what makes a good recs list?

[schmevil]

One of the fannish projects I'm going to work on this summer is turning my delicious account into a browsable recs list. That means going through the +500 saved links, retagging and editing descriptions to be more user-friendly. I've started the retagging process, and work on it whenever I want to do something mind-numbing. The first two pages of creeping.jenny are fully tagged in the system I want to eventually use for all my links.

I haven't done the summary/rec part yet - that's the summer part of this project. ;)

Here's how it's going to work:

Thing (fic, vid, art, meta, scans)
Genre (AU, drama, romance, porn...)
Character
Pairing
Length (VeryShort, Short, Medium, Long, Epic)
Setting (SPNPreSeries, StarWarsPequels, StarTrekReboot)
Fandom

All tags will be bundled by kind:

All By Kind (Thing:Fic, Thing:Meta...)
Length
Genre
Marvel Comics (Character:Domino, Pairing:Steve/Tony, Setting:CivilWar...)

What other tag sets would be useful? Warnings? MPAA ratings? Personal ratings (1/4, 3/4)?

When reading the text of a rec, what do you look for? Plot details? Subject matter? Comments on style and structure? Comments on how the story/art/meta made the reccer feel?

Comments

[torachan]

I go more by the text of a rec than any tags, since the things in tags usually aren't relevant to the way I choose what to read.

I like there to be some sort of summary, even if it's just a line or two, and then what the reccer liked and/or disliked.

[schmevil]

*nod* I'm trying to make it accessible to people who look for stories in different ways. So I want a good tagging system, and a good reccing system. It's also interesting in how it creates lists of things I've read. "OMG 18 'PORN' STORIES THIS MONTH?"

I know you rate fics when you do reviews - do you find that useful when reading other people's recs/reviews?

[torachan]

I do like having a rating, especially if it's not a 100% positive (or negative) review, but I'd rather have a good summary + review and no rating than a rating and no additional info. (I also dislike recs that are just links to the fics. Tell me why you're reccing it!)

[schmevil]

Yeah, this. I dislike insta!recs for this very reason. Even if the reccer dashes off a "SO HOTT." It doesn't tell me anything about why I might like the story.

Hmm back in HP fandom I used to be a keen reccer

[jazzypom]

I'd do the following:

Give a summary (no spoilers).

Comment on something outstanding in the fic I liked. For me, I'm mad on language and atmospherics, so if a fic has those in spades, I'd quote a line or two that tickled me so.

Overall comment on the feeling of the fic, was it curiously affecting at the end? Yes, no?

Then (not necessarily lastly), if the writer has written enough stories for you to see a 'style' you can comment on if the individual story matches their style or not.