ffwriteradvisor

[ffwriteradvisor]

that's... not how it works. you can't guarantee that your work definitely won't squick anyone. what do you think you're saying?

[ffwriteradvisor]

Lol this is so real, this was me 2022-2023 going through stage 7 grief. But ANYway...

[ffwriteradvisor]

Fanfic is a free hobby.

It's one of the last few things we can have as a society that's free. You can engage, for free. People give you things (art, stories, etc), for free.

Don't buy into the consummerism just because it's everywhere else.

You don't have to consume everything you interact with. You don't have to use things, just because they exist.

You're allowed (still, for now), to have things that are enjoyable for free.

Do you realise how insane the world is? We don't have many places where we can just be, for free anymore, but ao3 is. Did you notice we don't have ads in ao3? We don't have pop ups? Where ELSE do we not have that?

Where else can you just go and not have to wait for a commercial to be over or for ads to be on the sidelines?

I don't think the younger people understand, but the whole of internet used to be like this. YouTubers would do Youtube for free, just because. You couldn't monetise your internet presence before.

Ao3 is like a little preserved corner of the internet where the old internet used to be, and it's being attacked by people who do not understand that free things are allowed to exist without judgment.

Please don't ruin this for us.

Some of us need it.

[ffwriteradvisor]

Wow, now there's a bot going around on Ao3 telling people that the "moderators" will delete works from "deprecated" fandoms and impose bans.

Fearmongering bullshit, but it's fearmongering bullshit that seems to be taking advantage of the recent spotlight series in order to trick authors into deleting their fics.

Just. Why.

What the hell does anyone get out of making these bots.

[ffwriteradvisor]

hey you're doing a great job, just remember: a semicolon can be used to combine two sentences where you might otherwise use a period; this allows you to create longer and longer run-on sentences

[ffwriteradvisor]

I think one of the hardest things as a writer posting a story serially is accepting that readers come and go naturally over time (if you're lucky enough to have readers in the first place, which is its own uphill battle) and that it's not necessarily a reflection on yourself as a creator. People have lives, and a years-long story is a massive commitment. They might stop reading for any number of totally valid reasons! But it's always a bit bittersweet to see people fade along the way. I still think often about how certain readers might react to certain developments, even if they haven't commented in months. I just hope they know how much I appreciated the time they did spend with it, and I hope they're doing well wherever they are. 💕

[ffwriteradvisor]

Ao3 does not need an algorithm, you're just lazy

Ao3 does not need a 1-5 star rating system, you just want to bring down authors writing for FREE

Ao3 does not need automatic censorship, it is an archive, therefore anything can be posted

Writing or reading about something illegal does not mean the author nor the reader condones it, if that were true, you could never read a story involving anything negative

Purity culture is ruining fan culture and you all are fucking annoying

[ffwriteradvisor]

Lew's guide to leaving long and detailed comments on fic--what to say and how to say it

there is little else that brings me joy in the world quite like leaving long, rambly, detailed comments on fic. maybe it's just the undiagnosed-probable-adhd-or-whatever, but i love having any opportunity to gush extensively about things i enjoy (as i'm doing right now). who better to gush to about a fic than the author?

however, when ive spoken occasionally to friends about fic and comments, i've seen a lot of the same sentiment. "I would love to leave more detailed comments, i just don't know what to say!"

many people will tell you that a comment can be as simple as "<3" or "[incoherent screaming]" or "this was great! second kudos!" this is true, but it leaves you with very vague and unspecific comments. i'm here to tell you how to do more than that!

what it boils down to is details.

in all writing, being specific can really strengthen a piece. i believe a comment is no different. the easiest thing you can do is copy-paste (or, if you're on your phone, remember and paraphrase) lines you like, but anything is good. include a quote you liked, paraphrase a joke. "i loved the joke [Character] said about the airplane" or "that section about the doll was really pretty!"

once i've found the detail(s) i liked, i then elaborate why i liked them! was it a joke that made me laugh? something soul-crushing that i want them to be aware of for making me suffer? "i loved the section of prose about the tree on the hill. it was gorgeous, and the writing made me feel really bittersweet."

i then will try to say more than "this made me laugh/cry/etc". yeah, it did, but why? "the way A and B were joking in this scene made me feel happy" is good to include! adding "it shows how far they've come from their argument in chapter 3" is great!

i try to make each detail i talk about be like... 3+ sentences. this is a detail i liked. this is how it made me feel. this is specifically why it made me feel the way it did.

(if you happen to be thinking "hey, lew, this sounds like a book report" know that i am, uh,

...aware.)

(meg, if you see this, this is still the best thing anyone has ever said to me)

once you've done these steps, you've got a pretty solid comment! all you have to do is stack a handful of details you loved, some elaborations on to why, and you've got a damn good comment. plus, when you do this, it's not only the author who benefits. but, life-hack, it can often benefit you, the reader!

being specific and detailed with a comment can help the author see what audience likes, which can influence them to make more of that thing.

"I loved this fic!" will get a happy author.

"i loved this fic because i love your sense of humor, especially the way you characterize this guy and his dynamic with his friend!" will get you a happy author whose writing you like who is now more inclined to write something funny about your favorite characters

furthermore, it helps you actually encode the fic and remember it. if you're reading something ongoing, being detailed in your comments will help you remember what's happening in the plot and keep it in your mind moving forward.

if you're also a writer, taking note of what you like in other fic will help you when you write your own. this is what writers mean when they say "read more" when giving advice to new writers--critical thought in your reading will help you in your writing

now, i'm not done with this post yet! if you want to read the ramblings of a lunatic who loves to comment, then keep reading

alright, so i have a ton more under this cut, so be excited for that i guess. i just think commenting is a lot of fun, so i have a lot of suggestions of things you can consider when leaving comments. if you can take away just one or two tips from this, i'll be happy!

first, here is how i decide when i have Enough details, and how i go about the actual act of writing and formatting my comments:

for chapters or oneshots with multiple scenes, i try to hit on at least one detail i liked per scene. it's nice to do more, of course, but just one detail is enough. something as simple as "i loved the humor in the second scene! the joke about the cake batter especially made me laugh! it really sounded like something she would say!" doing it like this helps me keep the comment i guess "proportional" to how long the piece i'm reading is.

when i'm writing my comment, i do a new section per every Thing, so like. praise for A's characterization in the first scene, then a new line for B and C's interaction in the first scene. this is more for readability than anything, but it also makes the comment look longer--something i know an author will appreciate, since i'm also someone who writes fic lmao.

i do lots of jumping around when im writing my comment. i often bullet out a bunch of stuff i wanna hit with one sentence, and then double back to elaborate. i think it's easier to do this and get out all my gut reactions and helps me make sure i dont forget any of the details i like, then i can get into my elaborations without worrying im going to lose any of the details i liked. plus, its easier to sort out what i'm feeling once i've got my list!

next, how to decide what details to pick.

first, the Intro To Details, here's stuff you can look out for

thoughtful characterization--sometimes you read a fic and you see an author just gets a character. let them know! do you think his dialogue sounds like something he would really say? do you think her actions at a tense scene made sense for her character? do you like the arc that a character is going on? these are things to look out for and note!

enjoyable dynamics between characters--what's better than one character? two! if i had a nickel for every time ive commented on how much the dialogue between two friends in a fic i'm reading sounds cozy/comfortable i would be a millionaire. comment on stuff like how a dynamic changes throughout a fic too, esp if you're reading ship fic

beautiful prose--did some description of a setting take your breath away? could you picture the place oh-so clearly? tell them!

prose which is NOT beautiful--i read plenty of horror fic, so sometimes the prose isn't pretty. sometimes it's graphic detail about worms in someone's flesh, or someone being crushed to death, or what have you. did it make me cringe? did it make my skin crawl? did it make me want to crawl into a hole and never come out? great!

interesting or affecting descriptions--did the way an author laid out a certain's character's feelings on an event/person/action knock you off your feet? if describing a character's resolve in a tense scene as a raging storm blows you away, note that! this is a good place to pick specific quotes.

action scenes--this might just be me talking as a writer, but action is so fucking hard to write. when i read a good action/fight scene i always point it out. if its exciting/engaging, has you on the edge of your seat, if you cant put the fic down and look away... all of that is stuff you want to point out!

another genre specific ones, but if you're reading something with an element of mystery, try pointing out details you think are important. maybe you can't solve the mystery, but if you say "i noticed [name] take something from the table--what did he take? why did he need it? did [name2] notice?" then you at least know you're paying attention. this also helps you remember those details, which can help you later in any ongoing story!

jokes that made me laugh--bonus points if you can point out what's funny about it. is it clever? dry humor you like? just silly and stupid and made you smile? say so!

if you're reading an AU fic, it's always good to point out details about the adaption. if you enjoy the worldbuilding in the fantasy au you're reading, or you think the powers the author picked for the superhero au are really fitting, or you just think the job of this side character in the coffee shop au is funny, say so!

demonstrations of technical skill--sometimes you see a sentence and you know if it was worded any other way it just wouldn't hit as hard. sentences that make nice use of alliteration, for example, or effective use of parallelism or repetition. if the way a sentence is structured compels you, point it out! it's nice to hear! this is ALSO a good place to pick specific quotes. (this one is especially fun to note if you're a writer, because it can help you out! if you like the way an author writes, being able to identify and explain what you like about it will help you in your own writing!)

every time you laugh, every time you gasp, every time your eyes water. cite specific lines and details if you can. i've read a fic that stressed me out so bad i had to repeatedly put my phone down and take breathers, and the author LOVED that i kept a list of every part that made me have to go take a walk.

all in all, just find what makes you like a fic. why are you reading this fic instead of a different one? what makes this fic special? identify that and show it!

now, the less-obvious details i like to watch for

if i wrote this chapter, what would i be proud of? what would i most what to see people comment on? one of my favorite things is when i read a specific bit of wordplay or clever phrasing that i know, if i had wrote it, would have been my favorite parts. i try to note those when i can.

on the other end, i also like to point out stuff i don't think the writer would expect. i read a fic this morning which, after a long, tense, dangerous plot, had a scene in the last chapter about making cake. in it was a detail, delivered almost as an aside, about how much of a sweet tooth one of the more tough, stoic characters had. after everything that had happened in the story, that detail really got me, and i made sure to note how much i loved it

this one's really silly but if they use a song lyric for their title and you know/like that song say so. there's someone who does that for one of my fics when they know the song and i feel so fuckin vindicated every time

now i will admit this one is kind of an unhinged thing to do, however it's one i do a lot: i try to think about what other readers would mention, and make sure i'm NOT picking that. after all, i want the author to get recognition for the whole chapter, not just the Big Thing that happened. if a long chapter ends with someone pulling out a gun, you know every single comment is gonna be something like "[name] has a gun!!!", so say literally anything else. for example, if there's a big plot twist at the end of the chapter....

i know that half the comments are gonna be "[BIG PLOT TWIST]!!!!" and, often, nothing else. so ill look for something else to mention (esp in that scene!). it can be a little disheartening as a writer to do a lot in one chapter, and then have it all be outshined by an offhand joke or a cliffhanger at the end of the chapter, so i try to do what i can to cover the rest

im probably not immune to hypothetical big plot twist, so when i touch on it, i try to go into more detail than "omg plot twist" and talk about something that's effective about it. did i see it coming? can i look back now and see the signs? how does this effect what i thought was going to happen? what do i think will happen next?

now that you've got how to note down details that ARE in the fic, i'm going to note some details that AREN'T. a lot of this is stuff that can help you think more deeply about the fic you're reading, which is good for you developing your critical thinking skills as both a writer and a reader, as well as improving your ability to remember the piece you're reading

(obviously, this doesn't need to be on every fic, but if a fic engages you enough to get these kinds of thoughts going, you should say so!)

theorize! it proves you're paying attention and thinking about the piece! guess what is going to happen next! use evidence, and cite those specific details. "[name] said this and did that, those were both suspicious. does this mean he was the killer?"

theorizing is fun, too, even if you're wrong--one of my favorite reviews ive ever received was a long theory where the commenter was very blatantly wrong. i loved it because, even if they didnt come to the conclusion id intended, they pointed out a lot of details id been careful about including to back their theory up, and it was nice to see those things noticed!

related: if you don't have evidence-based theories, then speculate! wonder about how characters are going to react to the events of the chapter, talk about what the protagonist might do next, express concern or excitement about a potential direction the plot might go. "some of these details look like they're pointing to [name]'s escape failing... does his captor already know what he's planning?" or "she got the letter... i don't think she's going to read it, but if she does, i hope she'll realize he's lying."

(and, here's a secret: sometimes saying something like "I wonder how [name] is going to react to [event]? i think she might do [action] or feel [emotion]" can also help the writer out! because maybe they hadn't thought of it like that, and now that you've raised this point, it can help them when they're writing the next part. maybe you're right, she will react a certain way--but only because you pointed it out!)

(theories and speculation can ALSO help an author who hasn't yet totally decided on their fic's ending, lmao)

now, my final, more miscellaneous tips:

abandon shame. gush a ton. say stupid shit. be excited. flattery (when genuine) will get you everywhere, lmao.

mention how you got to this fic, and/or if you're thinking about it when you're not reading it. "i'm rereading this," "i'm reading this because my friend recommended it to me," "i was just thinking/talking about this yesterday so i'm so excited to see it update now," "every time you update i drop everything to read this"... these are all great! i once left a comment which included a count of every time my roommate looked over at my expression/reactions when reading and asked me if i was okay. all these details serve to remind the author "there's a real person reading your work and enjoying it," and i know that when i write, i love to know people are excited about my work or that it lingers with them even when theyre not reading it

im constantly studying and remembering comments i get on my fic that made me happy, analyzing what i liked about those comments, and trying to do the same for other people. many of these tips are things i noticed in my own comment section that i enjoyed!

NOW, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO ALL OF THIS. i'm sure you can tell by the size of this post that i'm already prone to talking a lot, but I don't even do everything here all at once in every review i write. but, still, i hope that this helps in showing things you can think about when you write a comment!

EDIT 05/13/22: this post got a little uptick in notes, and there’s really only one thing i just want to add.

thoughtful commenting is, in my opinion, a skill, just like anything else! to do really well at it, you’ll need to practice! so leave lots of comments doing just one or two of these things at a time. soon you’ll end up with a toolbox like the one i’ve laid out!

it’s also a lot easier to think up stuff you liked if you’re already talking, so even if you’re not sure what to say, start typing. once you’ve got the ball rolling, the rest will often come to you much more easily

[ffwriteradvisor]

For all those who complain about explicit “smutty” books or smut in fic in general:

Just be aware that a bill has been introduced in Oklahoma’s state senate (SB 593) that would make writing/publishing/owning an explicit romance book a felony.

So, when you come on here to espouse your “anti pro-ship” nonsense, or moan about how hard it is to find fics/art/books that aren’t “smutty” — know that this is the effect. You are being used as mouthpieces to help feed and perpetuate censorship. There is no room for censorship in fiction because it will never stop at what you deem morally “right”. It is about control and the restriction of speech. Your discomfort with sex in media does not make it wrong, and it certainly doesn’t mean you get to advocate for its restriction.

Do not be pawns in the far-right’s game. Do not call yourselves allys of any kind if you are willingly feeding into a pillar of far right extremism. It will not stop where you think it “should.”

[ffwriteradvisor]

Genuinely don't know what it's called but there's a particular way of violating reality that doesn't work. For example, I am willing to accept an omegaverse university AU of nearly any fandom you care to name (except, for some reason, Sherlock, because I have an inexplicable hatred for unilock). However, a lot of Star Wars university AUs specifically fail on this aspect: they make Anakin an engineering PhD student and Obi-Wan something like literature or classics, and then they make Anakin his TA or GA.

You can't do that. Absolutely not. Anakin is unqualified for that and a university would not do it in any case. A university would literally hire a junior or senior undergraduate workstudy student to do as much of that work as possible first. They would do NOTHING other than do that and make the prof do all his own grading.

Is there a name for "I will accept [wild fantasy premise] but not [ordinary wrong thing]?" Please tell me there's a name for this. Probably someone who studies lit will know? I'm a systems person I don't know from lit theory just like Anakin

[ffwriteradvisor]

AO3 filters are incredible. The show ended over a decade ago but you're only getting around to watching it now, and you want to avoid spoilers for later seasons? No worries; you can filter out anything posted/updated after a given air date. Don't want to see crossovers? Guess what -- you don't have to. Three clicks is all it takes to make them go away. ONLY want crossovers? They've got that option, too. In a hurry and only have a few minutes to read? Filter out everything over whatever word count you consider to be "too long." Absolutely can't stand this one character/trope/relationship? Exclude, exclude, exclude. And all they ask in return is that you tag your stuff properly. Incredible.

[ffwriteradvisor]

no way ppl are using ai to write ao3. what happened to being a tortured writer. what happened to blood on the page. what happened to the ao3 curse. people used to get run over, have their houses burned down, break their entire spines and they still put in the work to finish a chapter. fuck you, using ai. y’all are weak

[ffwriteradvisor]

Hi I've been trying to recover from being badly burnout for the past few years. it's affected my creativity and my writing I haven't been able to write for so long or get good ideas yet.

One of the things that come up for me while trying to recover is fear I have missed my chance back when I had more creative energy. I feel scared and anxious that I don't have it in me to come up with good stories. that I've already peaked. it's like I've lost confidence in my abilities to write. what if the things write from now on sucks. is there any advice you could give for what I'm going thorough?

The thing about burn-out is that you cannot rush healing from it. You are burnt-out because your mind has hit the very end of its limit, and no amount of forcing things will make you recover from it faster.

I completely understand feeling anxious that you've lost your chance and will never write again - especially now, frankly. But many, many people have been in that place before, and came out the other end. The world will still need art. Your voice is not dead, it just needs time to find its place again.

Start small. Take time to do non-writing hobbies - walks, art projects, reading books. Work by hand in a journal you don't have to share with anyone. Try a prompt a day, and the minute that feels like it's too much, go back to resting again.

The words will come, and you will want to share them, with time. But just as you cannot heal a broken leg by trying to run a marathon, your brain cannot overcome burn-out without rest first.

Allow yourself to rest. Sometimes that's the most radical thing you can do.

[ffwriteradvisor]

Full offense and pun fully intended, but I genuinely think the very existence of "dead dove, do not eat" was a fucking canary in the mines, and no one really paid attention.

Because the tag itself was created as a response to a fandom-wide tendency to disregard warnings and assume tagging was exaggerated. And then the same fucking idiots reading those tags describing things they found upsetting or disturbing or just not to their taste would STILL click into the stories and give the writer's grief about it.

And as a response writers began using the tag to signal "no, really, I MEAN the tags!"

But like.

If you really think about it, that's a solution to a different problem. The solution to "I know you tagged your story appropriately but I chose to disregard the tags and warnings by reading it anyway, even though I knew it would upset me, so now I'm upset and making it your problem" is frankly a block, a ban and wide-spread blacklisting. But fandom as a whole is fucking awful at handling bad faith, insidious arguments that appeal to community inclusion and weaponize the fact most people participating in fandom want to share the space with others, as opposed to hurting people.

So instead of upfront ridiculing this kind of maladaptive attempt to foster one's own emotional self-regulation onto random strangers on the internet, fandom compromised and came up with a redundant tag in a good faith attempt to address an imaginary nuance.

There is no nuance to this.

A writer's job is to tag their work correctly. It's not to tag it exhaustively. It's not even to tag it extensively. A writer's sole obligation, as far as AO3 and arguably fandom spaces are concerned, is to make damn sure that the tags they put on their story actually match whatever is going on in that story.

That's it.

That's all.

"But what if I don't want to read X?" Well, you don't read fic that's tagged X.

"But what if I read something that wasn't tagged X?" Well, that's very unfortunate for you, but if it is genuinely that upsetting, you have a responsibility to yourself to only browse things explicitly tagged to not include X.

"But that's not a lot of fic!" Hi, you must be new here, yes, welcome to fandom. Most of our spaces are built explicitly as a reaction to There's Not Enough Of The Thing I Want, both in canon and fandom.

"But there are things on the internet that I don't like!" Yeah, and they are also out there, offline. And, here's the thing, things existing even though we personally dislike or even hate or even flat out find offensive/gross/immoral/unspeakable existing is the price we pay to secure our right to exist as individuals and creators, regardless of who finds US personally unpleasant, hateful or flat out offensive/gross/immoral/unspeakable.

"But what about [illegal thing]?!" So the thing itself is illegal, because the thing itself has been deemed harmful. But your goddamn cop-poisoned authoritarian little heart needs to learn that sometimes things are illegal that aren't harmful, and defaulting to "but illegal!" is a surefire way to end up on the wrong side of the fascism pop quiz. You're not a figure of authority and the more you demand to control and exercise authority by command, rather than leadership, the less impressive you seem. You know how you make actual, genuine change in a community? You center harm and argue in good faith to find accommodations and spread awareness of real, actual problems.

But let's play your game. Let's pretend we're all brainwashed cop-abiding little cogs that do not own a single working brain cell to exercise critical thinking with. 99% of the time, when you cry about any given thing "being illegal!!!" you're correct only so far as the THING itself being illegal. The act or object is illegal. Depiction of it is not. You know why, dipshit? Because if depiction of the thing were illegal, you wouldn't be able to talk about it. You wouldn't be able to educate about it. You wouldn't be able to reexamine and discuss and understand the thing, how and why and where it happens and how to prevent it. And yeah, depiction being legal opens the door for people to make depictions that are in bad taste or probably not appropriate. Sure. But that's the price we pay, creating tools to demystify some of the most horrific things in the world and support the people who've survived them. The net good of those tools existing outweighs the harm of people misusing them.

"You're defending the indefensible!" No, you're clumsily stumbling into a conversation that's been going on for centuries, with your elementary school understanding of morality and your bone-deep police state rot filtering your perception of reality, and insisting you figured it out and everyone else at the table is an idiot for not agreeing with you. Shut the fuck up, sit the fuck down and read a goddamn book.

[ffwriteradvisor]

AO3 👏 TAGS 👏 ARE 👏 NOT 👏 SPOILERS 👏

i’m so tired of authors not tagging correctly because they don’t want to “spoil the fic”

correctly tagging your fic allows readers who DON’T want to read things like major character death, gore, mpreg or whatever may be their squick to filter your fic out from the main ship/fandom tag. not including the correct tags on your fic is harmful to readers and i’m tired of pretending it’s not.

“don’t like don’t read” great! i won’t! tag your fic correctly next time ffs

[ffwriteradvisor]

Who else is getting spammed with the latest generation of "I'd like to make art for your fic" comment on AO3 that turns into a relentless attempt to get your e-mail or Discord contact information?

I'm on round #3, and AO3 definitely recognizes this rigmarole as spam -- probably intended to get financial information using some excuse like a commission. It screams AI. The comments now come from Registered User accounts, and Instead of leading with an offer of art like the previous generation of guest comments, they reference some element of the fic like a character's name. If you reply, then you get the art come-on and the request to talk on e-mail or Discord; the first time, I suggested a Tumblr DM, and the reply just pushed again for the same contact info without any link to the presumed "artist's" work or other details you'd expect.

AO3 circulated a Tumblr post about the first generation of this crap, but I have not yet seen an update. If you get a fawning, generic comment from an unfamiliar Registered User that feels a little off-kilter -- as if they didn't actually read the fic -- click on the username before replying, especially if it ends in a string of numbers. You're likely to find a recently established account with no works, bookmarks, or other profile details -- just a name and maybe an avi. And if you've answered a comment from a new "reader" out of courtesy and promptly get the push to send your contact info, DON'T interact further. You can ignore the comment and AO3's spam detectors seem to track it down within a day, or you can file an abuse report.

I hate talking to robots when I call my doctor, my Internet provider or my power company, but I *really* hate having them try to fish me for personal information on AO3. Be alert and stay safe out there.

[ffwriteradvisor]

TBH maybe more people would rp with real humans instead of chatbots if we sat them down and taught everyone proper roleplay etiquette