Tags?

[Deleted member 165068]

So for a stories I've tried writing in the past I have only used a limited amount of them. The most I'll ever usually go with on any website is 5-7. Is having like 10+ though a bad idea? I've seen a number of stories place them in at that amount or more. Can one even fit that many concepts into a book?

 

[Empress_Omnii]

Try and put as many as you can, max out the tags for more engagement.

 

[RiaCorvidiva]

SH isn't perfect, but its tag list is pretty comprehensive and is the primary discovery mechanism. I can generally get the full 25 allowed on mine, and often have to cut one or two of them. No real reason not to include more; more discovery possibilities.

 

[Deleted member 165068]

Okay, well, my only concern about it was some form of over saturation occuring where you'd end up writing out a plot and then realize later that sort of stuff never occurred.

 

[RepresentingPride]

You can change the tags when you want, if your story change, just remove the tag. Having multiple tags can help gain viewer.

 

[Deleted member 166076]

A story can most certainly be a lot of things. I have a series called "Her Beasts", which is a gamelit city-kingdom building reverse harem fantasy romance set in a primitive beastworld. That's the short description, but you can then branch off to make a tag list like:

Primitive Setting, Reverse Harem, Shifters, Smut, Mates / Bonding, Virgin ML, Royalty, Chosen One, Fantasy Creatures, Mythological Creatures, Training Moments, Secrets, Bittersweet Happily Ever After, Redemption, Beauty & The Beast, Bisexual ML, Obsessive ML, City Management, Kingdom Building, Werewolf, Wolf Shifter, Phoenix Shifter, Fox Shifter, Beaver Shifter, Bunny Shifter, Scorpion Shifter, Owl Shifter, Mythological Creatures, System, Gamelit, Beastworld, Slow Progression, etc.

I could likely list a hundred more relevant tropes / tags that are all relevant to just that one story. As you can see, most of the tags go together and are just saying the same thing as that initial description of the series, just with more specific things listed. Almost all of those are legit tags that at least one site like this one has as a preset option to label your stories with as well. It's not just things I made up.

 

[Echimera]

Okay, well, my only concern about it was some form of over saturation occuring where you'd end up writing out a plot and then realize later that sort of stuff never occurred.

In most cases, adding tags only when they actually show up in the story (even if you had them in mind early on) isn't a big deal.
There are some that you should definitely add early on, like NTR, just so people know what they are getting into if that's something you have in your story.


Tags are not a checklist you set up when you start writing a story and have to check off, they are a quick way to communicate elements of your story to the (potential) readers.

 

[Anonjohn20]

So for a stories I've tried writing in the past I have only used a limited amount of them. The most I'll ever usually go with on any website is 5-7. Is having like 10+ though a bad idea? I've seen a number of stories place them in at that amount or more. Can one even fit that many concepts into a book?

The point of tags isn't to force the author to add more concepts and genres to the story, its so that viewers can know what is on the story. You should place as many as you can that fit. For example, a story with controversial tag can get many fans who are happy if it is tagged correctly or many haters who are mad that they weren't warned properly and ended up investing time in a story they won't enjoy. The more you have the better.

Some tags that are controversial are: adultery/cheating/netorare, cruel characters/depictions of cruelty, emotionally weak protagonist, smut, futanari, politics, rape, slaves, boys love, girls love, etc.