Chapter Summary

TOC for Reference Guide to Reading, Writing, and Posting on AO3.

Or, Reference Guide to AO3: Reading, Writing, and Navigating the Archive???

First one is probably better.

• The scripts and other resources in the sidebar on r/AO3
• https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/1i75p0v/constructive_criticism_and_fic_etiquette/
• https://old.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/1f5mk2d/another_day_another_person_not_knowing_what_tags/
• https://archiveofourown.org/works/38685597#pageone

Navigating AO3

X. Comfy-fy Your Reading Experience

• Archive Warnings: What they mean, and what a story does or doesn't have to tag for.
• Comfy-fy Your Reading Experience: How the Archive Warning system works. How to use tags to find fics that you want to read, and avoid fics that you don't. How to use site skins and Tampermonkey to block tags and authors, and emphasize tags and other things that you care about.
• Please Read and Review: Advice and support for commenting on other people's works, including suggestions on what to say, tools to help you say it, and lots and lots of affirmation that the author really does want to hear from you.

X. Reading Works

• What the Buttons Mean: Downloading fics, what happens when you download them, and how to use Calibre.
• Bookmarks: Difference between private and public bookmarks. What recs are.

X. Fannish Norms and Etiquette

• Not sure how this one will be organized, but will probably re-mention any norms, et cetera mentioned elsewhere: please comment! don't like, don't read! and so on. I'm not sure where this should actually fall in the order of chapters; feels like it should be either the first or the last, at least in the reading section.

Writing

X. General Tips

• On Chapter Length: In short, “Don't be too long.”
• On Foreshadowing: Especially important in fandoms where fanon and disagreements of interpretation of canon are common, and your reader may therefore have a very different understanding than you of what is possible.
• On Writing Descriptions: My personal techniques for writing visual descriptions (which may be helpful for aphantasic writers in particular), considering point-of-view when you decide what and how to describe, and avoiding overly-generic words like “it” when you can be specific.

AO3

• Formatting: Useful tools
• Workskins: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Sapiente officia ab vero accusantium aut. Quae dicta sequi maiores reiciendis eum officia ex non porro praesentium at ipsa, ducimus laudantium ad!
• Setting up your chapter: Content warning, tagging guide, etc.
• Navigating AO3: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Iste eius perferendis necessitatibus impedit dicta odit atque, illum doloribus voluptates quis incidunt dolores dignissimos ratione quam laborum nostrum ea commodi a.

Appendices