The Counselor

"I Don't Have Very Many Reads!"

Article One: "I Don't Have Very Many Reads!"

So firstly, I would like to state that in the grand scheme of things, reads are not terribly important.

Yes, you heard me right. The amount of reads you get does not define your quality as a writer. You can be a brilliant writer with poignant and wonderful things to say, and have very few reads.

Conversely, you can be a truly awful writer who churns out rubbish and have millions of reads.

Now, just because your story has few reads does not make it amazing. And because your story has millions does not make it rubbish. So, basically, you can’t judge the quality of your story on reads.

If I’m not totally crazy, there are a lot of you thinking, “But, Jo, of course reads have something to do with how good your story is! If people read your story, that means they like it, right?”

But the truth is, THAT DOESN’T MATTER. People can like garbage. People can also not like good writing. Different people have different opinions on everything—no two people will agree on absolutely everything. (If you run into people who do, beware: most likely they’re clones, or robots. Either way, something’s up.) So people have different opinions on what makes up good writing.

And when it comes to your story, your opinion is the most important (for the most part). If you like your story and think it’s well-written, then it probably is.

But DON’T take that advice and run with it. If someone tells you your grammar is awful and your spelling is atrocious and your plotline is full of holes and your characters are unbelievable, you are NOT allowed to say, “Well, that doesn’t matter because Jo said that if I like my writing, that’s all that matters.”

Because if that’s what you take from this, you’re misunderstanding me. Other people’s opinions matter. Sometimes, we get too close to our own writing to see the flaws, and that’s where editors and critique partners come in: you need someone else’s eyes looking at your work to catch what you miss.

What I mean by your opinion matters most is, if you think your story is well-written and has good grammar and spelling and a tight plot and genuine characters that aren’t Mary Sues, but it doesn’t have a lot of reads, you shouldn’t be discouraged. Because not having a lot of reads does NOT make your story not worth reading. It just means it hasn’t been discovered yet.

HOWEVER, in trying to get your story discovered, there are certain rules you should follow, ESPECIALLY on Wattpad:

1.       DO NOT POST COMMENTS ON OTHER PEOPLE’S STORIES ASKING THEM TO READ YOURS. For one thing, it’s rude. For another, you’re not likely to get many reads that way, because even though some people don’t mind it, a lot of people do. It also makes it seem like you didn’t take the time to read their story if you just slap down a comment that says, “HEY I LIKED YOUR STORY! READ MINE!” And lastly, it disappoints other writers who work just as hard as you do at their writing when they see that they have a comment and it turns out to be, “READ MY STORY!” Because, personally, when I get a comment, I want it to have actual feedback in it. I don’t want to be asked to read someone’s story in a comment.

2.       Read someone’s profile before asking them to read your story. A lot of people leave messages that say, “Hey, I love your story [insert title here]. Would you read my story, [insert another title here]?” And specifically written in the person’s “About Me” will be something to the effect of, “I’m sorry, I can’t take any read-my-story requests because I’m busy writing” or “If you want me to read your story post it in a comment on [insert work here].” When people don’t take the time to read things like that, it shows that they just want reads, and they’re not really paying attention to that specific person.