#this one is kinda lazy but I wanted to post it before the poll drops

[moodie-mincrawave]

A very quick last minute propaganda ᗡ:

[allisonilluminated]

[A/N] A Comprehensive Guide to Author’s Notes

Hey all,

After doing a lot of writing, I realized that I really enjoy talking about writing too.  Hopefully these nuggets of wisdom I’ve gained from being a fairly established author on FFN will help somebody out in their own writing.

Anyways, I wanted to talk about author’s notes because I posted on Reddit about it and I’m lazy because they are misused so often.  I’ve made almost all of these mistakes myself.  Having good A/Ns can be the difference between a reader reviewing/commenting on your story or not, so here’s the most comprehensive guide on what to do and what not to do (A Lot) when you’re talking to your readers.

What to do in your starting notes:

Disclaimer (First Chapter Only).  Does it give you legal standing?  No.  I still do it anyways.

Trigger Warnings (First Chapter and Relative Chapter).  I know you with your dark kinky fic.  This is more specific to FFN since there aren’t archive warnings, but dear god, if there’s going to be brutal death or noncon or something else horrifying, tell your readers.

Title, Publish Date, Author Name, Chapter Title.  Putting some combination of these four things at the top of every chapter with the same formatting gives your readers consistency.  Also, it’s interesting to look back at publish dates and monitor your progress.

Acknowledgements:  Betas and Cover Artists, along with any other special thanks, should probably come at the top.

What to do in your end notes:

THANK YOUR READERS!  Small step, massive difference

Talk about your upload schedule.  This doesn’t necessarily mean a date, but your readers want to know when they’re getting more.  This includes talking about how close you are to finishing major sections and giving a good idea about story length.

Briefly summarize the chapter.  This might seem counter-intuitive at the end of a chapter, but it helps your reviewers out if you remind them of all the awesome things that just happened.  Something like Ruby did that.  Also, Yang gets something special.  This is where any clarifying details on the chapter go, and it’s more important the longer the chapter.

Personal life.  Connection is good, so feel free to share something about your life, like a birthday or your educational/professional life or deaths.  A lot of people enjoy feeling like they know the reader.  Remember that this is only good in small quantities, nobody wants to know what you ate for dinner or what your cat is doing.

Sign off.  This can be a catchphrase, just your name, whatever.  It gives your readers a sense of connection and finality after a chapter and before a long wait.

Mark your edits.  Date them too.  If you have at least a medium sized following (50+ followers) then I wouldn’t be surprised if one of those people really loves your story and wants to know what’s changing when.  In new chapters after an edit, you should refer to the edit here as well.

Humor: This is the hardest to do right, but if you can make your notes funny or witty readers will be much more lenient and positive to your fic.

What not to do (A Very Long List):

“I hate this chapter”  "This sucks, I’m sorry"  "If you’re still here"  "I suck at writing"  “I don’t really like this chapter.”  If you tell people your writing is bad, they might take your word for it!  

Please review!  Please follow!  Please favorite!  Please kudo!  Please bookmark!  Please comment!  I think we’re all guilty of doing this one at some point, but it really only hurts you.  It’s hard not to stick one of these in, but they really don’t do anything but make you seem desperate/needy

Spoilers/plot details.  If you need several paragraphs of A/Ns to tell me wtf is going on in your story, you’re not putting enough detail into your writing, and you will lose me.  Most people won’t read your author note, will be confused, and will drop your story  Also, it spoils the surprise and tension, so what the point of writing more after that?

Responding to reviews in the A/N.  This is what PMs are for.  One reviewer may ask a spoilery question.  You shouldn’t answer directly, but an indirect answer may still be considered a spoiler by another reader.  Don’t take that risk.

Daily question/Polls.  I’ve done both, and it’s tempting.  DQ’s can be fun, but it’s technically banned on FFN and it leads to a lot of reviews not actually talking about your story.  For polls, a story driven by the readers will not be a cohesive work.  Don’t let your creativity be overtaken by your reader’s desires

Fighting with reviewers.  If multiple reviewers call your character a Mary Sue, then that reader thinks she’s a Mary Sue.  Duh.  Everyone’s going to read your story differently, so it’s a waste of your time and effort to try to convince them to change that.

Middle of the story A/N.  Don’t.  You sound stupid and destroy the integrity of your work.

Mid-chapter song suggestions.  Nobody will click off in the middle of your chapter to play this song and come back.  Do it at the top if you must.

Detailed top A/Ns.  Your beginning A/N should not have a lot of content.  Warnings are the only things that should ever really go at the top.  If you’re way late to update, acknowledging that at the top isn’t a bad idea either, but that’s about it.

Preaching.  I have done this, and I very quickly got overwhelmingly negative feedback.  So you’re queer, or a minority, or some other disadvantaged identifier.  That’s great, and your identity is valid.  There’s no way to get readers to click away faster than to start explaining diversity and identity to them.  It sounds condescending.  NEVER do this one. If you’re trying to make a point about it, do it with your story, not your A/N.

No A/N.  It feels really impersonal and honestly kinda spammy.  We’re lucky to have platforms to connect directly to readers, so take advantage of it.

Full chapter A/N.  On the flipside, people read for your writing.  If you don’t have anything for them, don’t waste their time with a full A/N chapter.  Stick it on the end of your last chapter and make a note in the summary if you need to take a hiatus.  Post a drabble or something.  It doesn’t really matter, just don’t do this one.

Rants:  Like, it’s okay to be mad occasionally.  Just give me a concise paragraph, not a wall of text.

Talking about new episodes/books/movies:  Going back to spoilers, just don’t give them.  If you must do this, be vague, for all of our sakes.

Holding your fic hostage:  Do I even need to explain this one?

Editing your A/N:  Add a new one if you need to, but let your words stand.  It’s just the honest thing to do.

Bragging:  Your readers don’t really care about you, so don’t make it about you.  Talking endlessly about your stats is a huge turnoff for a lot of people

Talking to your characters:  Do I need to explain how weird this is?

Stories with great A/Ns:

Ashes of the Past by Saphroneth (Pokemon, T) has some great concise A/Ns.

Locked Away by N-I-N-T (Pokemon, T) is a good example of a longer A/N; some summary, some detail, and some interaction.

While there aren’t notes on every chapter, Harry Potter and the Metheods of Rationality by Less Wrong (Harry Potter, T) is a fantastic example of how to use A/Ns to start a first chapter and end a last chapter.

Finally, a wonderful example of how not to format an A/N is My Immortal (Harry Potter, NSFL)

Well, that’s a lot, but that’s the formula I find generates the most positive and constructive reviews/comments, as well as making it a better reading experience.  What’s your experience with Author Notes?  How do you connect with your readers?

Signing out, Allie.

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