Basic Writeblr Etiquette
This is a guide of what I personally consider to be considerate and polite. While I would encourage people to follow this, it is just my personal opinion — it’s not a rule by any means, and it’s certainly not exhaustive.
Don’t add people to your tag lists without explicit permission.
Tag list — A tag list is a list of users who will be tagged in every post that a Writeblr makes about a certain WIP. It is often included at the bottom of a post, and people are free to ask to be included, or removed from it.
I get it, we all want people to see and enjoy our writing. However, please do not add anyone to your tag lists if they have not given you permission to.
I believe that all tag lists should be an ‘opt-in’, where people request to get put on it. While you might be willing to take someone off of a tag list with no hard feelings whatsoever, it can be really awkward for people to request to be taken off.
There are a lot of reasons why people don’t want to be on tag lists, and it doesn’t mean that they don’t like your writing. Even if someone is consistently interested and is commenting a lot, don’t add them without permission! Try asking them first!
If you reblog an ask game from someone, send them an ask.
Isn’t it really frustrating when you’re doing an ask game and about 20 people reblog it, but you only get 1 ask? We’ve all been there.
Send them an ask if you reblog! It takes like 2 seconds, and you don’t have to be particularly interested in the answer — it gives the person an opportunity to talk about their WIPs and OCs either way, and you’ll make their day.
If you want people to send you asks, try starting by sending other people some!
Use a “Read More” when you have long posts.
We writeblrs tend to make long posts, especially if we post our writing online. While that’s perfectly fine, there’s often a lot of scrolling to be done when the ‘read more’ isn’t used, especially if it gets reblogged a lot.
If you have several pictures, or your post requires quite a bit of scrolling to get through, please use the ‘read more’.
Use trigger warnings for sensitive topics.
If you are posting about sensitive topics including but not limited to things like rape, suicide, assault, etc., please use trigger warnings. Not everyone might want to see writing involving sensitive topics, and it might catch some people really off-guard, even if they’re fine with it. It’s just considerate to give your followers a heads-up, so they can decide if they want to continue or not.
Trigger warnings should be at the top of your post, or at the very least, before your sensitive content so people can see. I also tag it as “tw: [sensitive topic]” so that people who have blacklisted it can avoid it.
Please hide your sensitive content behind a ‘read more’! I have seen too many posts with trigger warnings, and no ‘read more’s, making people who want to avoid it, scroll through and potentially see the sensitive content.
If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
Someone’s writing not up your alley? Really don’t like someone’s OC? That’s fine and valid, we won’t always love everyone’s writing. Just move on; unfollow them if you have to. Don’t give people unsolicited criticism if they don’t ask for it.
It can be scary putting ourselves out there. If you’re about to say something that would bother you if you received that comment, don’t say it. Just move on.
If you like it, consider reblogging it.
We all get excited when someone reblogs our posts, and we also get a little bit frustrated if people just ignore it, or like it without leaving anything else. We can all start to foster a better community by reblogging things we enjoyed instead of just liking them — support your fellow writeblrs! Reblogging other people’s posts will make someone’s day, and more people can see their awesome writing. As a bonus, people will be more likely to reblog your work too!
If you’d like to ask me for advice on writing or running a writeblr, please check out my Ask Guidelines and FAQ first.
Ask Guidelines | FAQ | Advice Masterlist
