Representing Story Themes (Tags, Warnings, Categories, etc)

[squirt_chaser]

I'm having trouble categorizing my stories in a way that 1) helps to avoid letting readers feel they encounter twists or details they weren't interested in and 2) gives a sense of the framework in which the story exists (if a story includes incest, that's the category it will be listed under, but sci fi/fantasy creates an expectation that allows readers to expect certain rule-breaking within the narrative, if that makes sense).

I think a main problem is that tags aren't visible until the end of the story. I'm really hoping that might change in the future?

But in the meantime, I'm new to this, so how do you represent your stories so that you feel both responsible to the sensibilities of your readers and like you're establishing appropriate genre expectations from the outset?

(That's probably a very complicated way to ask a very simple question, but thanks for enduring)

 

[Hypoxia]

I put the tags up front. In my latest, Harem-Scarem, I start with:

Disclaimers: This tale's fictional fuckers are over 18 and avoid condoms. Tags: bisexual, mature, multiracial, impregnation, harem, fuckfest, school, lucky guy, reality-based, Kansas. If you object, stop reading. Voices and details may be unreliable. Opinions may not be the author's. Comments are demanded. Enjoy!

And then the text. LIT allows up to 10 tags. I sometimes mention other possible off-putters, like violence (non-sexual) or body hair. Be discreet.

 

[squirt_chaser]

I put the tags up front. In my latest, Harem-Scarem, I start with:

And then the text. LIT allows up to 10 tags. I sometimes mention other possible off-putters, like violence (non-sexual) or body hair. Be discreet.

That seems like a pretty solid approach. I don't know why I didn't think of just creating my own tag list. Thanks!

 

[ElectricBlue]

Given the state of artlessness of the tag system, I work within the category system, but have only once bothered with "squick warnings". I take the view that the readers here are adults, and should be able to maturely cope with content they don't like, either by back-clicking or skimming the paragraph.

If the category police can't handle that concept, that's just too bad.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

The exception is of course Loving Wives. No matter how strong you warn them that there is cheating or swapping or sharing or whatever they won't like, they still read the first paragraph and post a comment about how hey don't like those kinds of stories and how bad a writer you are and how they hope you and your wife get AIDS and die a horrible death.

Of course turning off comments and voting kind of defeats them but sometimes I get a good laugh from them readers that can't spell and speak funny even in that there comment box. So I read them, then delete them.

 

[squirt_chaser]

The exception is of course Loving Wives. No matter how strong you warn them that there is cheating or swapping or sharing or whatever they won't like, they still read the first paragraph and post a comment about how hey don't like those kinds of stories and how bad a writer you are and how they hope you and your wife get AIDS and die a horrible death.

Of course turning off comments and voting kind of defeats them but sometimes I get a good laugh from them readers that can't spell and speak funny even in that there comment box. So I read them, then delete them.

Oh, man. That's a bummer. I'm sorry you've had to deal with that.

 

[oggbashan]

Tags?

Tags are useful only for people searching for stories. They aren't visible to a reader until the END of the story so are useless for warning readers.

The category might work, but again they aren't always visible, and some readers don't understand categories.

A warning in an Author's Note at the start of the contest might help.

The most obvious way to warn readers is to put keywords in the title e.g. "Sisters Try Anal"

 

[SimonDoom]

I'm with EB on this one. I don't feel particularly responsible for the sensibilities of my readers. The combination of title, tagline, tags (if they want to check them), and category gives them, in my view, all they need to know about my story in advance. There's something to be said for maintaining an element of surprise in the author-reader relationship. I don't provide warnings, disclaimers, or previews of content.

I have a very high squick threshold and can tolerate just about anything, so I tend not to be sympathetic to the easily squicked. I mean, come on, you're at a smut site. How can you get squicked easily? If you don't like it, click back.

It's a bit easier for me than it might be for some other authors, I admit, because my stories tend to fit reasonably well within the categories I choose for them. I think it would be trickier for someone who writes stories that cross categories.

On the issue of Literotica categorization, every new author should read this article that explains it all: https://literotica.com/s/love-your-readers-categories.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

Like others, I put content warnings as an Author's Note at the beginning of stories that may contain objectionable material.

As Ogg says, appropriate titles work well (and can attract eyeballs).

You have a short description blurb at your service, too.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Oh, man. That's a bummer. I'm sorry you've had to deal with that.

No problem. I chose to deal with that. I like writing for Loving Wives category. I have lot's of fans there, it just the holier than thou crowd shouts all the time, yet they see no problem being on a porn site.

 

[KeithD]

I'm with EB on this one. I don't feel particularly responsible for the sensibilities of my readers. The combination of title, tagline, tags (if they want to check them), and category gives them, in my view, all they need to know about my story in advance. There's something to be said for maintaining an element of surprise in the author-reader relationship. I don't provide warnings, disclaimers, or previews of content.

This is where I am at too.

On the tags, though, having them at the end rather than the beginning has been requested for more than a decade without result. Maybe if writers started putting them in an editorial note at the beginning of the story (where some are now putting disclaimers that aren't being stripped out by the Web site), this would catch on and the authors could effect this change on their own. Also leave them where they are now because that's the keyword searchable function.