The Fanfic Author's Guide to Metatext
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Fanfic Author's Guide to Metatext (As Used on Ao3) |
| Creator: | Eiiri |
| Date(s): | April 24th, 2021 |
| Medium: | Tumblr post, AO3 work, PDF shared on Google Drive |
| Fandom: | panfandom |
| Topic: | fanfiction metadata |
| External Links: | Tumblr Post, Archived version[5] AO3 Work, Archived version[6] PDF on Google Drive, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Fanfic Author's Guide to Metatext (As Used on Ao3) is a handbook authored by Eiiri on the effective use of metatext in fanfiction on AO3. Metatext is defined in the guide as "everything we fanfic authors post along with our story that is not the story itself", including tags, title, summary, author's notes, and rating. An author's note describes the guide as reflecting "the conventions of the English-language fanfiction community circa 2021."
The idea for the guide was originally described in a Tumblr post, Archived version[7] on Eiiri's main blog, Archived version[8] from April 11th, 2021. Updates on the guide's progress were provided in subsequent reblogs, Archived version[9]. The guide was posted as a Tumblr post on April 24th, 2021, and as an AO3 work on April 29th, 2021. A link to an updated PDF was posted in a Tumblr post, Archived version[10] on May 2nd, 2021.
Reception
As of December 28th, 2021, the original idea post on Tumblr has more than 28,780 notes[1], the Tumblr post containing the text of the guide has more than 2,200 notes[2], and a Tumblr post with the link to the original PDF file has more than 2,400 notes[3]. The AO3 work has more than 3200 hits, 130 comments, 250 kudos, and 190 bookmarks[4].
The Original Post with the Idea
I feel like there’s needs to be, like, handbook for authors who post on Ao3 for effective metatext.By metatext I mean like tagging, summary, and authors notes (especially initial authors notes at the beginning of a fic). The means by which we communicate to our readers what they’re getting into. Because we kind of all have to learn it by osmosis and there are conventions but nobody’s really taught them at the start, so there’s inconsistencies and misunderstandings or people just not knowing things through no fault of their own. This ends up breeding frustration and confusion and in the worst cases resentment, hurt, and aggression. I’m severely tempted to make such a handbook and get it circulating.
I think it would do fandom a lot of good.icannotreadcursive[1] (2021)
Notes Preceding the Text
Warning!
This is a guide for all authors on Ao3. As such, it mentions subject matter and kinds of fic that you personally might hate or find disgusting, but which are allowed under the Archive’s terms of use. There are no graphic descriptions or harsh language in the guide itself, but it does acknowledge the existence of fic you may find distasteful and explains how to approach metatext for such fics.
Some sexual terminology is used in an academic context.
A note from the author:
This guide reflects the conventions of the English-language fanfiction community circa 2021. Conventions may differ in other language communities, and although many of our conventions have been in place for decades (praise be to our Star Trek loving foremothers) fanfiction now exists primarily in the realm of internet fandom where things tend to change rather quickly, so some conventions in this guide may die out while other new conventions, not covered in this guide, arise.
This is not official or in any way produced by the Archive of Our Own (Ao3), and though some actual site rules are mentioned, it is not a rulebook. Primarily, it is a descriptivist take on how the userbase uses metatext to communicate amongst ourselves, provided in the interest of making that communication easier and more transparent for everyone, especially newer users.
Contents of the Guide
- Intro: What Is Metatext?
- How To Use This Guide
- Ratings
- Archive Warnings
- Fandom Tags
- Category
- Relationship Tags
- Character Tags
- Additional Tags
- Titles
- Summaries
- Author’s Notes
- Series and Chapters
- Parting Thoughts
Excerpts
Introduction Excerpt
Metatext is everything we fanfic authors post along with our story that is not the story itself: title, tags, summary, author’s notes, even the rating.
It is how we communicate to potential readers what they’re signing themselves up for if they choose to read our story, how we let them make informed decisions regarding which fics they want to read, how we get their interest and, frequently, how they find our story in the first place. A lot of metatext acts as a consent mechanism for readers, it’s the informed part of informed consent.
Since most of us who write fanfic also read it, we understand how important this is! But, for the most part, no one ever teaches us how to use metatext; we have to pick it up by osmosis. That makes it hard to learn how to use it well, we all suck at it when we first start out, and some of us may go years without learning particular conventions that seem obvious to others in our community. This creates frustration for everybody.
Enter this guide!
This is meant to be a sort of handbook for fic writers, particularly those of us who post on Archive of Our Own, laying out and explaining the established metatext conventions already in use in our community so we (and our readers!) are all on the same page. It will also provide some best-practices tips.
The point is to give all of us the tools to communicate with our audience as clearly and effectively as possible, so the people who want to read a story like ours can find it and recognize it as what they’re looking for, those who don’t want to read a story like ours can easily tell it’s not their cup of tea and avoid it, nobody gets hurt, and everybody has fun—including us!
References
- ^ a b Eiiri (11 Apr 2021). "the original idea". Tumblr (Post). Archived from the original on 30 Jun 2023.[1]. Accessed December 28th, 2021.
- ^ Eiiri (24 Apr 2021). "the text of the guide". Tumblr (Post). Archived from the original on 01 Jul 2023.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help)[2]. Accessed December 28th, 2021. - ^ Eiiri (24 Apr 2021). "link to the PDF". Tumblr (Post). Archived from the original on 01 Jul 2023.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help)[3]. Accessed December 28th, 2021. - ^ Eiiri (29 Apr 2021). "The Fanfic Author's Guide to Metatext". AO3 (Work). Archived from the original on 30 Jun 2023.[4]. Accessed December 28th, 2021.