Story notes/warnings - Common courtesey?

POSTED BY: AgentRouka
UPDATED: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 06:10
VIEWED: 9589
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AGENTROUKA

Saturday, December 23, 2006 7:57 PM

Hello BSR dwellers!

I had harboured the illusion that it was a universally accepted practice, but apparently not everyone is as fond of story notes and warnings as I am, so I thought I'd make a topic about it and.. raise awareness or incur the wrath of the secret opposition or just inspire conversation. :)

This sort of ties into the good old pairing flame wars for me. The general consensus seems to be "if you don't like it, don't read it".

But if there are no warnings, how can someone know not to read something?

For some it's slash, for others it's AU's, for yet others non-canon pairings, crossovers, certain characters, character deaths, spoilers... and so on.

Also, series chapters. If they aren't marked as such how do the uninitiated, who do not know that a particular author is writing a series - and thatseries only -, know that something that looks like a stand-alone is, in fact, a chapter?

So, dear writers, use story notes!

Characters, setting (pre-, mid- or post-series/movie), warnings for pairings that occur, darkness level and such. Series title and chapter number of applicable.

It's good karma!

Thoughts?

GLADIATOR32

Saturday, December 23, 2006 8:03 PM

I couldn't agree more. Saves time, confusion, and anger/disappointment.

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www.myspace.com/32dan32

GOLDY

Sunday, December 24, 2006 1:35 AM

Unsurprisingly, I totally agree!

I was just thinking about this the other day, and how annoying it is when certain things (particularly pairings) are not stated in the Author's Notes. Even if it's gen, there's no harm in saying so. It really doesn't take any extra time to say so.

Of course, there's also the A/N's that go on FOREVER (of which I've been guilty of myself, I know), but that's a different topic.

ARCADIA

Sunday, December 24, 2006 2:37 AM

I agree for the most part. I don't feel it especially necessary to be warned about character death, because that takes away the surprise of it. :-)

Arcadia (aka Greyfable and/or Katie)
www.stillflying.net -- picking up Firefly were Joss left off. We will hold 'til he gets back.

2X2

Sunday, December 24, 2006 6:55 AM

I completely agree in regards to pairings. There's only so much time I have that I can devote to reading fic, and telling me what pairing it is is helpful - though I'll join Arcadia in saying I don't mind it if a character death is not mentioned so as to avoid ruining the impact.

Truthfully, beyond the pairing thing, the rest is actually incidental to me. Insofar as violence, I'm pretty desensitized, and not much fazes me. Same with the sex *shrug*

But, I understand that there are people out ther who absolutely do not want to read about rape, or graphic sex, or extreme violence, and out of respect for those people, I feel that Notes at the beginning are a basic courtesy. You won't lead someone into reading something they're not comfortable with, and you won't get angry flames for it.

It just makes sense.

PHOENIXROSE

Sunday, December 24, 2006 7:28 AM

I won't read a story if there isn't a little note saying what it's about and what the pairings are; there's plenty to wade through without that.

[]

VALERIEBEAN

Saturday, January 13, 2007 5:04 PM

So I mention pre-BDM, post-series and such. I assume setting the place in time is a way of saying "hey, anything that came before is fair game for being spoiled".

But I don't do non-canon pairings, and I don't think I have anything violence-wise that wouldn't have been aired on Fox...

Also, my fics encompass all the characters, so I can't even classify canon-character pairings for a given chapter...

For those who like author notes, what do you want to know if it's just meant to be like another episode? The most I usually do, besides the time frame mention, is put in Chapter 1 a link back to the Prologue in case someone forgot to start there. Or in Book 2, a link back to Book 1... Do you want more?

"Just like handgrenades, you don't want to run into a horseshoe stake in the dark." -Gouda, FFF.net

AGENTROUKA

Saturday, January 13, 2007 5:12 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by valeriebean:

Also, my fics encompass all the characters, so I can't even classify canon-character pairings for a given chapter...

Well, there would be really no point to make a warning difference between a chapter and the overall story. Even if nothing pairing-wise happens in the first few chapters, that might after all change and someone reading those first chapters might be in for an unpleasant surprise later on, and be disappointed because they already invested a lot of time reading.

(Or, for that matter, miss out on a pairing they are interested in because it's not advertised in a particular chapter posted later.)

Pairing warnings should apply to the story as a whole, in every chapter, I think.

Quote:

For those who like author notes, what do you want to know if it's just meant to be like another episode? The most I usually do, besides the time frame mention, is put in Chapter 1 a link back to the Prologue in case someone forgot to start there. Or in Book 2, a link back to Book 1... Do you want more?

The pairing warnings aside, I happen to think that your method seems perfectly sufficient. *g* No need to spell out the plot beforehand, or even the style, unless you feel others might want to avoid it. In fact, including links is very courteous! I love when people do that!

EMPIREX

Wednesday, January 17, 2007 7:53 PM

I ABSOLUTELY AND WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE! Warnings and labels, whether it be character death, romantic pairings, no romance, AU, or Works-in-Progress, help the author find their audience and helps the audience find what they want to read. It's mutually beneficial.

Also, I can't help but be a bit put out when I start reading a fic and suddenly Mal's making out with a Mary Sue or River's going at it with a Marty Stu... It just gets annoying. Makes me want to leave nasty feedback and low ratings. I don't, of course, because I'm far too polite... But I think about it!

Most of the time, I don't read fics that don't have a pairing label of some kind. I wonder how many good fics I'm missing out on because of that. But I just don't have the time to wade through all the stuff I don't want to read.

On another note, a little off-topic, perhaps... How the heck do some of the pieces of crap posted in the BSR get rated at 9 or 10?!? Seriously! Some of you are way too nice. What's the point of having a rating scale if people aren't going to use it honestly? If a fic has ridiculous spelling errors and is written in some bizare format by someone with very little understanding of grammar... Should you really be giving them a 9 just to be nice??? If you don't want to leave negative feedback, fine. Don't leave feedback. But don't give an undeserved score.

LEIASKY

Wednesday, January 17, 2007 11:37 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by PhoenixRose:
I won't read a story if there isn't a little note saying what it's about and what the pairings are; there's plenty to wade through without that.

Agreed. Wholeheartedly. I'm sure I'm missing out on some really good stuff but I'm not going to invest myself in a story where it starts out as one pairing, and then goes into one that I can't stand/believe would ever happen.

I will read something without a pairing listed usually only if someone I know recommends it to me OR its a really good, enticing description.

"A government is a body of people usually notably ungoverned."

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