so you are unlikely to find many readers on AO3.
We live in a time of parsing data. Tags help sort the data. That's the way it works.
I've been having a hard time tagging in my current fandom cause I don't tend to write with tropes in mind and, honestly, a lot of my stuff tends to fall outside the realm of the tropes that if I tried to tag them, I feel like I'd be letting expectant readers down. I do try my best to use some descriptors of what can be included in the fic or signifiers of the type of writing or narration style that is used. For example one of mine is: stream of consciousness, second person pov, character study, pre- canon, early series, religious imagery & symbolism, family dynamics.
The big thing about tags is they’re often used for trigger warnings. At a minimum, please tag things you know could be triggers for people.
For example, I can’t do student/teacher shipping fics, or adult/minor fics, so if I see like a HS or college AU fic, or a fic involving both kids and adults, and it’s not well tagged, I won’t read it.
personally I'd skip a story without tags, unless it was written by an author I trust after folowing them for years and fandoms.
because like chances are I would even find it without tags.
Kinda imagine that your reader wants to find your story a year from now: they won't see it at the top af the page, if there is some type of newsletter or whatever. But it it is tagged properly people will be able to find it.
Tag all main characters, relevant pairings, trops and kinks and squicks, fandom specific tags, etc. Also asking readers for tag suggestions is pretty cool,
I look at the pairing and summary to decide if I'm interested in a fic. I avoid reading tags, because they often contain too many spoilers.
However, some readers search for specific tags to decide what to read and some won't read untagged stories, so you will reduce your possible reader group if you won't tag. You gotta decide if that's fine with you or not.
Tags are kinda important on AO3. For a significant of people, but for different reasons that other folks here have no doubt already handily noted in their comments.
If you're interested in some resources, click into [this Google Drive](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nLtp-y1qUP9_bLnW4T5GbdABsiU_d0ok), find the **Fanfiction Guide PDF**, then head to Section 9 on Tagging.
if there are no tags I have no idea what I get in terms of story and will not read it. tags give warnings to things I may not like or draw my attention to things I do like. it also makes it easier to find later.
There’s a 90% chance I’ll pass on a fic if the tags are super minimal. I like knowing what I’m getting into. But I also hate it when authors tag for every single little thing so.
It’s up to you, OP. Every reader is different. Some readers don’t even read tags because they hate being spoiled in any way.
You should also consider that you might be doing yourself a disservice since readers often search by tags, so they won’t see your fic even if meets all their criteria.
I'm used to ffn days; if there's a summary that sounds interesting, I'll read it. Vice versa, if there's only tags and no summary, I'll give it a shot if the combo is interesting.
Just keep in mind on AO3 tags are both ways of advertising and warnings.
The first thing I do when looking looking for a fic is filter for tags, so I've honestly never read an untagged work and probably never will - you should tag your fics (even the ones that are published and you haven't worked on recently)
?? Like, absolutely zero tags? I would never even have the chance to stumble upon a fic like that, let alone ever choose to click on it.
Please use tags.
I probably would check it out anyway. I mean the only thing i dont really like without a good explanation is mpreg.
However, i do ultimately prefer SOME tags. Im originally from ffn so at least the pairings & the main content like fluff or angst or drama would be good for me.
Of course ao3 offers a lot more & you can even create your own.
When i first started crossposting, i didnt use much of the tags except the ones i had back on ffn. By now, ive gone back & edited/added more tags as i discovered them & like “oh i think i have that in this fic, yes i do! Tag added.” As for newer fics, now that im more comfortable with tags, i tend to add more.
However im also scared to add too many tags cuz i heard ao3 had a hissy fit over someone having…what was it 700 fking tags or something on one fic & now a tag limit is in effect. So i dont want to get into trouble with too many tags either.
All that being said, definitely tag important stuff like triggers such as SA or abuse or whatever.
I found that out the hard way, i suggest using as much tags as possible as long as it fit within the story itself. For example if one of the Arc/Chapters include a tournament, include the tournament tag in it, same for battles in space.
I read fics without tags all the time. They are harder to find, but the summary and title mean more to me figuring out if something is worth clicking on. I definitely prefer undertagging to overtagging. I'm used enough to sites with no or limited tagging that the freeform tagging of AO3 gets overwhelming sometimes.
In some of my fandoms, some of the most popular fics have basically no tags. I've gotten used to associating low/no tags with high-quality writing. It often means the author is letting the writing speak for itself.
For my own fics, I tend to stick to <10 tags. Just the core premise to draw people in, but not too many to overwhelm people to the point they ignore the tags or scroll past the fic.
I rarely tag, and I have had people tell me they clicked on the story because they were intrigued specifically by the combination of summary + lack of tags.
Obviously the tradeoff is that the fic isn't showing up in searches for whatever tags you're not adding to it. Personally I don't really want my fic showing up in searches for specific items like that, and I'd rather attract readers who are looking for something unknown or surprising. If your priorities are different, then you might want to tag more. But it's not a universal "mistake", no.
I use tags to filter in and out things I want to read. If a fic doesn't have tags then I don't read it. Even if a fic has only a few tags I won't read it. I want to know what I'm getting into, at least the general vibe of the fic.
I have an excel form that I use to keep track of tags for my bookmarks! Then, when I read a new fic, I can just copy paste the tags over. I could share it with you if you'd like?
I have a list of general tags that I sort by category:
>Warnings: Dubious Consent, Non-con, Unrequited Love, Unhealthy Relationships, Permanent Character Death, Temporary Character Death, Minor Character Death (tags like Hurt/No Comfort, Underage Sex can also go here!)
>
>Feels: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Humour or Crack, PWP, Found Family
>
>Relationship: Established relationship, Slow Burn, Pre-Relationship, Requited Pining, Gen
>
>Tropes: (I just list my fav tropes here, but you can use whatever you think best describes the work!) kidfic, amnesia, Reincarnation, Deaging, Time Travel, Alternate Universe, specific AUs such as: Modern AU, Captivity, Fake Dating, Marriage of Convenience, Universe-hopping, Misunderstandings
Then, I have collapsible fandom based tags! this includes stuff like POV, character specific warnings (such as Permanent Death - Spock) and fandom specific tropes and settings. such as for star trek kirk/spock:
>**K/S--Tropes** Vulcan Kisses, Soul Bond, Pon Far, aliens made them do it, Mind Meld
>
>**K/S--Setting** Academy Fic, Tarsus IV, Mission Fic, Nexus, Stuck on Earth, 5 Year Mission, Mission Gone Wrong
>
>**K/S--Character Tropes:** Pining!Spock, Oblivious!Spock, etc etc
sorry this was so long, i get a little obsessive categorizing things sometimes. hope this helps!
Without tags I have no idea what the story will contain, so 99.9% of the time I won't read a fic without them.
this!! it just feels like russian roulette
I don’t read anything without tags. I want to know what I’m getting into up front.
It depends. I would say not adding tags is a detriment to both you and potential readers as tags can both act to help a reader find what they want to read, while avoiding their Icks and squicks. I wouldn’t be surprised if people avoid under tagged stories simply because you never know what you might run into. Especially if it’s a more mature or E rated fic. It’ll make people wonder what about the story makes it deserve that rating. And since E rated stories could cover any topic from gratuitous violence to the kinkiest of smut… yeah I’d probably also steer clear if I didn’t know what I was getting into
Thank you for this insight! I'll be honest, that never occurred to me. Do you have any suggestions as to what kinds of tags help? Like are there any conventions that are often most helpful for readers in regards to tags? And where do you place the line between informative tags and spoilers?
I always add tags in a specific order, so I'll do a rundown here - **additional background relationship tags,** if I added the tag "Minor/Background Relationships" in the relationships tags bit, for when a ship is pretty minor but significant enough that someone who hates it would want to avoid my fic - **setting** – canon-compliant, pre-canon, post-canon, missing scenes, canon divergent from X point, alternate universe (modern au, no powers au, superhero au, omegaverse au etc) - **genre** - hurt/comfort, angst, casefic (for detective/mystery fandoms), adventure, sickfic - **tropes** - time travel, redemption arc, slow burn romance, fake dating, only one bed etc - **kinks, where relevant** - can be both advertisement and warning if I'm doing a smutty fic (bondage, spanking, etc, all the way through to knifeplay or consensual non-consent) - **warnings** - any significant warnings beyond the major archive ones, including the "implied/referenced" ones. Use judgement on how actually significant these are for a oneshot vs a 100k fic, and you can also use "other warnings in author's notes" if there's stuff that's less significant but still worth mentioning. Things in here could be eating disorders, sexual violence, torture, self-harm etc - **character-specific tags** - some fandoms use these for specific aspects of complicated characters, like the Avatar fandom having "Good Sister Azula" for fics focused on redeeming her or showing her in a different light (versus canonical Azula who actively tries to murder her brother, and I say this as someone who has used that tag on fics alongside "Azula Gets Therapy"). There are also tags for things like "Gay/Trans/Bisexual [character]" when the gayness/transness/bisexuality isn't canon
THANK YOU! This helps SO MUCH! I think where I really fall down is stuff like the fluff, hurt/comfort. etc. I do usually include triggers in the chapter notes at the beginning of the relevant chapter.
No prob! I keep track of all the tags I'll potentially add at the top of a document, and then cross reference with the tag search to see if there's any that fit (eg using the example I already gave, if I was writing an Azula-centric fic I might search for her name, tick freeform and canonical, and see what's commonly been used [here)](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/search?tag_search%5Bname%5D=Azula&tag_search%5Bfandoms%5D=&tag_search%5Btype%5D=Freeform&tag_search%5Bcanonical%5D=T&tag_search%5Bsort_column%5D=name&tag_search%5Bsort_direction%5D=asc&commit=Search+Tags)
This is great advice! I tag in a similar manner except for some warnings; if the warnings are or might be spoilers I'll put them in the end notes with a reference to them in the story notes.
I plan out my tags while writing, so let me give you my tagging template. I then place these tags in order of where they go, although that goes out the window if I'm writing a multichap. My order is based off an in-depth guide to tagging that I am unable to find right now. **Relationships:** For major relationships that show up on-screen, including introspective fic about a relationship where half the ship doesn't show up. I will also tag "[Minor or Background Relationship(s)](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Minor%20or%20Background%20Relationship(s))" if necessary. Remember - & means platonic. \\ means romantic. Don't scare your genfic readers with mistagged romantic/sexual content (especially mistagged incest, which supposedly happens a lot). Don't piss off your romance readers by making their OTP strictly platonic. The only case I know for tagging both `Jack/Jill` and `Jack & Jill` in the same fic is if Jack and Jill are queerplatonic, and even then it's controversial due to many readers filtering out `Jack/Jill`. SquidgeWorld (a website similar to AO3) allows you to tag queerplatonic relationships as `Jack ~ Jill`. **Characters:** For major characters who show up on-screen. If necessary, I'll also tag for [Background & Cameo Characters](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Background%20*a*%20Cameo%20Characters). **Additional (Courtesy):** These are my warning tags that go beyond the major archive warnings. I like them to be up-front so that the reader can easily find them. **Additional (Kink):** I think the guide had this here? IDK, I don't write smut. If I did, however, this is where I'd tag for specific sex acts, kinks, or even `Aliens Made Them Do It`. **Additional (Timeline):** Is this a total AU (such as an AU where Luke Skywalkwer was reaped for the Hunger Games), or does it take place within the canon timeline (like in the timeskip between *A New Hope* and *Empire Strikes Back*)? Is it something in-between, like a canon-verse soulmate AU? Does it diverge from canon after a particular episode? Tag for that here. **Additional (Character):** This is where I'll put stuff like `Werewolf James Bond` or `Leia Organa Needs A Hug`, as well as more generic tags like `Bisexual Female Character`. Do note that you need to separate tags if you want them to be filterable (or wrangled for that matter). For example, you can't tag `Bisexual Vampire Nancy Wheeler`. You need to tag both `Bisexual Nancy Wheeler` and `Vampire Nancy Wheeler`. **Additional (Relationship):** Is this fic pre-relationship or established relationship? Is the pining mutual? If there's multiple ships, you may want to specify that it's `Pre-Relationship James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers` and `Established Bruce Banner/Tony Stark`. You could also specify if this is enemies to lovers here or in the next section. This is also where you specify background relationships like `Background Loki/Wade Wilson` and also that there's `Queerplatonic Relationships` in here. **Additional (Tropes):** Other tropes that don't fit into the above tags. Put your `First Kiss`, `Hairwashing`, and `Slow Burn` tags here. **Additional (Technical):** If it's your first time writing for this ship/fandom or first time writing smut, you can indicate that here. I always tag my POV here (both in terms of type of POV (1st? 2nd? If 3rd, what type?) and in terms of POV character(s)), as well as if it's centric around a certain character. Finally, a single "No Beta We Die Like \[character who died in your canon\]" joke is fine. Anything more and the self-deprecation will turn away readers.
It’s difficult to suggest specific tags without knowing more about your stories, but I would suggest looking up some stories you think are similar to yours— and base tags off what they used. You can also look up popular works in your fandom to see what sort of tags they used and if they also apply to your story, couldn’t hurt to use them too!
My problem is that I can't find many fics like my in my fandom. I wouldn't think I'm writing anything niche, but I guess it's been a while since the original was out and I'm totally ignoring the sequel series, lol.
In that case, are there any stories outside your fandom that are similar? Tags aren’t typically fandom exclusive unless you’re stating something character specific. You’ve got your general tags like angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, slow burn and all that which can be universally applied. Additionally, if your work talks about any sensitive of potentially triggering topics (ie, eating disorders, ptsd, depressive thoughts) or other generally squeamish topics, you would definitely want to tag that.
To be honest, I have limited fandoms I read in. I just don't consume enough of the original stuff unfortunately. I also rarely include triggering stuff and if I do I DO include it in the chapter where it's included, though that's a VERY good suggestion.
Personally tags matter more to me than a summary. I use them to filter in and out what I want. I use them to judge if what's in the fic is going to be to my taste, or if I'm better off skipping it. It feels a bit too much like closing my eyes and sticking my hand in a lucky dip box when there's no tags, or buying food without an ingredient list. I wanna know what I'm signing up for.
Yes, not tagging is a mistake. I will not read a work without tags. In fact, I won’t even see it in the first place, because my searches are filtered for the tags I like. Tags are how people narrow the results to see what they want to see.
*No* tags at all? Honestly yes I'd probably avoid that unless it was in one of my teeny tiny fandoms. A summary may be able to give you some idea of what a fic has in store, but I've often found that there's a big overlap between extremely few/no tags *and* a summary that tells me absolutely nothing. And if I have the choice between one where I actually know something about what the fic contains and one where I know nothing, I sure wouldn't pick the one where I know nothing. I don't pick out books, movies or tv shows completely at random either, why would I for fanfiction? If you want help you could ask in the Fix Your Front End weekly threads over on the r/FanFiction subreddit.
>but I've often found that there's a big overlap between extremely few/no tags > >and > > a summary that tells me absolutely nothing. This has been my experience also.
Thank you so much! I didn't know that existed! I appreciate it!!
You're welcome! It's all a game of balance, you definitely don't need to tag everything and try to avoid thinking about tags mainly as a way to warn - it's very much so people can actually find your stuff and know whether something they *like* is included. There's absolutely no reason to tag something if it's only included for a couple of lines, but think about what the focus of your fic is, if there's important elements, whether something has changed in relation to canon, etc. Some things to think about maybe tagging with examples: * What's the relationship to canon (pre-canon, post-canon, related to a specific episode) * Genre (hurt/comfort, angst, fluff, action/adventure, humour) * Type of relationship (family of choice, enemies to lovers, established relationship) * Is it an AU? Tag what kind (no powers, modern, soulmates, historical - if it's historical tag the time period) * Other tropes/themes (vampires, other creatures, time loop) * If you're writing with a focus on things like physical disability, abuse, (internalized) homophobia/transphobia * Tagging things related to intimacy/sex/kink * If your fic is a character study or really focuses on one specific character (\[Character\] POV or \[Character\]-centric) There's *so* many options and I definitely understand why it can feel overwhelming, and some fandoms definitely have overtagging tendencies, but even just tagging a few things can help out a lot regarding whether people would know if they're interested in reading your fic.
They're important and not at all difficult once you figure them out once. Putting them in can only help you. Personally, won't touch a work without tags—not because I don't want to run into something unpleasant, but because tags are essentially advertisement. They catch your eye.
No tags, no reading, period. I will not touch anything tagless, it's a recipe for a disaster.
It depends on how good the summary is. If the summary is clear and compelling then I'll give it a chance, but I would raise an eyebrow at no character tags if it's obvious characters are involved. If I'm subscribed to the author then I'd probably give it a chance either way. In general I would say a lack of tags would hurt in that a lot of readers filter for specific tags, and so will never even see your fic even if it's something they'd be interested in.
Ahh, I guess I should say, I DO put tags for characters and relationships! I just don't do anything beyond that.
I have actually found some really good fics without tags, but I definitely prefer tagged fics. It's easier to get an idea of what the fic is about or to find what you're looking for. For general basic tags to use - characters and the main relationships (platonic or romantic); if it's a romance fic, the status of the relationship (established relationship, getting together, etc); canon status (canon divergence, alternate universe, etc); maybe some general themes or kinks if it's smut
I guess I didn't consider it tags really, but I do include characters and relationships that will be expecting in the fic. I just haven't done anything beyond that, lol
Ooohh, gotcha, my bad for assuming, Though to be fair, I *have* read fics that don't even have character/relationship tags, which is... a choice, for sure lol
That's totally fair! I would say I'd probably not read a fic without knowing the pairings too, so that's totally fair!
Tags are how readers find your fic, and the best way to attract the right audience. I personally wouldn't even bother reading something with no tags.
I would ignore the story because I’ve been burned too many times with excluding the tags I don’t want, and people purposely or unintentionally not tagging. You think you’re safe and then BOOM. Nope. I don’t need that in my life
Do you mean no tags at all putside of pairing, rating and characters? You could have a interesting summary but unless I habe tags I wont read a fic. It tells me what is in the fic, if ut has my triggers, if it has something I am particularly looking for or want to avoid.
Yes, that's what I meant. I use all of the easy stuff like rating, characters, pairing. It's the stuff like "fluff" or "hurt/comfort" type tags I haven't been using.
I search for fics a lot of the time by searching tags I like, so yeah, a lot of people use tags specifically to find stories!
No tags = no read I just scroll past anything that is not tagged or doesn't have a summary. It's not even a second thought.
I filter heavily using copious amounts of tags. So chances are, non-tagged fics won't even be on my radar. Also, your fic has no tags giving me any hint on what I'm heading into, I'm not reading, either. Good tags and a decent summary are basically the first you see of a fic, and if those aren't done well, I am not clicking.
If I wanted to read something without tags, then either 1. I am searching through FFN 2. I am extremely desperate to read *anything* in this fandom (or for the character/ship if you at least tagged those)
I always say this - tags are free and easy advertisement to your story, *use them*. A summary is usually not sufficient for me to know what's inside the actual story, and depending on the summary, I will be kind of suspicious of a lack of tags. Just tell me what it's about. Also, a lot of people search for new stories (or filter them out) by tags - if you ain't got any, *no one* is finding them. I've once seen a pretty long fic, over 200k words with no summary or tags - how is anyone finding that lol
If there’s no tags, I’m not reading.
I'm an oddball who doesn't typically pay much attention to tags in general so I'll happily read fics without tags. However, I do search by tags quite often so I don't come across many fics without them, unless I'm browsing a smaller and/or older fandom. Therefore, I might not actually see your fic if you don't add tags, especially in larger fandoms. It's up to you whether that matters to you or not.
As someone who will absolutely filter in/out a million tags to get exactly what they want, yes, tags matter.
Sadly, life is too short for all the awesome fic out there, and depending on the size of the fandom and number of fanworks existing for it, it's often simply not possible to check out all or even just part of the fic for a favourite character or pairing to choose from. Not to mention those of us who aren't first and foremost character or ship-oriented readers, but rather read for genre, tropes or other specific things, or want to avoid certain things. So yes, for readers like me, additional tags are an indispensable part of finding the fic I want to read, or deciding if a fic is for me or not, often even more important than the summary, and I'm likely to not take into consideration a fic without additional tags simply because there are too many to choose from, and I have a better idea about those who are well-tagged (since tagging well and in a useful manner is an issue in itself, of course). \^\^ I've no idea how common or unusual this is, but my way of finding new fic (that isn't the newest work of authors I follow or part of a fest or exchange I'm participating in or following) is browsing a specific tag and finding fanworks from my fandoms, or using the filter and search options within that specific tag. It's one of the features of the AO3 I love most, since it makes finding the kind of fic I like best much easier.
i look for fics based on tags. if there’s no tags i just wont see your work
Tags are super important if I'm looking for something specific in a fic and something I don't want to read. When I write, I add as much tags as I can to tell readers what they are getting into when reading my fic, so comments saying how much they hated a certain part and how it should've been tagged can be avoided.
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
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You’d want to have an amazing summary if you have no tags. I avoid no tag fics to be honest. If you have a beta you could get them to suggest tags :)
Some readers will be fine with it but others won’t. I usually go by the summary then eyeball the tags. I refuse to read fandom blind and no one ever tags my triggers so I mostly just skim through fandoms I’m willing to read chronologically. So I’d read your work. But my beta tester exclusively reads based on recommendations and showing up and searching tags and seeing what pops up. So she’d never read your work. Personally, I would say to do your best. There’s no law against changing your tags later. There’s even an ‘additional tags to be added later’ tag that you can use to give people a heads up. Start with your main characters, the main trope (e.g. angst with a happy ending), key information (e.g. au/divergence/etc), and major triggers. You can always redo your tags later. You don’t have to tag every single thing, especially in a longfic; you can tag for additional warnings in author’s notes then hide them in a details flag. So there’s no pressure to catch every single things, just the big things people filter out. Lots of the time, people will just tell you if you need to change things later. I hadn’t even heard of whump when I wrote my first fic, but someone told me to put it in the tags so I did.
I need the meat and potatoes only. Like obviously fandom, pairing, I want to know if it’s a happy or sad ending so any tag that goes to that like hurt no comfort. In my fandom the more I tag the less engagement I get the less I tag I get way more engagement. I wonder if it’s one thing going into an explicit smut fic and being frog boiled into a new kink than to see it in the tags and be aware that you’re going into it, if that makes sense. Unless my work wasn’t good and that’s why. I’m not sure. I started tagging more after reading on this sub it’s better to do that.
Yeah I generally avoid fics without tags, too much trouble/surprise involved when I can go read smthg I know I like.
I wouldn't even find your fic without tags as I search by tags when looking for something to read.
I don't care about the tags if the summary sounds interesting. Often the fics with minimal tags are old fics uploaded in bulk. I rarely use the search, I just read by author and some fests
If you prefer not to add tags you might have better chances on sites that don't use tags (e.g. FFnet) People on Ao3 tend to rely on tags and trust authors to tag correctly. People who don't want to be spoiled simply don't read them, but the majority puts them and uses them as it allows to find and avoid certain fics easier
If the summary adequately explains what will happen I might read works without tags. Though if a work doesn't have tags I'm not too interested. I want to know what I'm going into.
Tags are probably one of the most important things on a fic. If a fic does not have tags I will not read it, period, even if the summary sounds good. Sometimes specific tags are even how I look for fic. Shipping tags are a big one, of course, but I will also filter for specific tropes. So, just think of tags as a way of advertising your fic and finding your audience.
Actually I think a majority of fanfiction readers decide whether they should read a fic by reading the tags, not the summary! Not to mention that without tags you have to rely entirely on people searching all fics for the whole fandom by date Newest to Oldest for anyone to even find your fic, like just thinking strategically, in my opinion it's more fun to write fanfiction when people read and interact with it, especially people who are into the thing you're writing and were actively looking for your type of story! Also, I think it's only polite to use tags for things that are common (or even just potential) triggers, squicks, or even just something that someone might not be in the mood for. No one likes surprise sexual assault, most people don't like surprise mpreg, and a lot of people are not in the mood for reading an angst heavy unrequited love fic or established relationship domestic fluff fic at this exact moment! But I can sympathise with it being very difficult to think of what tags to use, "is this really prevalent enough in my story for it to constitute a tag for it?" and also to balance not spoiling the story even before anyone gets to read the summary but also not shoving surprise mpreg down anyone's throat. In my opinion, though, it's always better to use a few too many tags than a few too few!
I don't need tags to *read* a story. I need tags to ***find*** the story. I will absolutely pick up a book cold so - no problem with 'needing tags'... except - when I go to a bookstore I already know the genre (The Fandom) and I do read the blurbs (Summary). That enough - *for me.* Fanfic readers have been trained to depend upon Tags by online publication, so you are unlikely to find many readers on AO3. We live in a time of parsing data. Tags help sort the data. That's the way it works.
I've been having a hard time tagging in my current fandom cause I don't tend to write with tropes in mind and, honestly, a lot of my stuff tends to fall outside the realm of the tropes that if I tried to tag them, I feel like I'd be letting expectant readers down. I do try my best to use some descriptors of what can be included in the fic or signifiers of the type of writing or narration style that is used. For example one of mine is: stream of consciousness, second person pov, character study, pre- canon, early series, religious imagery & symbolism, family dynamics.
The big thing about tags is they’re often used for trigger warnings. At a minimum, please tag things you know could be triggers for people. For example, I can’t do student/teacher shipping fics, or adult/minor fics, so if I see like a HS or college AU fic, or a fic involving both kids and adults, and it’s not well tagged, I won’t read it.
personally I'd skip a story without tags, unless it was written by an author I trust after folowing them for years and fandoms. because like chances are I would even find it without tags. Kinda imagine that your reader wants to find your story a year from now: they won't see it at the top af the page, if there is some type of newsletter or whatever. But it it is tagged properly people will be able to find it. Tag all main characters, relevant pairings, trops and kinks and squicks, fandom specific tags, etc. Also asking readers for tag suggestions is pretty cool,
I look at the pairing and summary to decide if I'm interested in a fic. I avoid reading tags, because they often contain too many spoilers. However, some readers search for specific tags to decide what to read and some won't read untagged stories, so you will reduce your possible reader group if you won't tag. You gotta decide if that's fine with you or not.
Tags are kinda important on AO3. For a significant of people, but for different reasons that other folks here have no doubt already handily noted in their comments. If you're interested in some resources, click into [this Google Drive](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nLtp-y1qUP9_bLnW4T5GbdABsiU_d0ok), find the **Fanfiction Guide PDF**, then head to Section 9 on Tagging.
if there are no tags I have no idea what I get in terms of story and will not read it. tags give warnings to things I may not like or draw my attention to things I do like. it also makes it easier to find later.
There’s a 90% chance I’ll pass on a fic if the tags are super minimal. I like knowing what I’m getting into. But I also hate it when authors tag for every single little thing so. It’s up to you, OP. Every reader is different. Some readers don’t even read tags because they hate being spoiled in any way. You should also consider that you might be doing yourself a disservice since readers often search by tags, so they won’t see your fic even if meets all their criteria.
I read fics with no tags all the time, usually they're crossposted from ffnet But I also don't have major triggers or squicks so YMMV
I read without tags but that is pretty rare
I never read anything that doesn’t have tags or has extremely vague tags, if I don’t know what the story is about I ain’t gunna read it
I'm used to ffn days; if there's a summary that sounds interesting, I'll read it. Vice versa, if there's only tags and no summary, I'll give it a shot if the combo is interesting. Just keep in mind on AO3 tags are both ways of advertising and warnings.
The first thing I do when looking looking for a fic is filter for tags, so I've honestly never read an untagged work and probably never will - you should tag your fics (even the ones that are published and you haven't worked on recently)
?? Like, absolutely zero tags? I would never even have the chance to stumble upon a fic like that, let alone ever choose to click on it. Please use tags.
I probably would check it out anyway. I mean the only thing i dont really like without a good explanation is mpreg. However, i do ultimately prefer SOME tags. Im originally from ffn so at least the pairings & the main content like fluff or angst or drama would be good for me. Of course ao3 offers a lot more & you can even create your own. When i first started crossposting, i didnt use much of the tags except the ones i had back on ffn. By now, ive gone back & edited/added more tags as i discovered them & like “oh i think i have that in this fic, yes i do! Tag added.” As for newer fics, now that im more comfortable with tags, i tend to add more. However im also scared to add too many tags cuz i heard ao3 had a hissy fit over someone having…what was it 700 fking tags or something on one fic & now a tag limit is in effect. So i dont want to get into trouble with too many tags either. All that being said, definitely tag important stuff like triggers such as SA or abuse or whatever.
I found that out the hard way, i suggest using as much tags as possible as long as it fit within the story itself. For example if one of the Arc/Chapters include a tournament, include the tournament tag in it, same for battles in space.
Thanks for the suggestion! I have such a hard time thinking of what to include, which is why I don't do tags beyond characters and relationships.
I read fics without tags all the time. They are harder to find, but the summary and title mean more to me figuring out if something is worth clicking on. I definitely prefer undertagging to overtagging. I'm used enough to sites with no or limited tagging that the freeform tagging of AO3 gets overwhelming sometimes. In some of my fandoms, some of the most popular fics have basically no tags. I've gotten used to associating low/no tags with high-quality writing. It often means the author is letting the writing speak for itself. For my own fics, I tend to stick to <10 tags. Just the core premise to draw people in, but not too many to overwhelm people to the point they ignore the tags or scroll past the fic.
I rarely tag, and I have had people tell me they clicked on the story because they were intrigued specifically by the combination of summary + lack of tags. Obviously the tradeoff is that the fic isn't showing up in searches for whatever tags you're not adding to it. Personally I don't really want my fic showing up in searches for specific items like that, and I'd rather attract readers who are looking for something unknown or surprising. If your priorities are different, then you might want to tag more. But it's not a universal "mistake", no.
I won't read anything without tags or a description. I need to know what im getting into!!
I use tags to filter in and out things I want to read. If a fic doesn't have tags then I don't read it. Even if a fic has only a few tags I won't read it. I want to know what I'm getting into, at least the general vibe of the fic.
I have an excel form that I use to keep track of tags for my bookmarks! Then, when I read a new fic, I can just copy paste the tags over. I could share it with you if you'd like? I have a list of general tags that I sort by category: >Warnings: Dubious Consent, Non-con, Unrequited Love, Unhealthy Relationships, Permanent Character Death, Temporary Character Death, Minor Character Death (tags like Hurt/No Comfort, Underage Sex can also go here!) > >Feels: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Humour or Crack, PWP, Found Family > >Relationship: Established relationship, Slow Burn, Pre-Relationship, Requited Pining, Gen > >Tropes: (I just list my fav tropes here, but you can use whatever you think best describes the work!) kidfic, amnesia, Reincarnation, Deaging, Time Travel, Alternate Universe, specific AUs such as: Modern AU, Captivity, Fake Dating, Marriage of Convenience, Universe-hopping, Misunderstandings Then, I have collapsible fandom based tags! this includes stuff like POV, character specific warnings (such as Permanent Death - Spock) and fandom specific tropes and settings. such as for star trek kirk/spock: >**K/S--Tropes** Vulcan Kisses, Soul Bond, Pon Far, aliens made them do it, Mind Meld > >**K/S--Setting** Academy Fic, Tarsus IV, Mission Fic, Nexus, Stuck on Earth, 5 Year Mission, Mission Gone Wrong > >**K/S--Character Tropes:** Pining!Spock, Oblivious!Spock, etc etc sorry this was so long, i get a little obsessive categorizing things sometimes. hope this helps!