writing motivation and tips

It Sometimes Gets A Little Lonely

This question is correlated to the above one, and it's quite obvious, but are you discouraged or demotivated when you have no readers to your book. What do you do when you go through that situation?

taehphoria : i used to be definitely. i remember feeling so desperate that i’d seek for readers on message boards, ask people to read my book. i don’t think i’d do that now. but if i see that there are no readers, i think i’d seek out fellow friends— build communities, engage with more people and enter contests.

hiseyestell : It is discouraging when you post an update and no one reads or is interested. But I don’t want to get stuck over the number of reads because that is very limiting. Instead, I focus on the story. I just keep writing. Eventually, the right audience will come and like my writing.

xxxxchaxxxx@xxx.com : Yes, I feel very discouraged and demotivated when I have no readers. I usually try not to think about and it and let me affect a lot and I try to improve my writing as much as possible.

jjkskiess : A little bit. When there’s no audience it gets discouraging especially if you’re used to having one. But honestly I think I adapted to it and just wrote. I was happy to even see one comment encouraging me back then!

inbabypink : Having no reader is never been my concern, honestly. I believe that everyone has their own preferences so I just have to be patient to meet someone who likes what I write. Everyone started from zero and that’s okay.

I wish everyone can feel the same too. I know I’m not a big writer whatsoever but it makes me so happy when I find someone who always eagerly writing no matter how the number of their read says. I just like it when someone’s being happy doing things that they like <3

aarmiy : I don't think it happens more often than is normal, but definitely. The fact that I put in so many hours, if I'm not getting any interaction, it WILL be a bummer, of course. But I know I have to keep going, simply because I'm attached to my own characters and really want to take the story out of my daydreams and actually see it in front of me. What's more, turns out a lot of people wait for books to be finished before they start reading, so there's that too!

xxxxxpuxxxx@xxx.com : I just listen to songs to keep myself motivated

ennkay_ : Any humble writer will tell you that no, you shouldn't be discouraged. But I feel like you're lying to yourself if you aren't, especially on a platform that has its favorite genres. I don't want to be discouraged because at the end of the day, you should be writing because you want to and not for ~attention~, but at the same time, it's definitely demotivating when readers really interact on the first, like, three chapters of your work and then they just disappear. I guess it sort of sets you up for an expecation, and when it's not met, it hurts. But like I said, I try to keep in mind how important the story is to me and how much I enjoy writing it, regardless of how many readers I have and that usually helps with the situation.

moonvanjoon : I remind myself of the reason why I write.

lmaojahnavi : Being an amateur author on Wattpad, every single one of us has gone through this phase. You put your heart and soul into a project only for people to not even notice it, and it breaks your heart. You start to wonder if people don't even like you at your best, how will you ever become a successful author. During times like this, I would suggest shutting it all out. You need to keep reminding yourself that you're a pretty amazing writer, and that you're writing for yourself. That it doesn't matter that no one's reading your work, because you are and you like what you read. These mantras may not work every time, and when that happens, I generally take the book down and work on it offline before publishing it online again. Also, don't be scared of indulging in some well-intended self-promo. You need to request people to check your stuff out, to get it out there. This really helped me gain readers.