Gileonnen (gileonnen) wrote in what_fantastic, @ 2009-01-06 16:07:00 |
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Entry tags: | !modpost |
Responsible Tagging
Proper tagging makes a community searchable, and they help everyone to know what the community's up to. While it's a hassle to learn a community's tagging conventions, it's also worth it in the long run. Hopefully, this little guide will make tagging easy for everyone who wants to participate.
First, how does one tag? LJ provides a handy guide. Second, what tags does one use? This community will have seven categories of tags: !modposts, fiction, art, meta, genre, recs, and requests.
You cannot tag a !modpost unless you are a moderator. Currently, the community is not large enough for more than one mod, but if it starts getting large and unwieldy, we'll see about expanding the privilege.
When you tag for fiction, you are tagging for stories or novels that are your original work. You should only use this tag if you are actually posting fiction to the community; if you are only talking about your fiction, you should use a meta tag (explained later). If you are tagging fiction, though, the correct tags here are one of the following -- 'fiction: drabble' (100 words or less), 'fiction: flashfiction' (101-500 words), 'fiction: short story' (501+ words, but not chaptered), 'fiction: chaptered' (multi-part works) and 'fiction: other' (comics, stories told through images, poems, etc.).
When you tag for art, you are tagging for visual art in any medium that is your original work. The correct tags here would be 'art: [medium]'; if you use mixed media, feel free to tag as (for example) 'art: pencil' and 'art: photoshop' to keep things as correct as possible. If you are using a medium that I haven't listed, please notify me, and I will add that medium to the tags list. If you have an illustrated story, a comic, or a story told through image (like this piece of Supernatural fanfiction), you may tag it as both 'fiction: other' and art.
When you tag for meta, you are tagging for musings about the nature of the genre and our place as writers, artists, and consumers within it--this can also include musings about the researching or publishing process, if you like. Tag these as 'meta: art,' 'meta: comics/graphic novels,' 'meta: fantasy,' 'meta: fiction,' 'meta: film,' 'meta: videogames,' 'meta: publishing,' 'meta: requests, 'meta: research,' or 'meta: sci-fi.'
When you tag for genre, you are tagging for the sort of description that you feel best suits the content of your post. The correct tags here are 'genre: sci-fi' and 'genre: fantasy,' and you may certainly tag a work as both. We are beginning to tag for more specific subgenres now (first such tag: 'genre: subgenre: steampunk'), so don't hesitate to suggest more as you want them.
When you tag for recs, you are tagging to recommend stories, art, or meta that you feel suit the purpose of the community. The correct tags here are 'recs: fiction,' 'recs: art,' or 'recs: meta' as well as 'recs: published' and 'recs: online' (to give your audience an idea of whether they need to pay for the lovely works you're recommending).
When you tag for requests, you are tagging to find items that you would like to see. You can tag with plain 'requests' if you need help finding a story, book, or piece of art that you read earlier or had seen recommended somewhere (and promptly forgot). You can also tag with 'requests: plotbunny' or 'requests: artbunny' if you have an idea that you want to see executed but do not wish to execute yourself. If you have fulfilled someone else's request, you can tag that with 'request response.'
So, for example, if you have written a short story called 'The Love Letters of Gurdor, the Bronzed Fist,' and it's a fantasy/sci-fi short story with accompanying pencil drawings, then you would tag this story with 'art: pencil,' 'fiction: short story,' 'genre: fantasy,' and 'genre: sci-fi.'
On the other hand, if you are working on a PhotoShop comic about a bouncer's love for an alien hooker called 'She Had Eight Legs and a Wicked Right Hook,' you would tag the comic with 'art: photoshop,' 'fiction: other,' and 'genre: sci-fi.'
If you have a rant about issues of gender in women's lack of clothing in fantasy art, and you wish people would stop requesting scantily clad Amazon Queens, but you also want to request a woman warrior built like a draft horse, you will want to tag it as 'genre: fantasy,' 'meta: art,' 'meta: fantasy,' 'meta: requests,' and 'requests: artbunny.'
If you would like to recommend a series of published books that follow the adventures of Gay Charlie: the Mad Inventor and his Love Monster, then you will want to tag it as 'genre: sci-fi' (possibly also 'genre: fantasy'), 'recs: fiction,' and 'recs: published.'
The most important thing to remember about tagging, though, is,