7 Simple Tips to Improve Your Wattpad Stories

#1 The Number One Rule: Show, Don't Tell!

I have encountered this problem hundreds of times in Wattpad stories, and the solution is the greatest trick to ensure more readers! If you can master this one technique, grammar and description will hardly even matter.

Consider this opening paragraph:

My name is Kennedy. I’m fourteen. I live with my mom. Oh, and by the way, I think I’m turning into a werewolf!

This is a classic example of TELLING instead of SHOWING. We don’t get to experience Kennedy’s pain of being a werewolf... and heck, we don’t have any reason to believe her!

So the million-dollar question is this: how do we SHOW these things instead?

The first step is to open the scene in the moment. Start with action or dialogue that draws us into the story and SHOWS us the important details in real time as if it’s happening right now.

Consider this rewrite:

I’m no expert on the human body, but I’m pretty sure fourteen-year-old girls aren’t supposed to grow fur on their kneecaps!

I slammed my bedroom door, plopped on my bed, and slipped my jeans to my ankles. Sure enough, the fur was back. What the heck! I thought and examined it closer. It was black this time instead of grey.

“Kennedy! Get your butt in the kitchen!”

Mom had the worst timing. “Just a minute, Ma!” I yelled, then snatched a pair of scissors off my night stand. Carefully, I snipped away at the patch of fuzz and prayed to God that it wasn’t growing in a place that my mother could see.

“Kennedy? The dishes aren’t going to clean themselves!”

I gathered the clump of hair, ran to my dresser, and opened the top drawer. It was filled with fur from top to bottom. I dropped in the new clump, slammed the drawer, and bolted from my room.

This paragraph will engage readers AND hit the important points. We know her name is Kennedy because her mom calls her to the kitchen. We know she’s a werewolf because she’s cutting fur from her knee.

Try to find places in your own writing where you can show rather than tell. I promise, it’ll make all the difference in the world!