Did you ever think that the reason you're undiscovered is because you're NOT a gem?

I realise that the conversation has turned in new directions *cough-turdpolishing-cough* But I'm going to jump in here anyway. I agree with you on that first post @Parogar I had one of my stories rock up on the undiscovered gems list a while back and honestly, it's pretty crap. It could be good, but it's not.

I do think a lot of it has to do with the average of Wattpad's general age group. Teenagers are going to write what interests them, just like the rest of us. I'll write horror/paranormal shorts and they'll write One Direction fan-fics, 'tis the way the world works... apparently...

Also, thank you @dreamingthought I LOVED Garth Nix's Sabriel so I will definitely be checking out your suggestions, lol xD

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@lewiss My two cents on top of your two cents. No need to come after the panda.

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@TheDivineMissM - Rant is not at ally in the same area as Garth Nix BUT Skin Hunger and another book of Kathleen Duey's that i can't find righ tnow are really good. Hm other good dark fiction... Try Tanith Lee's unicorn books those are dark and delightful too.

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@TheDivineMissM

okay, because i'm obsessive, i looked up other books that remind me of Sabriel

Shannon Hale's A book of 1000 days <- very very very good

also her book Princess Academy was rather good.

Tithe by Holly Black, another excellent dark little read. The other two in the series are excellent as well.

^_- lemme know what you think of those and I'll happily recommend others. I adore dark YA fantasy fiction.

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@Parogar I am not undiscovered, because I am a nothingness gem! Jokes apart, " everyone thinks the reason they're undiscovered couldn't possibly be because their story is cliche and about nerds falling for cheerleaders, or one direction." If their story was about that, it won't be undiscovered. -_-

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haha! Great point, @Percikingdawn!

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@Parogar I couldn't agree more. There are a lot of reasons that people remain 'undiscovered' like, as you said, lack of originality, horrible grammar, flaws in their writing style etc.. For example my writing style has a number of flaws, that being the main reason my stories remain untouched. (But thankfully, I'm constantly improving thanks to the few real comments I get. :D)

Anyway, you've made a brilliant point, :)

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@dreamingthought Thank you very much! I just wrote them all down and will definitely check them out, and give you a holler when I do =)

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@dreamingthought

I do agree the topic is silly... I also think this topic is insulting...

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@RichardStaschy *Shrugs* There is a point being made, and I agree at some level, but not entirely. The issue to me is the fact that this is a site for everyone. Not just people who strive to become published or elite. some people are just here for fun, nothing more. Just because they hope that their story is really an undiscovered gem, who are we to judge?

If were at a site that was geared specifically at writers working towards publication, if this was a critiquing site and not a social networking site for writers, I would agree more.

The simple fact is, this is basically facebook for writers. Anyone can discover the joy of writing through Wattpad and have the amazing experience of actually being read and connect with other people who write.

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@dreamingthought

Totally agree that this site is open for everybody...

The real bitch is to get published... But what most young authors dont realized that the publishers are looking for ways NOT to publish your book. They dont have the freaking time to read every story they are given. So the grammar, the format and the opening lines are scrutinize in the hands of the publisher... And mostlikely they will not read past the first page.

I think this tread is a load of crap because the intent is saying your stuff isnt discovered because it sucks ass! It's not true! there are hightly competive catagories here... Fantasy is one of those, and my story has been on the top 50 for months and still collecting reads (almost 60,000... so I'm not suffering from anonymity)... But if anybody does enter a fantasy story into the mix they need to pickup 50 to 100 reads over night just to get on the top 10 list. That's how competive the catagory is. It has noting to do if you story sucks, or your writing One Direction is Space...

PS... I'm not wasting my time with publishers... Go E-book!

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@RichardStaschy Agreed. E-Book will be my route once I revise. There are many factors that go into being 'discovered' around here. some people just have the right formula at the right time. Some people can keep up with a breakneck update schedule that helps your story gain exposure. Others, like you and I don't mind hanging a back a bit on the ranks and slowly collecting reads. Occasionally I'll get bumped up in the ranks, but *shrugs* doesn't really matter.

The thing is, though, it took me a while to reach this point. Early on, it was so frustrating feeling unnoticed, unknown and desperately wanting to know if I was doing anything remotely likeable with my work.

I think the undiscovered gems section is for those people. Everyone has potential. Some need more help than others, though. Some need more time to perfect their art. Others, well, this might just be a phase. Coming from a generation where it felt like I was an oddity for loving to read and write, seeing young people enjoy writing and reading like this, I love it. As bad and cliche as some of it is, i don't care. People are reading and writing. That is never a bad thing.

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@dreamingthought

A frustrating feeling is having 10 different movie studios wanting to look at your script. So you spend the money to have it mail and never seeing any feedback... this was in 2000. [Lionsgate was one of the 10 that requested to see it]

Sure not getting reads can seem frustrating but that's when you need to advertise (not that read-4-read bs either) you need to find your fans...

It does require work...

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@RichardStaschy I went through a sprint where i sent a bunch of writing out to magazines. Never got anything but rejection letters. *Shrugs* just the way it goes i guess.

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@dreamingthought

hehe... at least you got rejection letters.. :)

Good luck on the E-book... (if things work my way I'll be E-Booking my first story in the fall)

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@believeInMe03 Hi, I'm sorry but we have to remove your story post from this discussion thread as this thread, and Undiscovered Gems in general is for promoting the work of others rather than promotion your own.

However, you are more than welcome to post your story promotion in the Share Your Story Club. Here is the link to the forum http://www.wattpad.com/forums/categories/38-club Feel free to have other discussions in this club though!

Thank you

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@Percikingdawn: I wish those One Direction fanfics weren't up there, :P It reminds me of when HP Fanfics ruled the fanfics not too long ago and won the wattys. This time, it'll probably be those 1D's. Some of them are OK grammarwise, but the idea is so typical!

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@fauxpunker oh ok..soryy

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@Zachrock

I'm not sure what does that have to do with the topic...

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@RichardStaschy That is what I was thinking, I even checked the thread title one more time.

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@Percikingdawn

If the issue was young people were writing one direction stories and not getting reads it would make sense...

I do think the issue is speed of success. I believe there are too many writers thinking of quick fame the instant they post their story... it's never quick.

When I've posted Dragon's Nest I didnt start picking up reads for almost a month and a half later. Now I'm over 60,000 reads... The Notebook was a total different story. The first time I've posted it on watty I've got 20 reads. I took it off cleaned it up some and reposted the story, now I have almost 90,000 reads. I'm amazed... but notebook was a repost.

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@RichardStaschy I have got a sucky ass satire with 1K reads, it doesn't even qualifies as a story. And the one I like the most is on 300 something reads. But I am still hoping that one day it will have more reads than the 1K one. :p Neither of them are a gem though...

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@Percikingdawn

Gem is such an opinionated word. It's hard to say what is a Gem or what is not a Gem. If you believe your story isnt a Gem it's hard to argue against your own opinion.

I will say that we all normally believe our stories are so good and worth sharing, therefore we put the effort to post the story. Then most of use are feel so disappointed when nobody is looking at the story. So in the sense we normally believe our missed story is a Gem.

I do think this topic is so off.

(repeating myself) I do believe the problem is instant gratification, we post our story and would like to see it jump reads within a few days and then I notice jealousy is aimed to those 'BS' stories... Oh, it's another One Direction story, why dont those kids read my stuff...

You cannot make those kids read your stoires, if you want those kids to read your stuff then you need to reach them at their level... If they are willing to read One Direction then give them One Direction... This is what Hollywood do all the time and it does work.

"not now john we've got to get on with the film show hollywood waits at the end of the rainbow who cares what it's all about as long as the kids go..."

Not Now John ~ Pink Floyd

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@RichardStaschy lol Perfect lyrics. The term "popular demand" fits nicely here. Most of the undiscovered stories on here are because of they attract only a minority of readers.

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@Percikingdawn

I do believe there are some stories that will not be pickup by teens... and this place is overpopulated by teens. Again it doesnt mean the story sucks or it's bad or boring... It's like you said... "Popular Demand" it does inspire me to write another chapter on my little writers help book (I think I'll call it popular demand, but I'll have to do that later tonight)

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