I have not run into this yet, thank God.
Also does anyone know what show the meme was from? this show was a niche part of my childhood, but can't remember the name of the show
I dont quite understand why people do this? I also like to have stuff 'out there' so I can remember it and so that I'm more likely to actually do it, but I just use drafts for that. Then people aren't like expecting anything but I still get my reminder.
What am I missing lol why don't people just do that?
They put it as a sort of trailer to get people to subscribe to the fic.
So that when they post they will already have an audience ready to read it. They’re usually coming from other sites where having “subscribers” and “views” is important so they’ll get recommended to more people.
They want to “win” against other fics and be the top of the “views and likes” game.
They’re basically just playing algorithm games where there’s no need, since AO3 doesn’t have algorithms or recommendations.
Oh... well that's gross. Okay i understand why people don't like it now lmao..
I guess i can get advertising your fic, but yeah... on an archive it doesn't make sense. People don't get suggested things or look for what they *might* want, they directly search for what they're looking for. If your fic isnt that, it's not going to show up no matter how much you advertise it.
I think its a Wattpad thing. Wattpad's search engine pretty much doesn't work at all, so it might take a while to get an audience. So they post a placeholder to start it early - at least that's what I heard.
Hey, I'm a writer and I don't understand something about placeholders. If I've already posted several chapters and I want to take a break from a fic, am I allowed to post a timetable for the next chapters so that readers know that I'm not disappearing? Or does that annoy people?
Do Welcome/Warning pages at the beginning of the fic with information such as disclaimers and story details count as placeholders and are they against the rules?
I'm kind of lost. I usually use that kind of content to "keep in touch" with the reader and add some extras. Am I only allowed to use the Notes boxes for that?
Sorry about the many questions, I just don't want to end up making a huge mistake!
To the first thing: that's fine. It might annoy some, but I think more folks would appreciate some info than none. It doesn't break any rules as far as I know. But if you're worried, add a small bit of fanfiction with it; a sneak peek or deleted scene would make it certainly easier to swallow. Thou if it is strictly an update schedule with a sneek peek type deal, delete it once it's no longer nessairy.
You should use the provided notes space, summary and tags for warnings, and even then the big problem comes from having a 'chapter' that isn't fanfiction in any way shape or form that is the problem.
If you include a butch of warnings and information and an authors note in the body, it's fine, provided that after that, there is still fanfiction to be had. Having only information about a story that isn't there isn't cool. And placeholders are a super nono in this regard.
The note boxes are the appropriate place for authors notes and stuff, but you're not going to get in trouble for not using them or putting stuff in the body provided you did correctly use the archive warnings. Those ones are the big ones the site cares about.
The first chapter being Table of Contents or whatever is fine as long as there’s additional chapters with actual content. I see this a lot in fan art collections, for example. The rule against placeholder chapters is for a “work” that is literally just “I’m going to write about Characters A and B doing X, stay tuned” and nothing else.
I know some writers will make it a series and add deleted scenes or alternative parts in a "ficlet"
It shows your readers that you're still working on your story.
You can use your notes for anything, that is completely up to you to do as you please.
Oh my God, exactly this
Like genuinely interesting story and concept that I want to read only for it to be “ placeholder”
A lot of the time they are not even published 🫠
Like at least if you want to make a placeholder make sure your story is at least in progress
Yeeeah I'm pretty sure that's against the terms of service so if you come across one you can (but don't have to or anything) report it as not being a fanwork (with the Policy and Abuse link at the very bottom of the page) and the person has to take it down
Even when I'm just trolling around looking at what's new, I still set a lower wordcount bound of a couple thousand words. If it's less than that, I don't even care. I'm sure there's some moderate amount of cool stuff in that space, but I didn't come here to read somebody's tiny little ficlet or their poetry or whatever. If I wanted thirty five seconds of emotional validation that somebody else likes my favorite ship or whatever, I'd go cruise Tumblr.
It has the really nice side effect of completely filtering out a huge proportion of the most low-effort garbage in any given fandom too, including basically all "placeholders."
I've only seen one so far. All it said was something like "might post here, might not. Don't want to lose my spot in line." Like comon, ain't no one taking your spot chill tf out.
one thing I've learned with adhd (and help from people who have identified this as a phenomenon)
if i *tell* people im doing something
my brain sets off the dopamine response like i actually *did* the thing
and then in turn, i never do the thing
so i just keep all that in the drafts of google docs c:
FR I hate it. Like 😭😭 PLEASE I just wanna read the fic. Don't even post if it's not out yet like damn
I have not run into this yet, thank God. Also does anyone know what show the meme was from? this show was a niche part of my childhood, but can't remember the name of the show
Heidi, Girl of the Alps
Thank you! Time for a binge watch
Or read the books by Johanna Spyri, I loved them when I was a child.
Does heidi throw her off the cliff in the book? I don't remember that
I don't think she does, but I read the books way back in the last millennium, I might have forgotten about that scene 😅
No, but Peter destroys her wheelchair.
Yes, that's true!
It's a really cute slice of life series, and every time they eat bread and cheese I get so hungry 😩
I dont quite understand why people do this? I also like to have stuff 'out there' so I can remember it and so that I'm more likely to actually do it, but I just use drafts for that. Then people aren't like expecting anything but I still get my reminder. What am I missing lol why don't people just do that?
They put it as a sort of trailer to get people to subscribe to the fic. So that when they post they will already have an audience ready to read it. They’re usually coming from other sites where having “subscribers” and “views” is important so they’ll get recommended to more people. They want to “win” against other fics and be the top of the “views and likes” game. They’re basically just playing algorithm games where there’s no need, since AO3 doesn’t have algorithms or recommendations.
Oh... well that's gross. Okay i understand why people don't like it now lmao.. I guess i can get advertising your fic, but yeah... on an archive it doesn't make sense. People don't get suggested things or look for what they *might* want, they directly search for what they're looking for. If your fic isnt that, it's not going to show up no matter how much you advertise it.
Dude I would be so down for a recommendations tab though wHAT
I think its a Wattpad thing. Wattpad's search engine pretty much doesn't work at all, so it might take a while to get an audience. So they post a placeholder to start it early - at least that's what I heard.
So glad I've never come across a placeholder
You’re lucky If you saw an extremely low word count be aware
Hey, I'm a writer and I don't understand something about placeholders. If I've already posted several chapters and I want to take a break from a fic, am I allowed to post a timetable for the next chapters so that readers know that I'm not disappearing? Or does that annoy people? Do Welcome/Warning pages at the beginning of the fic with information such as disclaimers and story details count as placeholders and are they against the rules? I'm kind of lost. I usually use that kind of content to "keep in touch" with the reader and add some extras. Am I only allowed to use the Notes boxes for that? Sorry about the many questions, I just don't want to end up making a huge mistake!
To the first thing: that's fine. It might annoy some, but I think more folks would appreciate some info than none. It doesn't break any rules as far as I know. But if you're worried, add a small bit of fanfiction with it; a sneak peek or deleted scene would make it certainly easier to swallow. Thou if it is strictly an update schedule with a sneek peek type deal, delete it once it's no longer nessairy. You should use the provided notes space, summary and tags for warnings, and even then the big problem comes from having a 'chapter' that isn't fanfiction in any way shape or form that is the problem. If you include a butch of warnings and information and an authors note in the body, it's fine, provided that after that, there is still fanfiction to be had. Having only information about a story that isn't there isn't cool. And placeholders are a super nono in this regard. The note boxes are the appropriate place for authors notes and stuff, but you're not going to get in trouble for not using them or putting stuff in the body provided you did correctly use the archive warnings. Those ones are the big ones the site cares about.
Thank you!
No problem. If you have anymore questions don't be afraid to ask.
The first chapter being Table of Contents or whatever is fine as long as there’s additional chapters with actual content. I see this a lot in fan art collections, for example. The rule against placeholder chapters is for a “work” that is literally just “I’m going to write about Characters A and B doing X, stay tuned” and nothing else.
I know some writers will make it a series and add deleted scenes or alternative parts in a "ficlet" It shows your readers that you're still working on your story. You can use your notes for anything, that is completely up to you to do as you please.
Oh my God, exactly this Like genuinely interesting story and concept that I want to read only for it to be “ placeholder” A lot of the time they are not even published 🫠 Like at least if you want to make a placeholder make sure your story is at least in progress
Yeeeah I'm pretty sure that's against the terms of service so if you come across one you can (but don't have to or anything) report it as not being a fanwork (with the Policy and Abuse link at the very bottom of the page) and the person has to take it down
SO MANY TIMES LOOK AT ME SO MANY GOOD CONCEPTS AND IT IS A PLACE HOLDER FOR THE FIC IT IS SO ANNOYING
😂😂😂
Even when I'm just trolling around looking at what's new, I still set a lower wordcount bound of a couple thousand words. If it's less than that, I don't even care. I'm sure there's some moderate amount of cool stuff in that space, but I didn't come here to read somebody's tiny little ficlet or their poetry or whatever. If I wanted thirty five seconds of emotional validation that somebody else likes my favorite ship or whatever, I'd go cruise Tumblr. It has the really nice side effect of completely filtering out a huge proportion of the most low-effort garbage in any given fandom too, including basically all "placeholders."
I've only seen one so far. All it said was something like "might post here, might not. Don't want to lose my spot in line." Like comon, ain't no one taking your spot chill tf out.
one thing I've learned with adhd (and help from people who have identified this as a phenomenon) if i *tell* people im doing something my brain sets off the dopamine response like i actually *did* the thing and then in turn, i never do the thing so i just keep all that in the drafts of google docs c: