is there such a thing as a beta but instead of reading for line edits or plot notes, they just read my work and recommend what tags to put on ao3 outside of like. warnings.
Lulu's Totally Unofficial Guide to the Top 10 Freeform Tags to Add to Your Fanfic
Genre - Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Slice of Life, Case Fic, etc.
AU - If it's an AU, what kind? What role do each of the characters play? How is it different to their canon role?
Parts of canon - If it's not an AU, what part of canon is it about? Is it set before, during or after a particular episode?
Themes - Are there any topics or ideas which you are trying to explore, or which come up repeatedly?
Minor Warnings - Is there anything you think you should warn for that isn't included in the archive warnings?
Format & Length - Is your work art, video, podfic, etc? Does it use a particular format like a Drabble or 5+1?
Characters - What is going on with each of your major characters? If you had to describe them with one or two adjectives, what would you pick? (Format as [Adjective] [Character Name].)
Relationships - What is going on with each of your major relationships? Are there any relationship tropes like Slow Burn or Enemies to Lovers in your story?
Tropes - Are there any tropes or common story elements in your story that haven't been tagged yet? If your work was on TV tropes, what are the first things you would add?
Sex - If your work includes sex, what kink(s) and specific act(s) does it involve?
Remember: you can always look at the drop-down menu for suggestions. But! If you want to tag something that doesn't appear on the drop-down menu, you can & should write in a new tag!
This is a good guide!
This is one of the things r/ao3 is actually pretty helpful for, in fact I think centrumlumina's guide is almost word-for-word match for advice that i see posted regularly on there. Its also great for "here's a thing that happens in my story/i want to warn readers about, is there a tag for that?" (Or even "this tag i already know about doesn't suit my purposes for xyz reasons. What can i do instead?")
