to get interactions of twitter vs ao3: as a reader, interacting on twitter has become so much more difficult i. the past couple of monts…half the time i like tweets, suddenly the likes are gone, trying to qrt gives me errors, and i’ve multiple times had my account locked for “bot-like behaviour” when supporting an author by liking every tweet in a thread. it sucksssss :(
i still read on twitter bc some of my fave authors only post there, but ao3 is a million times better and easier…esp if updating irregularly, because i can actually sort my bookmarks by date updated. also on ao3 i regularly discover old fics as well! but on twitter, unless it gets a massive amount of interactions, old threads will never pop up when i search. i love authors who have twitter so i can support them on a personal/more direct level, but for reading? i would really encourage putting everything on there for those who can/want. for socmed au’s you can even do ao3 formatting by searching “ao3 twitter” or “ao3 workskins” on ao3, there’s so many resources!!

Ahhhh something I forgot to mention with tagging! Some people who are new to tagging get worried that they’re spoiling the story. I used to worry like that, too, but over time I’ve realized that even five fics with the same tag will all express that tag differently. The way you handle a tag as an author can and will still give the full emotional effect, even if you technically ‘spoiled’ it. It may be a bit stuck up of me to say this, but trust your writing to carry the full effect of the event that tag describes to the reader, even if they know it’s coming. It will! I’ve had so many times where I knew an event was coming and when the event happened you would have thought it was untagged by my reaction, haha. Tbh as a writer that’s sometimes my favorite part of reading, is looking forward to the tagged item (even if it’s ‘bad’ haha) and freaking out when it gets there.
Casting around for examples and think of it like when your friend says they’re getting dressed up for an event! They might tell you “I’m gonna wear that gold dress with a black jacket” and you might know exactly what they’re talking about, but when you both arrive for the event the way it looks on them (fabulous) is still gonna merit compliments/admiration/gushing. If it’s something you’ve only seen them in a few times and you just /know/ they’ll look amazing, it also creates anticipation! So while tagging things that say a lot about the fic but might be a trigger, just remind yourself that for as many people as there are who will avoid it, there are plenty of weirdos like me (affectionate!) who will nod through the tags, read the summary, and go “oooooh yes. This sounds like a perfect evening” haha. You got this!

As an angst writer, here’s a (non-exhaustive) explanation of how I figure out tagging for triggers:
Like I mentioned in another ask, all of my fics feature the tags “Other Additional Tags to Be Added” and “Additional Warnings in Author’s Note”. I’m an intuitive writer and sometimes fics take sharp turns I didn’t see coming, so it gives me leeway to warn the readers if there’s a shift that could potentially affect the maturity rating/trigger people. Otherwise I usually go off of anything that touches these categories:
Death: animal death, main character death, side character death, themes of death, death of a parent, temporary character death, suicide (these might seem obvious, but they’re really not— sometimes a reader has just lost someone and might pick up the story without thinking, and it could be more triggering than usual, so these are tags I’m a stickler about. I will absolutely spoil whether the death is permanent in my author’s note if I think it’s necessary.)
Mental Health: Panic Attacks, Suicide Attempts, Dissociation, Depression, Anxiety, Specific Disorders like DID or BPD. Eating Disorders and Self-Harm also fall into this category, in my experience. Depending on the prevalence of the themes I’ll also tag for lack of self care, bad self-talk, and self-destructive behaviors like addiction, as they can become sub-themes. These are themes people with mental health issues will also go looking for sometimes but will also need to avoid at other times.
Sex and Sexuality: Kinks, Sex The Act, and potentially acts leading up to sex/generally agreed upon as foreplay like sexual jokes/teasing or a character touching another character in any way with the intent to initiate. (This comes out of my upbringing in a cult mixed with having friends who are sex-repulsed. They’re not necessarily triggering but deserve a fair warning)
Social/Familial Issues: Abuse (Mental/Physical/Sexual/Emotional/Etc.), Discrimination, Overt Themes of Oppression, Rape, Assault, Bullying, Harassment, etc. (As with Mental Health Issues, sometimes people are there for the catharsis of reading these things and others need to avoid them at all costs.)
I also write hurt/comfort, and when I do I usually tag for the levels and types of pain experienced, whether they be emotional, mental, physical, etc. Think scrapes versus broken bones, hurt feelings vs a depressive episode, or a story about school overwhelm versus psychological torture.
This is also where the ‘additional warnings in author’s note’ really comes in handy. Sometimes an issue appears for a single chapter or paragraph and never happens again. When that happens, putting it in the main tags could be misleading (I phrase that this way because some people look for fics on issues, because that kind of hurt-comfort can also be soothing and cathartic for them; if I were to tag something with a mental health issue that only plays a role in one chapter, that could lead to misunderstanding). In cases like that, I add the specific warning to the author’s note box so it appears before they read the chapter. To be extra clear, I mean the one right under the title box, not the smaller one you can choose to include or not include. It’s more visible that way, and I usually add to that by putting the warnings in all caps, if I’m worried about people reading without checking.
Which brings me to an interesting point: when you get more established, you start to get regular readers (you do! I’ve got a few I recognize by profile pic! And I’m ‘small’!), and you may notice patterns in their comments that indicate whether they’re the type to rush headlong into a chapter and all caps are needed. I’ve had regulars scare the crap out of me leaving comments like ‘whoops, didn’t see the warning ;p’ so when I spot them I’ll usually shift the way I type the warnings to make them more visible just in case. Usually all that takes is all-caps… but I’ve also been a huge dramatic in the note to make it longer and harder to accidentally skim. That’s up to you!
This method definitely isn’t a catch-all for triggers; usually you have to build up enough of a rapport with your readers that they’ll tell you if you’ve missed something, and that can be tricky. But I’ve found that usually as long as I cover the bases in these categories, readers know enough to make an informed decision about my writing, and the extra warnings have also helped some of them relax and enjoy the fic more. If tagging your entire fic in one go is overwhelming, try tagging it chapter by chapter through the notes and moving consistent tags to the main tags section as you go, in combo with those two tags I mentioned at the top! It might take some of the stress off because you don’t have to figure it all out at once or know everything that might happen.
Gah, long again! I hope something in this can be helpful for someone <3 I saw mod is starting a new job— good luck! I hope all goes well :3

Re: a question I saw about tagging

As an author with a lot of ongoing works, two of my absolute favorite tags are “other additional tags to be added” and “additional warnings in author’s note”! It’s less overwhelming to go chapter by chapter and update tags as needed, and this way readers still have an explicit warning that not everything may be covered in the tags. I also generally ask for feedback, but I think like the anon mentioned a lot of readers might feel shy because other requests weren’t responded to, because I don’t usually hear back about it.
Also, something that might overwhelm newer writers (at least on Ao3) is that sometimes you have a tag, and then a ‘mild’ version of the tag and a ‘graphic’ version of the tag. Of course there’s no hard and fast rule, but I think of it this way: if it’s one or two sentences or gives a vague description, it’s probably mild! If the description is straightforward but still polite, and takes up around a paragraph, it’s fine to just tag the item as is with no ‘clarifying’ bit. But if it goes into detail in any way, especially for multiple paragraphs, you’ll definitely want the ‘graphic’ version of the tag.
Let me see if I can come up with a non-triggering example, I’m an angst writer so gotta be careful lol. Hm.
Maybe this:
“It was hot” = ‘mild heat/mentions of heat’
“Character groaned, hissing as their hand brushed the hot leather seats. The heat wave was going on two weeks now, with no signs of cooling down.” = heat
“Waves of hot air rose from the pavement as character wandered down the street. Their sneaker soles had already begun to melt. The sun beat down on their skin, seeping through the layers of would-be sun protection to cook them like their own personal oven. A heat wave, their leaders called it— it felt more like death.” = graphic heat
Not my best work lol but hopefully it helps paint a picture! The divide between a tag and a graphic tag can be tricky to navigate, but most readers know what they can handle, and just putting the tag in there should be enough of a heads-up if you’re not sure; I’ve definitely read fics that were more explicit than I was ready for, and usually the item was tagged skdfjldk I just underestimated the author’s talent for description. Most readers know to back out!
I have more advice re: basic tagging but this is getting long so I’ll write a separate ask. I hope this is helpful! Tagging definitely seems like a big huge stressful thing but over the years I’ve found ways to make it easier on myself while giving readers fair warning about content so I’ll try to pass on what I can, and hopefully something sticks for someone! ;w;

hello mod. i apologize for coming to your retrospring to vent but i had nowhere else to go. i’m a small rare-pair writer and lately i’ve been thinking about giving up on it. i love my rare pair ships (taejoon & 2seok) but when i look at my engagement compared to fellow mutuals, who write for slightly popular ships, i fear i’m overlooked. i do have a regular reader who enjoys my work, but i don’t want to feel like i’m putting all my expectations for them to show up to every fic i write. is it wrong for wanting at least three people openly excited about my rare pairs and my fics? am i asking for too much?

[[[I think that as a community, the distinction between a "big" writer and a "small" writer might be more hazy than we realize. There are writers out there who I would consider to be "big," who still think of themselves as very small. And if the me from a year ago could see the me of right now, I would think of myself as being a "big" writer, even though I currently consider myself to be quite small.]]]

THIS!!! I've been writing in the BTS fandom for more than five years now, and there was once I met a moot in real life and they told me I was famous. Which really made me think, because while I'm doing pretty okay and definitely get more engagement than when I first started, I'm also one who's hardly on those top lists. I have fics that get barely any kudos/comments/engagement, and I have fics that are more well-liked. or at least were more well-liked once upon a time...

Numbers shouldn't matter and yet I patiently count and check for comments every time I post something. It took me very long to be okay with the fact that not everyone or every fic is going to be a fandom top #1-10.

even now I still get into bleak moods about my writing and engagement. we as writers/creators write or draw for free, because we have stories we want to tell, creativity we wish to unleash! we also shouldn't be too hard on ourselves for feeling down when the engagement (mayhaps one of the more tangible forms of "reward") isn't what we hoped for. it's valid!

hope this wasn't all over the place!
anons - you're NOT alone!
and readers/followers - share/ rave/ comment/ RT when you enjoy something! a small act of RTing/keyboard smashing is all may it take to make someone's day!

Hey! I would like to ask a question to all the writer out there using this. I hope It's okay with you.

I want to know why do some of you writers get offended/defensive whenever one of your reader ask you about a update? It’s not like they are pressuring you, they are just asking a simple question. What's so wrong in it?

Instead of  getting upset shouldn’t you be happy that someone out there is reading your fic and waiting patiently for your next update? Shouldn’t that motivate you? Make you feel better? Why do some of you always reply so passive aggressively?

Honestly as someone who read a lot, getting such a passive aggressive response from your favourite author is heartbreaking. It’s one of the reason author nowadays doesn’t get much comment on their fic. Readers are afraid that they will offend the writer by wanting a update for a next chapter or showing their excitement about it. I usually doesn’t ask for an update because of this one single reason. Sometimes it gets month before the author update and i think readers should be allowed to ask this simple question without feeling guilty.

I Once asked a author when were they going to update the next chapter since it was over three-four months since their last update. They replied so passive aggressively, talking and complaining about how writers also have a life and blah blah blah and i shouldn’t make them feel more guilty than they already were feeling for not updating. I swear i almost cried that day and never read that fic ever Again. It really hurts when your favourite author Behave like a shit to you.

After that i stopped interacting with my favourite authors, i am afraid i will offend some of them or they will behave rudely with me i only response when they upload a new chapter.

Please please be kind to your readers while answering this singular question. You can reply with simple 'i am working hard on it for you all' 'life has been a bit rough so i am taking some time off' 'thank you for loving the story, i am not sure when can i update next since i am currently busy in my real life.'

You can be kind respectful and still show your point. No need to get so offended or passive aggressive.

At last please be kind to your readers if you want them to be kind to you.

Thank you.