Writer's Guide 101 (Wattpad Edition)

V. Writer's Peeves

Just like everybody else, many of us authors (and readers) have our fair share of crazy experiences. They could be positive, negative or both. As they say, experience is the best teacher.

The first thing I want to tackle about is spamming or advertising in the wrong places. Don't you just hate it when someone goes "HEY CHECK OUT MY WORK SO VOTE AND FOLLOW! SORRY TO BOTHER HAVE A GREAT DAY!!" in the comment section?
    Not to mention you'd see this in every chapter. Now I understand if these kids don't know any better and I hope they cut this habit eventually.
    There are other instances where they'd advertise in the message boards of existing companies or uninterested authors. Before doing so, make sure to read the rules which can be found in their profile or library.

The second major peeve I have is loosing followers. My guess is some people don't like my raw personality and habit of posting randomly — it's my account after all so I can do whatever I want with it.
    There are cases where the ones I just followed would unfollow instantly. The third reason has something to do with not immediately updating.
    If they really are true supporters, they'd stick around and watch their favorite authors grow.

Third, dealing with nasty comments. This includes smack talk, bad faith criticism and sending awful threats (whether it's directly at somebody or the author's fictional character).
Not to mention about constantly pressuring the author to update right away despite knowing he or she gave what you want in the midst of their busy schedule. Any inappropriate comments shall be muted.

Fourth, we have the "fake readers." These are people who only voted two parts of the book and never read the whole thing. Some would even promise to check out your works but never follow up to it.
    While it's safe to assume they must've realized these works aren't meant for them, I just hope everyone else gives them a chance.
   How can you even tell if a book is bad when you haven't read it yet?

Fifth, the urge to compare the authors' works to other books. Now there isn't anything wrong when it comes to mentioning how some characters or story elements reminded you of a familiar premise before. It only becomes unacceptable if you put it like this:

"Hey, did you take this from [insert existing book/video game/show/film here]?"

"Wait, that character is really [insert existing character from another book/video game/show/film here]. Change my mind."

"Hey, guys! This one looks like blahblahblah ... "

We have this thing called "inspirations." These authors only add their own twist to the mix so it doesn't become a rip-off.