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Lesson 3: Quote. Or paraphrase

Sorry about going MIA last weekend, but I'm back with Lesson 3 💪 But before we get into it, how are we doing with describing the indescribable and commenting in general?

Alright. So let's talk about quoting bits of the fics and commenting on them in a comment. Personally, it's one of my favourite ways to comment because I find it easier to focus on a specific thing/sentence/paragraph/turn of phrase that I really like and gush about it to an author. By doing this, I can also focus on the bits of the story that I really really liked, and not worry about the parts that I didn't like so much. Win-win for everyone!

The one downside of this particular commenting technique is that it does take a relatively high amount of effort and is not as easy as a keyboard smash or entering a bunch of smileys and a catchphrase into the comment box. But hey. Some fics are worth it :)

So, here are some tips on how to quote while commenting:

Keep 2 tabs open.

Use a third party browser script that gives you a floating review box.

Paraphrase.

Hello, does anyone actively use a Tampermonkey script that makes commenting on AO3 easier because there's a floaty review box on the page as you read? Can you send me a link to it to share out on this blog?

This blog has discussed it before, but it was the other mod that had knowledge of it and we've been out of touch. It's also been awhile and Tumblr search is terrible, so I figured I would crowdsource for more up-to-date information if possible.

Lesson 1: Find your catchphrase

"This was great!"

"Thank you for this <3"

"Loved this."

When in doubt, comment your catchphrase.

When you feel too tired/sleepy/overwhelmed/at a loss for words, just write 1 sentence down and you're done! The goal of this is not to be perfect. In fact, forget about perfect! Forget about needing your comment to be special, or that the author might not appreciate such a short comment. We're taking baby steps here and the most important thing you can learn this week is that something is better than nothing.

So start with something generic. Pick something short and sweet. Use one of the examples above. Leave it on every fanfic you read.

Let me repeat that for the people at the back:

Leave it on every fanfic you read.

Leave it at the end of that chapter you're reading. Comment on that fic you just opened. Just write those 2, 3, 4 words. Tell them LLF sent you. That we made you do it. Even if it doesn't feel great just leaving such a short sentence, do it. You can change it for the next fic. But start.

Start with something, even if you're not 100% happy with it. Don't worry about not getting it right the first time. You can iterate and change it up in the next fic or chapter you read and comment. And you can keep changing it up until you get something you're happy with. Even if it doesn't work out this week, there's next week. This will be your go-to sentence. Something that you can use without thinking. So keep it stupid simple.

Now, once you've started, you can stop and hit post on your comment. The only learning for this lesson is that you write something and develop a catchphrase for yourself this week. You can leave more than just your catchphrase in a comment, but it must be included in your comment.

And that's it!

I'll be asking how the week goes for you next weekend, and if you need more help getting started, my ask box is open.

Remember:

When in doubt, comment your catchphrase.

Something is better than nothing.

Goal of the week:

Leave your catchphrase on every fanfic you read.

And for the 10% of you who always leave a comment, I have a question for you:

Hello, never done this before but I saw this as the place to send a suggestion for A03. I did also read the "Common Requests" and didn't see this, which was kinda surprising to me.

I would like to see an additional bit of data storage for the Reading History part of user profiles that logs what chapter they were last on for each fic. Essentially, this would replicate automatically creating a bookmark, but without a description or tags, and entirely private to each user.

As I said, I am aware that Bookmarks can accomplish this, but i'm not very familiarized with how bookmarks work and I consume fic works very quickly. I don't always want to create a bookmark when I might frequently jump between PC and Mobile, or start reading another fic entirely and forget to go through the process of making a bookmark. While this might be a QOL change, I still think it would be nice to see.

Here's an example of what I mean, formatted as a sort-of CSV table.

<Name>, <Last Visited>, <Most Recent Chapter>

So it would look like:

Work 1, 11/30/2022, 4

Work 2, 12/3/2022, 18

Work 3, 12/14/2022, 7

Then, when the user visits that fic from their History, they automatically get redirected to their most recent chapter. For Work 1, that would be Chapter 4.

Let me know what you think!

* * *

Mod dragonling here 👋

I must confess that I am not savvy enough in how the data collection and data infrastructure on AO3 (or any other website for that matter) works so take my somewhat uninformed opinion. Also, a disclaimer that I do not work for AO3, this blog is not officially linked to AO3, and the views below are my own.

First, I can see the appeal. It would be nice to be able to move between devices (mobile and computer) and not lose your place in a fic. However, I do not know if this is something that AO3 would entertain. AO3 has stored IP addresses for 48 hours for hit counter functionality and after doing a quick scan of their Privacy Policy I think it's possible to build and implement a feature like you're asking for, but not being part of AO3, I don't know what their stance is internally on something like this.

I actually don't think that bookmarks on AO3 have the functionality you've described here. Bookmarks on AO3 save a fic down into your "Bookmarks" folder, but they do not—to my knowledge—save your place/chapter in a fic.

All that being said, the functionality you are looking for seems like something using a browser that tracks you across devices (Firefox? Chrome??) might have already. Any thought about exploring that option more?

Yes. Please feel free to use our LLF Comment Project template in your author notes.