Writing Tip #2438:

writing tip #2438:

being able to read your own handwriting is helpful, but not necessary

writing playlist: on

google docs: open

mind: ready

A Small Suggestion

Hey guys, an AO3 tag wrangler here with a small suggestion for making the lives of wranglers and the Abuse volunteers and all your fellow users a little easier. You know that impulse to post a “PROMPT ME, I WILL TAKE ANY OF THESE 50 SHIPS IN 30 FANDOMS” work?

Please don’t. These make everyone cry.

Look at all those fandoms and ship tags… that this work doesn’t apply to! Look at the fact that this isn’t even a work yet! Look at all those tags you’re asking wranglers to wrangle, usually not the existing canonicals, that appear in the bins of 30 different wrangling teams, flooding the smaller teams and annoying the big ones! Look at the Abuse volunteers getting 3 reports for your work in the first day and having to talk to you and reply to each of those people!

I have a better suggestion: personal prompt meme.

Aw yeah, AO3 has prompt memes and allows personal collections! Imagine your personal prompt collection:

Control when it’s open and closed!

Post a link in the notes of all your works!

Post a link on your blog and your AO3 profile!

Post the things you’ll accept in the Rules/FAQ section of the collection!

Use claims or gifts to notify the prompter when you’ve posted a work for their prompt!

Easily delete prompts that don’t follow your rules!

Post each work separately and gift each one to the prompter to build relationships and encourage interest from new fans who just noticed your work!

So much control, so much useful organization, so many fewer frustrated users finding a work with two chapters, neither of which applies to most of the relationships or fandoms tags. Why burn your bridges with some users when you’re trying for positive attention for your works?

Just imagine it: “[YourName]′s Personal Prompt Meme*”. Your name on a collection on AO3. All for you.

Let’s make this a thing, yeah?

reminder to myself about the process of drafting & revising:

first drafts are for making it exist

second drafts are for making it functional

third drafts are for making it effective

me: *opens a new doc for a new fic*

the 629 started wips of mine that have been sitting untouched for 84 years: