SWG Story Rating Guide
We want SWG to be a friendly place for members of all ages and backgrounds. As such, we expect our authors to take care to include proper ratings and warnings on their stories so that readers who wish to avoid certain types of material may easily do so.
Our rating system is simple:
- General. Material rated "General" is appropriate for all audiences, including children twelve and under. Such material should not include violent or sexual content or any obscene language.
- Teens. Material rated "Teens" is appropriate for older children and may contain some violent or sexual content that is not graphic, pervasive, or particularly senstive (i.e., torture or rape). Mild and non-pervasive expletive language is acceptable as well.
- Adult. Material rated "Adult" is appropriate only for those who are over the age of consent in their country. Adult-rated material may contain pervasive or graphic violence, expletive language, or sexual content. Any material that focuses on sensitive subject matter such as torture, suicide, incest, or non-consensual sexual situations must be rated Adult.
In addition to ratings, we require that our authors include warnings on their material as to what content a reader can expect to encounter. In other words, why have you rated your story as you have? All stories rated Teens or Adult must include warnings explaining why you have rated the story as you have. On the archive, you will select the warnings from a list when you submit your story and can make clarifications in the story notes and summaries, if you feel that you need to. On Yahoo! and LJ, the warnings should be visible before the reader clicks on the story content itself, either outside the LJ-cut (on LJ) or in the title of the post (on LJ and Yahoo!). Ideally, warnings both entice and dissuade readers. A reader who is uncomfortable with graphic sex may choose to read an adult-rated story that is rated because of gory battle violence. Likewise, an adult reader who is not comfortable with slash may avoid a story rated for Teens if it is a slash story. Warnings allow you to find the perfect audience for your work. The list of warnings currently available on the SWG archive is available here.
Inevitably, choosing both ratings and warnings for a story is subjective and, therefore, never an absolute. We ask our authors to be conservative in choosing their warnings. If you're not sure whether a story is better rated as Teens or Adult, choose the higher rating. It is better to lose a few readers unwilling to read an Adult-rated story than to have readers surprised by the content that they encounter. Using warnings and providing clarifications in your story's summary and notes is also encouraged.
In the event that the SWG moderators feel that a story is inappropriately rated or needs additional warnings, then we reserve the right to make these changes. We will do our best to contact you and to work with you to find a solution agreeable to both parties, but authors should understand that our priority is ensuring that readers on our sites receive accurate information about the stories posted there.
Warnings as Spoilers
It is sometimes the case that a particular warning attached to a story may reveal a significant plot point that the author would rather keep a surprise. For example, a reader knows that in a story marked with the warning "Character Death," one of the major players will die. We are willing to work with authors when warnings may spoil the plots of their stories; however, again, please keep in mind that we must prioritize providing accurate information to readers when that information is likely to be necessary in helping the reader make decisions about whether she or he is comfortable reading the story. Please contact us at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org if you have a special circumstance regarding the warnings on your story, and we will do our best to work with you to find a solution.
Tips for Choosing Ratings and Warnings
- A lot of authors experience anxiety on choosing ratings and warnings for their stories, worried that their interpretation of a rating or warning will not match the community standard. However, remember that ratings and warnings both tell the reader what you as an author think that they need to know about your story. It is impossible for us to quantify precisely what deserves specific ratings and warnings, and it would be unnecessarily difficult for our authors if we tried. When in doubt, check out how other authors are rating stories on the site. Here you will find all of the stories on the archive sorted by rating.
- What is the difference between Violence, Violence--Mild, and Violence--Graphic? We have provided graduations for certain warnings to help authors label their stories appropriately. With just "Violence" as a warning, a story involving gory battle violence would bear the same warning as a story where two characters have a brief fistfight. In general, choose the "Graphic" designation when this aspect is central to your story or particularly intense. Choose "Mild" when it is just a minor component but you feel it deserves mentioning.
- Use common sense and, when in doubt, be conservative. Most authors possess an intuitive sense of what rating their story needs. Imagine whether most of the parents you know would want to read your story to a young child. To a teenager? Is there something in the story that you know some people will want to avoid? Then provide a warning for it.
- Don't forget that the story summary and story notes can be your friend. There might be a warning that you need that isn't on the list. Or you might want to clarify further why you have rated the story the way that you have. Feel free to use the summary and story notes for this purpose.
- And don't be afraid to ask for help! Questions about ratings and warnings on stories are some of the most common that our moderators receive. We are happy to take a look at your story and help you to choose a rating and appropriate warnings for it. Simply email us at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org and ask!