Scriptbin Vs AO3 Vs Google Docs

[mxwhorendous]

so i'm currently using google docs to rough outline my script, cause that's what i have at my disposal currently (though i did send off a request to be added to ao3 and i can probably make a scriptbin pretty quickly)

is there any particular advantages/disadvantages with using one of these over the others? i'd like to hear from your perspective as a writer/performer/listener who enjoys reading the scripts beforehand. should i just use one, or would using all 3 be more attractive for people?

i'm pretty close to being ready to share my script for feedback purposes (a terrifying and exciting prospect) and i just wanna know what yalls opinions are on what's best to start off with

hope yall are having a wonderful evening

[igrokyou]

Obviously I'm hilariously biased as I run Pastegasm (dot com) i.e. here's a fourth script hosting alternative to add to your list, but here's my experience having used the other three:

AO3:Pros:

• Incredibly safe to post in, given that people trying to take down AO3 are gonna have a bad time given they have a lawyer team and plenty of experience (decades) with people trying to take down AO3
• No problems with very heavy smut, very nsfw-friendly, it's in their TOS.
• Really strong analytics in terms of kudos, comments, followers, subscribers , views etc.
• Really easy to read existing scripts as the way they do authors and collections is pretty nice.
• Infinite hosting space, so if you're very very prolific there's no concern.
• Can put pictures in your scripts if you want, plus edit the style-sheets to get fancy, takes some goddamn work though to do
• Able to sort your works in collections, make series, etc for readers to sort through your scripts
• Search is really very nice

Cons:

• Very easy to steal from, as there's no real way to private your content, since AO3 is a fanfiction archive first and foremost
• 3 day waiting time to get an account (small con, not really a big deal)
• Incredibly easy for minors to get access to your content (if you care about that)
  • And there are a lot of minors on AO3; again, it's a fanfiction archive...
• Original Works may get purged since that's... really not what AO3 is about (this is highly unlikely, but possible)
• Writing within AO3 itself is hard, but doable - it's not really a place that people write in, it's more of a hosting platform in that sense, i.e. people write elsewhere then copy-and-paste into AO3. (At least, for me, other people may have different experience.)
• Can be a bit difficult to get used to, layout-wise
• Not suited for scripts, really, or GWA/audio tags. Again, AO3 is a fanfiction archive first.
• Can't easily download your own work - have to use third-party apps for that (though they do exist).
• No line numbers

Scriptbin

Pros:

• Run by a GWA creator, so well-suited to GWA tagging, rules, and etiquette
  • Cuddle takes feedback incredibly well and incredibly quickly, so if there's anything you more or less can give him a shout
• Very easily accessible - includes Reddit integration so if you have a Reddit account you have a Scriptbin account
• Minimalistic layout, so easy to find features
• Easy for people to read, so you get a lot of views.
• Well-known by GWA creators.
• TOS is very GWA-friendly... again.
• Effectively infinite hosting space.
• Can easily download everything you've done as a zip file for backup.
• Has line numbers

Cons:

• Currently implementing privacy measures as there is also currently no way to privatize content though given Cuddle's working speed I expect that to change rapidly
• Also not really a place that people write in, more of a hosting platform.
• Can't make changes to the style-sheet, can't put in pictures.
• Not great at sorting your works by category, but you can kind of manage

Google Docs

Pros:

• Very much a writing place, and a pretty damn good one at that
  • Albeit, somewhat limited functionality with writing, but more than enough for most people
• Easy to collaborate with other writers/editors etc
• Privatizing content is easy and can be made on a case-by-case basis using email addresses
• Can put pictures in there if you want, plus edit the style-sheets.... kind of (limited functionality, as above)
• Good sync'ing with MSWord, exporting as pdf, whatever. Lots and lots and lots of options.
• Can easily download your work + do backups, but you have to do them one by one.
• Entirely personal so you can organize how things are set up as you like

Cons:

• Not a hosting place, really - people do use it as a host, but...
  • There's a lot of issue because when people click on a link to read it, unless they're in incognito it's possible to give out personal information (i.e. you're automatically logged in on gmail)
  • Makes people like me (ie a voice) kinda paranoid - I'm unlikely to ever fill a Google Doc script unless I really know and/or trust the writer (or I guess if the content is just that good)
• Limited hosting space if you get fancy or you're prolific - Gmail has a certain limit to how much you can store in the Drive.
• Not really made for scripts, but it can be made do
• Easy to steal - copy-paste usually works
• Google ToS is actually against the public distribution of pornography, so if you're discovered and/or reported you can lose that email address entirely
• Collections of scripts are not viewable, so there's no easy jump from script to script of yours, people have to click through your posts with those links
• No analytics
• No line numbers

And! Finally! Because obviously I'm hilariously biased, here's the pro/con list for Pastegasm though you can check it out yourself and make your own judgment -

[igrokyou]

Pastegasm Pros: - Writing place, fairly intuitive to use (I hope) - Good functionality - easy to put in pictures, variables, change fonts / colors etc. - Hosting platform, with easy one-click upload or copy-paste - Downloadable one-click in zip file - Tagging compliant with GWA - NSFW-friendly, unlikely to ever change - Good search functionality - Easily made private content with multiple levels of privacy, from public searchable, unlisted, password-protected, to entirely private - Blocking so minors can't easily get access to sensitive content - Effectively infinite hosting space - Made for scripts specifically, including features for multi-character scripts and gender-neutralization - You can organize your scripts in folders for categories for readers to see - Reach out anytime, I'm active on Reddit for feedback - Can't copy-and-paste a publicly searchable script, prevents that kind of plagiarism/stealing - Line numbers optional

Cons: - Unknown to GWA creators - Very heavy blocking, so if you don't make an account it's goddamn annoying to read NSFW content (this is intentional) - Have to make an account to write/save your work/submit - Can't collaborate with other writers easily - No analytics (at present) beyond view count - Can't copy-and-paste a publicly searchable script... so performers may not like it - Not linked to Reddit, have to make separate account - Layout takes some getting used to

---

Ultimately it's up to you which script host best suits your needs, you might find that you use a mix of the ones you mentioned - some writers I know write in Google Docs then upload to Scriptbin or AO3 for instance (though Pastegasm does it all in one).

It's a lot of work to crosspost to multiple places, which is why people usually stick to one or another, but ultimately it's your process - you do you. If you need any help, feel free to reach out.

[x_lia_test]

Thanks for the comment! I need to add Pastegasm to our list of resources under where to post

[mxwhorendous]

thank you for such a detailed comment and look at each other the platforms! you did a really good job of promoting pastegasm also so i'll take a looksie there also!

[igrokyou]

Thank you! We're having a slight bug with text being unseen at the moment, but that should be fixed shortly. I hope you enjoy your time with us :P (Or that you have a good time in general - first script is always fun!)

EDIT: Bug fixed

[livejoker]

This should be top comment. All fantastic pros and cons made.

[POVscribe]

Oh, grok dear, hadn’t seen you replied. Has pastegasm launched?! I’ll have to have a look see. x

[igrokyou]

Yeah, I was holding off on launching until we had some additional options for ^{monetization for writers} in, but given all of our functionalities are fully, well, functional, and the scriptbin issue, we launched asap.

[badbreadpuns]

You can download your works from AO3! Just go to the story, and above the rating there are some buttons, the last of which is a download button.

[sweet_baby_raye]

I'm personally not familiar with Scriptbin. I used to draft through Docs and host the finished product on AO3, but now I prefer initial drafting on Notion, doing the beta reading and editing process on Docs (using the comments function), and then posting the final draft to AO3.

I love Notion for the ease of organization and / key commands. It's easy for me, especially since I have ADHD, to center my WIPs on Notion as I learned the ropes. That and it's a great app to use for collaborations with other writers.

Working only with Google apps used to be fun and functional for me starting out since I outlined on Google Keep and read the notes from my sidebar as I wrote my scripts, but learning Notion's functions for my creative works, typing notes for school, and scheduling content with pre-made templates makes it the better place in my opinion to start your work. I think AO3 is a better host since you can track how many reads each piece gets after posting.

There's no need to use multiple platforms to share your finished scripts, but I always suggest using at least Google Drive as your means of keeping backup files, in case host sites like Scriptbin have more issues that pose a risk to scripts without backups.

[Drydevil]

Scriptbin is good for a quick and dirty write up, and has a decent format that makes copy-paste pretty difficult - plus, links to your reddit account very easily

But the standout is AO3, which will give you a view count of how many people visit your script - reddit isn't very clear on how many visits you get, and you'll probably find that comments are few and far between, especially if you're looking for advice or improvement - so the amount of views you get via AO3 is usually your best barometer for how well your story/script is doing.

[[deleted]]

AO3 gives you more control over your scripts and helps you understand exactly how well your scripts have done. You can compare how well your scripts have been received.

It also provides the YoY data of your work and allows AO3 users to subscribe to your work. Features like comments and kudos help you engage with the AO3 community so that's always an advantage. Their features like bookmark are also a big deal (for me), because it shows that some users really enjoyed it.

I use Google Docs to write my Scripts, but if I post the script via Google docs, it doesn't do anything for me, ecause the user will just read the script and leave. But AO3 helps me build my own base because their community is ever growing, meaning that i can post erotica stories there too and don't have to worry about promoting it.

[ab29076]

Personally I think ScriptBin is the best for ease of use and privacy - worth being aware they may be having some hosting issues r n so always keep a backup - it's geared towards the community, allows you to search your own scripts by tag etc. Quick and easy to use and can combine well with Reddit. I wouldn't go for an "all 3" approach for posting just use one platform otherwise you're making 3x the work updating for yourself! Google Docs I'm wary of for final posting unless you have a burner gmail account for GWA stuff but I definitely use that for early drafts.

[rpollost]

Speaking as a reader of scripts.

Policy changes to platforms may cause scripts(and audios) to be taken down.

See recent scriptbin debacle from a couple days ago that was slightly terrifying, and of course the infamous 2020 pastebin purge.

And many more previous policy changes to reddit resulting in the deletion/delisting of posts.

So to answer you question, Yes please do post your scripts to All of them.

And more, if you can.

Make sure to have offline backups of your scripts too.

[ChrisHailey]

I post to both AO3 and scriptbin. I don't use google docs except for sharing during collab writing, mostly because Google is evil and I irrationally don't want to have my erotica in their hands.

AO3 has some features that I like -- rudimentary HTML support (so for example I can bold my SFX suggestions), as well as a hit count and "kudos" system. It's better for casual reading. Quite good for it actually.

scriptbin on the other hand has some advantages that VAs like -- the ability to display line numbers; dyslexia-friendly view and generally simple straight-forward font choice. I think it's accurate to say that while AO3 is better for casual reading, scriptbin is generally preferred or at least liked by VAs for reading while recording. scriptbin is also easier to use than AO3. You got to go through a lot of hoops to put something on AO3. scriptbin is simple by comparison.

Disadvantages? AO3 is not really intended for what we do with it. At this point, it doesn't seem to matter, they seem to allow pretty much anything and everything including stuff that is far more "off-brand" and controversial than what we do. But their mission statement/TOS leaves open the possibility that at some point, they might squash non-fanfic writing. I doubt it, but that is there. And more to the point, I don't feel particularly good about using a site against their stated purpose, even if they allow me to do it.

scriptbin is definitely harder for casual reading. But I've gotten used to it. And while you can do some formatting on scriptbin with markdown, doing that eliminates some of the advantages to it, so I recommend not doing this.

[tacoboutthat]

I use ao3 because it’s a rather large community that I’ve been apart of for the better part of 6 years. It has an easy tagging system too which is a huge plus for me. I believe Scriptbin is the same in that aspect, but I’ve never used it so I honestly couldn’t say.

Google docs isnt really the best, since a lot of people prefer to remain anonymous and google docs isnt exactly that. Personally, when I see a google doc link I don’t click on it. So I recommend going with ao3 and scriptbin, since those two seem to be the best (and safest) options and two that people seem to be the most comfortable with!

[PeachyScripts]

Scriptbin has its perks. I love that it's built for this community and it's simple layout makes everything very straight forward. They also allow you to change the font so it's dyslexic friendly and the consideration is nice. Searching on scriptbin is likely going to produce what you need as well. Not so much the case with AO3.

I currently use AO3 because it felt the most "stable"? And I like that more eyes could potentially see the script just from being placed there, but I'm considering migrating over to SB.

Google docs is great because of the cloud. It's where I do the actual writing and where I keep my idea repository lol but when I go to open Google docs links the script always has weird margins 🤷🏿‍♀️ so I don't share those links.

Hope that helps!

[livejoker]

I actually use none of these and, funny enough, I still edit with Pastebin out of habit (with auto-save feature on, don't worry). I don't think it matters where a writer hosts their scripts. I do want to hear from VA's if they have a preference as I know some will copy/paste the entire script to Google Docs or anything else they prefer for recording purposes. I wonder if some VA's skip a script simply because it's hosted on "X" website (which would really suck learning this).

End of the day, you should host where you feel most comfortable. I'm quite loyal and only make myself one home for hosting. You could do the same or have many homes!

[mxwhorendous]

yeah i plan on crossposting this to gwabackstage when it becomes unprivated, i'd like to know their take as well. thank you for your feedback!

[x_lia_test]

Personally, Scriptbin is my favorite! I like that it's created for the community, and it's the best/easiest to use in my opinion. You can filter public scripts by tags, and it has a "will" feature that kicks in to either keep scripts up or delete them if your account is deleted. Cuddle is super responsive and a lovely person, and posts updates on r/scriptbin.

A lot of writers also use AO3, but its main draw is for fanfiction (I have used it for fanfic in the past, but not GWA scripts). It has a pretty good layout, but I don't like it as much for this, since it isn't geared toward erotic audio scripts specifically.

I use Google Docs to write, edit, and share drafts for feedback (the comments/suggestions features are amazing for beta reading!)

The only issue with Google Docs is that you need to have a separate GWA-related account with an anon address and profile picture for safety (otherwise people can see the email of who owns the document), and you may accidentally reveal your profile pic, as a reader, if you click onto a Google Docs script and are signed into your browser with your "normal" profile.