What I Hate/love About Wattpad

What I Love:

Wattpad is a great place to post stories. It’s free, it’s SO easy to understand, and it’s easy to find readers.

• I love the organization. I tried posting something on HP fanfiction one time, (I was like twelve), and I could not for the life of me figure out how to do it. With wattpad, the instructions are simple and everything is laid out the way you would expect it to be.
• The categories are useful, especially since you can pick two. For instance, I might want to read a love story, but I want the love story to be sci-fi rather than teen fiction. The categories make it easy to find what you’re looking for.
• The What’s Hot List. I know a lot of people hate it because crap stories can overtake it just because someone got their friends to vote for it, but it really does motivate me to advertise and get more readers. It makes me feel pretty accomplished when I break that top 100. I haven’t made it to the first page yet, but maybe someday.
• The Watty Awards. I’m all for getting prizes, and this is a great way to do it because really, it’s a contest to see who can spread the word about their story best. That means even if another story is better, I can win because mine is decent and more people read it. (Of course there is some debate about how fair this is for the other guy, but what do I care?)
• A wide variety of people use the site. This means a lot of opinions for your story, good and bad. Some people can be a bit too critical, and others can be a bit annoying with constant flattery and no real discussion, but with a lot of people reading, you get every kind of feedback you could need.
• Cast. I do this in my head anyway, so it’s nice to actually show people who I see a character as. The problem is my actors aren’t always the right age…

What I Hate:

• Those dang ninjas… No, I don’t hate the ninjas personally, it’s just that sometimes they get a little too up in my business. For instance, asking someone to read my story is not spamming. I take time out of my day to contact them and form a nice message with a polite little question. It hurts me when the person I asked doesn’t complain, but a ninja does. Butt out, dude. Also, they like to stalk any thread in the clubs that sounds like anything close to vote trading. I specifically say that someone may vote for my story if they choose, and agree to do a read/comment for a read/comment. Sorry I used the “v” word. Next time, go look at the threads of people saying, “Great deal if you want votes! Message me for details!” THEY are vote trading, not me.
• Undiscovered Gems. If a story is undiscovered… there’s a reason for that. In the real world, people don’t get published by writing a book, sticking it on a shelf and waiting for someone to pick it up. You have to show EVERYONE and work your butt off to get an agent to love it. They shouldn’t be awarded for doing jack squat.
• Really long chapters. And yes, five pages is really long. I’m sorry but on Wattpad, there is a much shorter attention span than there is for someone reading an actual book. You can keep the story just as long and split it up into a few more parts. It helps you anyway, since you get more votes that way. I just don’t like to stare at my computer screen for hours without taking a break now and then, so try to give me a little intermission here and there. Three pages max, please.
• People who can’t spell or speak English, but they ask me to read their story. Then, I reply to their message with some quirky sarcastic response, and they never come back and answer me… you really wanted me to read that story, huh?
• Speaking of people never coming back, I also hate when people leave critical comments on my story about all the things they hate or don’t understand, then I explain it and address every issue they mentioned, and they never reply again. Don’t hate on my story just to hate; I only want your advice if you care.
• “My Best Friend is a Werewolf/Vampire Hybrid and he likes my english teacher at my all boys boarding school where i am the only girl and every guy likes me but i can’t decide because they are all so HOT!”
• “Great story!” on my parody of this sort of story. Really? Did you read it? Like at all?
• Chat. Sorry, but when I get on wattpad, I have stuff to do. Otherwise I wouldn’t be on. Leave me alone. Message me if you really need to talk to me, and I’m more likely to answer.

I feel like I could go on… Maybe I’ll add a second part if I think of more.