You pull out the book, or open the app, and dive in. By the time you swipe up or turn the page, the book has you snagged. You are a slave to the plot. Once you find Wattpad, your diet goes nuclear, with millions of books in every genre to read FOR FREE. You start reading and it becomes a challenge to stop. One book makes you laugh, one makes you cry, and one makes you die a little because it's so good you just can't... You now wonder what the heck took you so long to find this site!
Be it the characters, the emotional thread or the level of mystery in the story, something draws you in on an almost spiritual level. When a writer can play with the emotions of a reader, the feels are real, as the saying goes. You find yourself at the mercy of the plot. More times than you would like to admit, you have read until your eyes are blurry, until your heart can't take it anymore. Ahem...you may have been known to ignore your family, avoid household chores and lose sleep when involved with an author. You give the author full control. You binge on that book and may even avoid a meal or two because who has time to eat when there's this amazing book you could be reading instead?
Then the book insomnia sets in, and not just staying up late to read, but actually waking up out of a dead sleep in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep because you are thinking about what is happening to the characters. Like if you don't read right then, you'll miss something. As if it is happening in real time.
Finally, you finish the book and then are hit with a depression that it's already over. Never mind the happy ending or the epilogue, but you're sad that you won't have a relationship with those characters anymore. That's right, a relationship. Those characters are family to you while you are in the book. You feel their feels, dream their dreams, you love who they love...
But then what? Do you go on your merry way, finding more books to devour and enjoy? Well, yes, of course you do, but not before letting the author know how their creativity has touched you. You may be nervous to post that comment if you've never left one before, but then you realize it's easier than you think, so you go ahead and hit post.
That's when the magic happens. The author comments back and you are hooked. Because where else in the wonderful world of books can you react to something an author has written, ask a question about the plot, or encourage them on THEIR writing journey. Nowhere. You have connected with that author in a way that hasn't been possible with published books, and you find yourself looking for the comment link at the bottom of the page, only to be disappointed when you realized that paper books don't have those.
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I think you've probably noticed by now that my post isn't a sneak peak, exclusive content or character interview. I love reading, and I'm guessing that if you are part of this site, you do too. So, I wanted to wax poetic about the amazing connection features that Wattpad has: comments.
Just because that's a cool feature, doesn't mean everyone's used it, so I want to encourage any of you that haven't let an author know your reaction to his or her work, to give it a try. Even if you just tap that LOL emoji, or the heart eyes, or just a heart. That's something, right?
Commenting became as much of an addiction to me as reading BECAUSE THE AUTHOR REPLIES! I mean, how cool is that?! The first author to respond to one of my comments was @liveandlove10 and I remember thinking, OMG she actually read my comment! Now that I've posted my own works, I love hearing what readers are thinking, even if they kind of disagree with a character...or two. Meh, it's cool.
I asked other authors in the block party what stands out to them and got some great responses! It is so wonderful when a reader tells us how our words have inspired them, encouraged them, or even just made their day a little brighter. Most of the authors said much of the same thing, that someone who leaves a meaningful comment will make THEIR day as well. @tashtypes, @TinHoverCarInIce, and @Nyhterides all mentioned how those meaningful comments will touch them long after it's been received.
@Joflower has a Featured reader Friday, and chooses a comment to highlight on other social media sites. That's how important YOUR comments are to writers! Several authors will dedicate chapters to frequent commenters as a thank you. When a writer spends hours crafting a chapter to post, knowing readers are waiting with baited breath, it energies them further to know it's been well received. @JDfanFF loves those detailed comments, and leaves them for other authors as well.
Ahem, *whispers* just avoid those "update soon" type of comments. I mean, that's nice that you're loving it but I agree with @JMFelic that it's not real motivating We've all gotten the "not my thing" comments but when @Red_Harvey told me she got "this went off into cuckoo-land" I was like, no they di'nt!!
Sometimes it's difficult to reply to every comment, especially for authors who get thousands, but don't let that stop you! They may see it and smile, even if they just can't possibly reply to every one they get. And one more thing: Stand up for that author when you see the trolls come out from under the bridge. That's just unnecessary, am I right?
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I hope you've enjoyed the block party so far! I can't thank @kellyanneblount enough for inviting me to my second block party. And because the connection factor on Wattpad is what blows me away, this Block Party is a serious mind-melt: collaboration too?!? That is just amazing!
I would love to connect with you as well! Leave me a comment here (because comments...right?), or head over to my profile @4thpowermama and check out something I've written. My current work, which is in it's final stages, is More Than This. I've linked a little trailer to the media section up top. (Well, Kelly did that for me, thanks Kelly!!)^^ Let me know if you liked it...or even if you think I headed over to cuckoo-land.
And just because one of my posts wouldn't becomplete without one, Mr. #Prattgif doesn't think you'll be disappointed by myworks... (that was for you @Squeaks7
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Link: https://goo.gl/2x2anC