Hey all,

Tagging is super easy to figure out, but can be deceptively hard to figure out how to master. Most authors will probably change their tags at some point in between starting and finishing their story. The thing is, tags are one of the biggest ways people will discover and read your stories, so it’s super important to get them right.

Why are tags so important? Your tags, along with your summary, are the criteria your readers will use to decide whether to read or not. This means that it’s important to both advertise what’s great about your story, but also any objectionable content that some readers want to avoid.

One of the biggest challenges about tags is that FFN and AO3 have completely different tagging systems. If you’re cross-posting your work, you’re going to have to figure both out. This post will be broken down into types of tags, then specified between the two sites.

Before we get into any specifics, this should be your fundamental tagging philosophy - “Would I be satisfied to come across this story if I was browsing this tag? If so, tag it. If not, don’t.” (Awesome quote from u/Zaluzianskya on reddit)

Now, to get into specifics…

Ratings:

The rating of your fic requires you to have an answer to the question, “Who is my target audience?” If you don’t know how to answer that, think about maturity. Am I writing a dark gritty fic, or a light comedy? Do I have gratuitous sex, or is my story gen?

FFN has four different ratings, and AO3 has five. Here’s a breakdown of each one:

K (FFN Only) – These fics probably have no violence, no swearing, and no relationships stronger than friendship.



– These fics probably have no violence, no swearing, and no relationships stronger than friendship. K+ (FFN) and General Audiences (AO3) – If you’re writing one of these stories, there’s probably some cartoon violence, maybe some light swearing, and some cutesy shipping. This tag is for lighter fics, especially if they fall under the Slice of Life, Humor, Family, or Friendship genres. Nothing here should merit an archive warning on AO3.



– If you’re writing one of these stories, there’s probably some cartoon violence, maybe some light swearing, and some cutesy shipping. This tag is for lighter fics, especially if they fall under the Slice of Life, Humor, Family, or Friendship genres. Nothing here should merit an archive warning on AO3. T/Teen (Both) – This is the default rating for a fanfiction, so if you’re not sure, it probably fits here. Violence, cursing, and non-explicit relationships are enough to land a fic here, and the majority of works do fall under this description. The Adventure, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, and Drama genres all find their home here, although works of every genre are in this rating.



This is the default rating for a fanfiction, so if you’re not sure, it probably fits here. Violence, cursing, and non-explicit relationships are enough to land a fic here, and the majority of works do fall under this description. The Adventure, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, and Drama genres all find their home here, although works of every genre are in this rating. Mature (FFN) – If you write a mature story and post it to FFN, it will be automatically filtered off the home page. That’s okay, because a ton of people seek out these sex filled, violent stories about immoral acts and other horrors. If there is explicit sex, your story must go here – especially non-con. Since FFN doesn’t have content filters, it’s extremely important that your reader knows when they’re reading a story about suicide, rape, or another triggering event. It’s your responsibility to make your story M if there is any explicit description of such things. If you’re not explicit about sex or such, T is still a fine rating, but use your discretion. The Horror genre has a nice home here, I don’t need to see that scary stuff on my front page. Note: Explicit sex is not allowed under FFN’s terms of service. AO3 is a much friendlier place for smut, with more readers as well, so you would be better off posting it there.



That’s okay, because a ton of people seek out these sex filled, violent stories about immoral acts and other horrors. If there is explicit sex, your story must go here – especially non-con. Since FFN doesn’t have content filters, it’s that your reader knows when they’re reading a story about suicide, rape, or another triggering event. It’s your responsibility to make your story M if there is explicit description of such things. If you’re not explicit about sex or such, T is still a fine rating, but use your discretion. The Horror genre has a nice home here, I don’t need to see that scary stuff on my front page. Mature (AO3) – Same as FFN, with two key differences. First, these stories will show up on the front page, so no worries about that. Second, this is for graphic and objectionable content with no sex or nudity. Save your lemons for…



Same as FFN, with two key differences. First, these stories will show up on the front page, so no worries about that. Second, this is for graphic and objectionable content Save your lemons for… Explicit (AO3 only) – Smut smut smut smuttity smut. If your characters are having sexy time, it’s an E for you.



Smut smut smut smuttity smut. If your characters are having sexy time, it’s an E for you. Not Rated (AO3 only) – Honestly, if I see a not rated fic, I automatically assume it’s Explicit and avoid it. If you’re writing a G fic and it’s not rated, I can guarantee you you’re losing readers because of it. Don’t use this one.



Genres (FFN):

Genre is a totally underrated aspect of the FFN tagging system, partly because it is horribly misused. It’s hard to know what genres to tag, especially when your work is an amalgamation of a bunch of different genres. On top of that, you get to tag one before the other.

I don’t want to run through each one, but I’ll walk you through how to choose your two genre tags.

Step One – Necessary Tags: Some genres are far more important to tag than others. Here’s a list of Genres you need to tag if it’s a part of your story.

Horror: Believe it or not, a lot of people hate horror. Absolutely tag this so those of us who scare easily get a fair warning. Remember this will usually be an M rated fic.



Believe it or not, a lot of people hate horror. Absolutely tag this so those of us who scare easily get a fair warning. Remember this will usually be an M rated fic. Sci-Fi: This really is only important for non-sci-fi fandoms , but if you cast your heroes several thousand years into the future I want to know before I click on the story.



, but if you cast your heroes several thousand years into the future I want to know before I click on the story. Parody: Note – this is different from humor, you don’t need to tag a fic that’s just funny. If you’re not taking canon seriously, or just playing around with it for your own amusement, please let me know ahead of time.



Note – this is different from humor, you don’t need to tag a fic that’s just funny. If you’re not taking canon seriously, or just playing around with it for your own amusement, please let me know ahead of time. Poetry: Cool underused writing style in fanfiction, you should definitely tag it.



But wait, what about my Twilight Fic where Bella is trapped on a spaceship avoiding a tentacle monster named Edward trying to bewitch her into falling in love through stares and sparkles written in blank verse?

First off, that’s incredible and somebody should write that. Second of all, just choose two and roll with it. If you really need to know an order, Horror should probably come first, then Sci-fi, then Poetry, then Parody.

Step Two – Target Audience: Who are you writing for? Why are you writing this fic? Why is somebody going to click on this story? Here’s a brief rundown.

Note: Don’t use the general tag. Passerbys want to know what your story’s about, and this tag doesn’t help at all. I can guarantee that your fic fits at least one of the other genres.

Romance: Slash. Yuri. Yaoi. The singular het couple on AO3. This is the most popular genre, and people want to look for it! This is the single most important non-essential tag; if your story focuses on any kind of romance, let the crowd know! We’ll get back to this in character tags.



Slash. Yuri. Yaoi. The singular het couple on AO3. This is the most popular genre, and people want to look for it! This is the single most important non-essential tag; if your story focuses on any kind of romance, let the crowd know! We’ll get back to this in character tags. Adventure: Perfect for fandoms like Pokemon or TES. If it’s about the journey, this is the one for you.



Perfect for fandoms like Pokemon or TES. If it’s about the journey, this is the one for you. Hurt/Comfort, Tragedy, Drama, Angst: For the feels. Up to you to chose which one fits best, but you probably only need one of these unless your story is specifically telling you otherwise.



For the feels. Up to you to chose which one fits best, but you probably only need one of these unless your story is specifically telling you otherwise. Mystery, Crime, Supernatural, Suspense: If it would fit on an airport bookshelf with the other thrillers, one of these is the genre for you.



If it would fit on an airport bookshelf with the other thrillers, one of these is the genre for you. Everything Else: I think for the rest, it’ll be pretty obvious which of these you want.



Remember that you don’t need two genres. If you wrote a romance novel, it makes the most sense to tag it as pure romance! Similarly, if you have one important guiding genre and a bunch of others that are less important, just tag the important genre. Your tags should be the best summary of your fic possible given the limited system at hand.

Step Three: What Comes First?: So you’ve chosen one or two genres. If there’s only one, great! You’re done. If you have two, ask yourself which one is more important to the story, what feels right, or just what looks more aesthetically pleasing. Getting the tag down is what really matters, so you’ve already done the hard work. Go you!

Completeness:

Completeness can be changed in the Manage Stories screen on FFN in your profile, or by editing your story and entering the number of chapters on AO3. A lot of people filter out works in progress, so make your hard work known!

Alright, that’s it for the easy stuff, now let’s talk about…

Character Tags (FFN):

Okay, the two tagging systems are about as different as is physically possible, so I’m going to do each on separately. FFN is so much simpler and more efficient in terms of characters, so it’s easier to cover. There are two main character tagging philosophies for FFN, so we’ll go over both before we talk about AO3’s bloated mess.

Philosophy One: Main Character or Main Relationship – This is far and away the easiest tagging philosophy to execute. Are there one or two characters who are most essential to your story, or whose perspective the reader gets to see? Tag just them, and you’re done. Is the whole point of your story shipping your OTP? Just tag the romance and you’re done. For this philosophy, you don’t have to use all four spots – it’s absolutely fine if you only use one or two.

Philosophy Two: All Four Tags – Basically after determining who you would tag for number one, choosing more characters so all four of your tagging spots are filled. People will often tag a secondary relationship here, or give some of their secondary characters a spotlight. It’s important to remember that lots of people filter out by character, so if there’s a character in your fandom who’s much more popular than the rest, tagging them can increase your view count.

Note – Having no tags generally isn’t advisable. There are still amazingly written and popular fics on FFN with no character tags, but you’re not doing yourself any favors.

Character Tags (AO3):

So, this one’s a little bit more complicated. First, let’s breakdown what not to do.

Unlike FFN, you should have at least one character tag. AO3 gives you so much more freedom than FFN with tagging, so it’s way more jarring when a fic is completely untagged.



AO3 gives you so much more freedom than FFN with tagging, so it’s way more jarring when a fic is completely untagged. Do NOT overtag. If you’ve ever been on AO3, you’ve probably seen the overtagged story too many times before. This is probably the single worst tagging mistake you can make, don’t do it.

If you’ve ever been on AO3, you’ve probably seen the overtagged story too many times before. This is probably the single worst tagging mistake you can make, don’t do it. Don’t name your OCs in your tags. Your original characters may be great, but that doesn’t change the fact that nobody knows who they are unless they read the story. Stick to the “Original Characters” tag and the gendered variants, no matter you have.



The most important thing about tagging on AO3 is something people forget far too often - Just because you can use as many tags as you want doesn’t mean you should. This is the golden rule for tagging on AO3: You shouldn’t have more than 10 character tags and 5 relationship tags with one massive exception, see below.

A couple more things:

Use the “Undisclosed Relationships” tag. You don’t have to tag every relationship – surprise! If two side characters (read – not important) falling in love is a side plot that the story doesn’t focus on, then you don’t need to tag it! If two characters were dating in a flashback, you don’t need to tag it! Keep your relationships tag to the important ones.



You don’t have to tag every relationship – surprise! If two side characters (read – not important) falling in love is a side plot that the story doesn’t focus on, then you don’t need to tag it! If two characters were dating in a flashback, you don’t need to tag it! Keep your relationships tag to the important ones. Usually, you shouldn’t tag platonic relationships. As a general rule of thumb, don’t tag these, because they’ll distract from your other relationships. However, if your story is gen (no shipping) then it’s okay to tag the main relationship your focusing on. To do this, tag it using the & sign instead of the / sign to indicate it’s a platonic relationship and not slash.

As a general rule of thumb, don’t tag these, because they’ll distract from your other relationships. However, if your story is gen (no shipping) then it’s okay to tag the main relationship your focusing on. Relationship Tags are distracting. This might seem like a trivial point, but it’s actually really important to remember that relationship tags are designed to stand out. That’s why they have a gray background. If you have to many, it’s much harder to focus on your other tags.

This might seem like a trivial point, but it’s actually really important to remember that relationship tags are designed to stand out. That’s why they have a gray background. If you have to many, it’s much harder to focus on your other tags. None of the principles apply to smut. People are kinky. If you’re writing a fic where you’re shipping one character with literally everyone else from that fandom, feel free to tag every single pair/trio/orgy mentioned and shown in the fic. People want to know when their desired relationship is being shown, so tell them. Basically for Explicit fics only, but also might go for a big harem fic that’s rated M/T.



Archive Warnings (AO3):

These aren’t that hard to understand. If your characters are dying in droves, tag Major Character Death. If rape is mentioned, then tag Rape/Non-Con. If you’re writing smut about fifteen year olds, tag Underage. If your characters are getting torn apart in a slow torturous death with lots of blood, tag Graphic Depictions of Violence.

Do not use “Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings.” Some writers accidentally equate this with “No Warnings Apply,” but it’s an instant red flag for most readers. It comes across as shady and untrustworthy, and readers won’t want to read your work.

There really shouldn’t be any General rated stories with archive warnings. If you need to use them, then it’s at least a Teen rated fic.

Content Tags (AO3):

Finally, we come to content tags. These pose an interesting question, because you can tag literally anything here. Your goal here should be to pose the more technical side of your summary – talk about plot points and devices here, not there. FFN doesn’t give you that liberty, so you should take advantage of it.

What to put in your content tags:

Tropes: People search for things like “Soul Bond” or “Time Travel” all the time. You should absolutely be tagging these things, because they will attract your target audience to your story.



People search for things like “Soul Bond” or “Time Travel” all the time. You should absolutely be tagging these things, because they will attract your target audience to your story. AUs: For all of the college and high school AUs out there. Not a bad idea to tag “AU – Canon Divergence” or “AU – Alternative History” if and when they apply.



For all of the college and high school AUs out there. Not a bad idea to tag “AU – Canon Divergence” or “AU – Alternative History” if and when they apply. Trigger Warnings: AO3’s content warnings don’t cover everything. You should tag specifications for general warnings, things like self-harm and bullying, and generally darker content.



AO3’s content warnings don’t cover everything. Sexual Content: Tag your kinks, folks.



Tag your kinks, folks. Alternative Relationship Tags: This is mostly personal preference, but I think tagging things like ship names should happen in the content tags, not the relationship tags. For example, my OTP has five different ship names and I tag them all, but I only put the “Character A/Character B” in the relationship tags. Again, remember that the gray can be super distracting and should be minimized.



This is mostly personal preference, but I think tagging things like ship names should happen in the content tags, not the relationship tags. For example, my OTP has five different ship names and I tag them all, but I only put the “Character A/Character B” in the relationship tags. Again, remember that the gray can be super distracting and should be minimized. Genre: Basically, follow the same Genre process as FFN or tag some more specific subgenres. Great examples would be tagging “Noir” or “Steampunk.”



Basically, follow the same Genre process as FFN or tag some more specific subgenres. Great examples would be tagging “Noir” or “Steampunk.” Other Keywords: Most things should have been covered by the others, but any important one to three word descriptors can be added to.



What Not To Do:

Long Tags: No tag should ever be more than four words, unless it’s something Canon specific.



No tag should ever be more than four words, unless it’s something Canon specific. Tumblr Tags: The tags are not a place for your meta thoughts. Throwing a “omg i need more coffee” or a “bumblebee is literally the cutest thing ever” says the same thing as the classic “I suck at summaries, read anyways.”



The tags are not a place for your meta thoughts. Throwing a “omg i need more coffee” or a “bumblebee is literally the cutest thing ever” says the same thing as the classic “I suck at summaries, read anyways.” “ I suck at summaries, read anyways.”: We’ve established this. If you tell me you suck at writing or “Why Did I Post This,” I will take your word for it and avoid your story.



We’ve established this. If you tell me you suck at writing or “Why Did I Post This,” I will take your word for it and avoid your story. Unimportant Tags: If it’s not important to the story, don’t tag it. So simple.

The discourse from the last post was amazing and a lot of people brought up awesome points. What’s your personal tagging philosophy?

Thank you all, Allie

Support Me: Fanfiction.net - Archives of our Own