Inside Scoop

[21] Uploading to Wattpad

Why do you upload your work to Wattpad?

Leigh19: Feedback

It's like a tester to see how people will react, it's a freedom of speech and honestly if at least one person appreciates my work than that's all I need. The feedback and criticism helps a writer grow and wattpad is amazing for that.

Vicky_nfs: Feedback

I started writing because of Wattpad. If it hadn’t been for Wattpad, I probably still wouldn’t know that I love to write. The moment I had written that beginning of my very first story, it never even crossed my mind not to upload it to Wattpad. It seemed like the normal thing to do.

Of course, I was dead-terrified when I had uploaded that part to Wattpad, for everyone to read. It was such a scary thing to do, but it didn’t take long for someone to comment…and that more than made up for the terrified feelings of beginning to write and not knowing whether you are good at it.

Now, after a year and a half of uploading my work to Wattpad, I know that it definitely has benefits when you share your work with people you don’t really know.

By uploading your work onto Wattpad, you get an idea whether or not your storyline is good. When you notice a significant drop in reads, fans, comments… you know you have done something wrong so you can go back and fix it.

When you have struggled with a certain scene/chapter because it was simply so very hard to write, it is a nice reward to receive comments about it.

Something else that I find useful is that, among the many readers on Wattpad, there are always people who don’t mind pointing out mistakes they spotted. English isn’t my first language, so when there are people willing to point out any mistakes you may have missed, that is a very big help.

The best thing about uploading my work to Wattpad is the direct feedback, knowing that after so many chapters, there are still people following your story. It is an extra motivation to continue writing!

Emmie: Feedback

Hmm, good question! *rubs imaginary beard* Why do I upload my work onto Wattpad?

Well, I guess it all started a few years ago…

I just got my first iPhone, and I was over the moon, and looking for something new and exciting to read. I was searching through the APP store when an interesting little orange W jumped out at me.

Even though I had been writing at the time….never, not even once did it occur to me that I should share my works on Wattpad. Nope, instead I just continued to read random stories until that fateful day.

I was in the middle of reading a story about this teenager, who falls pregnant, and it was getting really good, then she stopped uploading! I was distraught. So I went on the hunt for a new Wattpad story.

That’s when I discovered something. These people weren’t genetically enhanced robots built to write for my entertainment, they were just people, like me. o.o

Until then, I hadn’t known that. I guess I hadn’t thought that far into it, because I had no idea that these were just randomly written stories. I literally thought they were like specially chosen or something. Ha-ha. (Yes, I’m half-blonde).

Seriously, Wattpad should state this somewhere on their apps. >.<

NOTE: These are REAL people, who are writing REAL stories, and if you are an aspiring author—come! We welcome you!

So, anyway, I ended up Googling Wattpad, and then joining. I wanted to upload my works, but was sceptical, for no one had ever read them before. Also, well, I was a little wry about posting online…so I started a new story, being The Not So Secret Life of Helena Callahan book one. And well, it took awhile to catch on, but people were actually reading it—commenting in invisible ninja ink at first, but reading it!

More to the point: I guess that’s why I write on Wattpad. To share my stories with whomever wishes to read them, and well; the feedback helps greatly. I’m actually a little embarrassed of my first upload, because it was so underdeveloped, but I’m working on fixing it up…

And honestly, if it weren’t for Wattpad, then I wouldn’t be where I am now. I wouldn’t have the stories I have now. And I wouldn’t have met all the awesome Wattpaders I have. So, well, yeah. I guess I owe a lot to Wattpad for getting me starting and helping me to grow as an author.