How to Succeed on Wattpad

Tips for How to Become Popular on Wattpad
This is all my experience/opinion. Don't hate.

1) Write a good book.
Seriously. I'm gonna be honest here. There are some people who write crap novels and expect everyone to read it. I'm not saying that your writing is necessarily bad, but that doesn't mean your novels not...if that makes sense. Aha. But you can't expect to be popular in anything if you suck at it.

2) First impressions count.
TITLES. Need I say more? Don't give the entire plot away in the title. You know how for papers, you have to formulate a thesis that sums up the entire paper into one sentence? It's kind of like that. Titles should be concise and intriguing. I'm not going to lie; I really like "Why She Fell" as a title (does it sound pompous that I say that?). Put enough thought into the title so that when people read it, they'll think, "Hey, this sounds interesting." At the same time, don't over think it!
Make your cover attractive. Don't put too much on it, you know? Be bold and make a statement but don't overdo it. I really like @Perfectionism 's covers because they're simple, pretty, and professional looking. Make sure you can read the title, too. Dude, like, if I can't read the title, chances are I'm not going to read the book. "Don't judge a book by it's cover." Pshhhh screw that. Everyone does it; I know I do. If you can make good book covers, great. If you can't, go to the book cover forum. Choose your book cover maker person wisely, dude.
AND OH MY GOD DON'T PUT PEOPLE MAKING OUT AND NAKED ON YOUR COVER.
Kissing, okay.
BUT NAKED AND GROSS AND EWWWW.
PLEASE DON'T.
IT'S DISGUSTING.
Classy, not trashy, folks.
The summary of your story is perhaps one of the more crucial elements. Sure, your title might be great, and your cover may be pretty, but the first thing a reader will read of your book is the summary. Again, don't make them super long (I had a really long summary once. I deleted the book, aha). Use as few words as you can to give  little bit to the story. Make it concise and interesting. Ask a friend to help you, if you need it. Ask them, "Would you read this story?"
Actually...don't ask a friend. They might just tell you that they would 'cause they're your friend. I'd ask a sibling if you have one. They can be pretty harshly honest (trust me).

3) Do read-for-reads.
Before I start on this, let me just say: Don't spend too much time promoting. If you're spending five hours promoting your book that has one chapter, and you've written 50 words of the next chapter, then obviously you're promoting too much. Remember the real reason you want to write--because you love it, not because of fame.
That being said...
You can't expect that everyone in the world will just seemingly stumble upon your story. Sure, a few people will, but if you're just starting out on Wattpad, there's a very slim chance you'll get anywhere. (I'll talk more about my experience in a bit). The fairest way is to do R4R's and C4C's, ya know?
If you're just starting out on Wattpad, your new best hangout place for when you're not writing? The Share Your Story Club.
Don't be one of those "omg i love this check out my book http://wattpad.com/sdlfkaj;sdlfkjlfrkjdlkfjdkfldjfdl" It not only gives you a bad reputation, but it's annoying. Do it fair. If they say to read their prologue and comment, read it thoroughly and give a genuine, honest, and helpful comment, not just a generic one. I hate when people do that. You know who you are.
Enter in contests, too! I did a few of those, it really helps to expose your story to other people's fans (if they have any). Follow the contest guidelines. Hold your own contests, too, if you want.
 Now, I've often said that the reason, I think, Why She Fell became so popular is mostly because of luck. And you know what? It is. I did advertise and enter contests and stuff, but I think that there are some people who read my book that happened to have a lot of fans, or liked to recommend books, or whatever. But remember--I did start out as an undiscovered writer. I did start out with R4R's. I did once have only, like 28 reads on my story (I was so psyched when it hit 100!). I spent time promoting, but the most important thing: I wrote the book.

4) Be social.
I've made a few friends on Wattpad. And you know what? They all read my stories. I read all of theirs.
If I receive a comment or message that says something as simple as, "Hi! Let's be friends." I'll usually click their profile and see if they've got anything written. At the same time....DON'T JUST BEFRIEND PEOPLE SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF GETTING YOUR BOOK READ. I cannot stress this enough. I HATE WHEN PEOPLE DO THAT. STOP BEING A USER.
All you have to do is....you know. Communicate. If you like a story, click the Vote button and comment. Drop a message on a newcomer's board welcoming them. Help out a writer in one of the clubs. Ya know? Good.

5) Ignore them haters.
People will tell you they hate your book. It happens. People have told me that. Get used to it, or get out.

6) FINISH YOUR BOOK.
DON'T LEAVE PEOPLE HANGING OH MY GOD I CAN'T STAND WHEN PEOPLE DO THAT.

7) Keep your fans in the loop about updates.
Okay, so I'm the last person to ever say this hahaha because I suck at updating frequently.
But, as a fan of books myself, I like it when authors post maybe once a week and consistently. (I'm sorry I suck!) If you want to update on Saturdays, do that. If you're running off schedule and you're going to be two days late, let them know.
But please, please, please don't broadcast messages every two minutes. That's just annoying.

So. These are just a few tips. I'm going to do a part (2) soon--How NOT to Succed on Wattpad aha.
Hope this helps! :D

--Ivers

Lesson #2: Characters~Pt. 1

No one wants to have a perfect character.

Let's be honest here--what fun is it to read about someone who lives the ideal life, has an ideal personality, and looks perfect? It just reminds us how much our lives suck. It reminds us how screwed up our family is, and how mean we sometimes can be, and how we don't have a perfect body. If there's one thing that bothers me it's when characters aren't people I can easily relate to.

That being said, here's a little something you can use to make your characters more realistic.

In 7th or 8th grade, my class came up with "ASHAT." It stands for 5 things to think about for your character: Appearance, Speech, How others react to him/her, Actions, and Thoughts.

Step One: Appearance.


Some basic questions to think about:
-What clothes does he/she wear?
-How does he/she present herself?
-How does he/she walk?
-What does her physical appearance reveal?
-Does your character have any scars?

Like I said before--nobody's perfect. Don't be afraid to give your characters some flaws. Maybe she's short. Maybe he doesn't have a six pack. Maybe she has a little bit of a tummy. Maybe he has acne. Maybe she dresses in sweatpants all the time. Maybe he likes Armani suits.

Catch my drift?

Here's an example:

A boy is walking down the hallway, hunched over. His dark hair is tangled in a wild mess and his pale skin looks even paler underneath the fluorescent lights. He wears jeans that are two sizes too big, and a sweatshirt that is fraying on the edges. 


When you read that, what can you conclude about the boy?
Here's what I say:

-A boy is walking down the hallway, hunched over. He doesn't have a lot of self-confidence, so he tries to hide himself.
-His dark hair is tangled in a wild mess. He doesn't care much for grooming.
-his pale skin looks even paler underneath the fluorescent lights. Perhaps he doesn't go out much, which implies that he may be a very lonely kid.
-He wears jeans that are two sizes too big, and a sweatshirt that is fraying on the edges. Maybe these clothes are hand-me-downs, because perhaps he can't afford his own clothing.

Get it? Got it? Good(:

Step Two: Speech.


Dialogue is a major step in making someone feel real. What you say is what is in your heart. So the first important thing is: listen. If you're in the cafeteria of school, eavesdrop on some kid's conversations, or pay close attention to your own. What are some often used phrases? How are the kids saying them? What do they do while talking to friends? Do they swear?
The key to writing is understanding. You have to get why someone would say something.

What I like to do while writing dialogue is imagine that I'm the person speaking. How would I respond to the question? For example, if I were Calista, what would I say in response to Melodie's question? Basically, I'm having a conversation with myself :S but I think it really, really helps to put yourself into your character's perspective.

And honestly? No one actually talks like "OMG did you see him? WTF are you doing?" NO ONE SPEAKS IN TEXT LINGO. Okay, so I get it. You want to show that these girls are stupid, ditzy, and annoying. But I beg you, DO NOT USE THIS. I hate it. Where I go to school? No one uses text lingo. It just sounds...stupid. I may have used it in WSF but I'm probably going to change it when (if) I edit it, because it's so STUPID. Want to show how someone is ditzy? Rather than using text lingo, just use their dialogue. Maybe they ask a stupid question. Maybe they say something dumb. You know?

I'm gonna stop here because I'm getting lazy. I'll continue on later :)

Oh Dear.

My life is truly a mortifying mess.

I'm actually extremely late typing this, because this happened almost three weeks ago.

I haven't had time to blog or much lately--finals week is next week (!) and after that, I'll be done with my freshman year of high school! :D

So I've been studying studying studying studying studying. I've already taken my physics final--that's over and done with, thank goodness! I'm taking my Spanish final in class tomorrow, and I've already taken half of it today. All that's left is History, Math, and English...three of the subjects I struggle most with =\

Anyways. I'm getting off track. What was I saying again?

Oh yeah. My life is mortifying.

So I liked this boy. We are good friends. Then finally I got up the courage to tell him "Hey. I like you."

You know what he did?

He didn't take me seriously.

In fact, you could say he laughed at me, kind of. He thought I was joking and making it all up just to screw around with his brain, and no matter how much I tried, he WOULDN'T. BELIEVE. ME.

I haven't bothered mentioning it to him because...well...I don't know. It's almost the end of school, anyway. It's just a waste of time, right? I may as well not even bother.

Yeah, I'll keep telling myself that.

And maybe,  just maybe...I'll start believe it.

But...probably not.

God, I'm so naive.

I'm sorry if you're reading this and you're bored. My life is boring.

Gah.

Dueces!

--Ivers

Pain....

Ugh. I'm in so much pain....

My stupid body is...well...stupid.
I have this problem where this bacteria or something causes pimple-like things to pop up all over my body, and they get infected, and they hurt.
It sounds gross. It is gross. But most of all...it hurts like a motherflipper!
To make it worse, I have a cut that hurts. It got infected. And it's nasty.
Not gonna say more...

Ah. I've decided that girls are really annoying.
This one girl, in concert choir today, was completely obnoxious. I said something like, "Hey, I think we should work more on learning on the notes than the rhythm, and the rhythm's not quite right, either..."
And she said, "Well, why don't you teach it?"
It was bitchy. Trust me. And she gave me that obnoxiously sweet smile that was just so fake and annoying.
Then her and her little friend--who I don't really like either--were being immature and so damn annoying.

The problem? She's friends with my best friend.
She's supposedly friends with me, but I don't like her.

Ugh.

I hate people.

--Ivers

Boys

I actually don't know what to title this post aha. I kind of just need a venting sesh here.

I'm a major tomboy. Now, I hate referring to myself that way (no particular reason) but it's true. I talk like a guy, I act like a guy...I am one of the guys. That's what I am. "One of the Guys." I'm a boy. A dude. A bro. And don't get me wrong, I love my guy friends and I love who I am. I have fun and I love joking around (a lot).

But...I kind of wish I were still a girl.

See, my guy friends don't really see me as a girl...I'm a dude. They treat me like a dude. I've noticed a difference in how they treat me and how they treat other girls. With me, they poke fun of me all the time, tease me, call me names, push me, shove me...NO IT'S NOT BULLYING (my school is completely whack with all the crazy ass extreme bullying BS they have, but that's only my opinion). It's friendly teasing. They're "mean," you could say.

Then they see a girl and they're all sweet, giving hugs and smiles and telling them how, no, they aren't ugly, yes, that shirt is nice, and yeah, her hair is perfect.

This is literally what it's like:

BOY (to me): "You're fat."
ME: "Gee. Thanks. You're severely underweight and have no muscle whatsoever."
BOY (to another girl): "Don't call yourself fat! You're anything but!"

=_=

And the one, amazing, glorious time my friend recognized me as a girl...well...
ME: "I could kick your ass any day of the week."
BOY #1: "Yeah, well...I can't hit a girl..."
BOY #2: "Come on...it's IVEY...."

Here are just a few other examples...

ME (to Boy #2): "Dude, BOY #1 is gay for you, obviously."
BOY #1: "No, I'm gay for YOU."

BOY: "Ivey, you only hang out with guys. That means you're either a slut or a lesbian. And you act like a guy, talk like a guy, walk like a guy...hell, you even eat like a guy. You aren't interested in guys either. You're obviously a lesbian."

Yes, my life is lovely.

BTW, I don't mean to offend anyone by these things. This is my life and if you don't like it, then leave. :P

Anyway...where was I?

Oh, yes.

So I'm a guy. Half-man. Boyish. Whatever you want to call it. My guy friends see me as One of the Guys. And that'd be all right...if I weren't me. Because it's not all right.
See, I have this horrible habit of crushing on my guy friends. I don't know if I'm confusing friendship attraction to romantic attraction, but...I'd say there are quite a few guys I may or may not harbor feelings for in a more-than-friends way. It's stupid and immature and annoying, but I can't help it. My hormones are at their peak right now, I guess...

I forget the entire reason as to why I started this post in the first place lololololololol.

Well anyways, I guess I'd just really like it if guys looked at me and said, "Oh, look. She's a girl," instead of, "Oh, look, it's Ivey. Let's go make fun of how stupid she is."
My older sister is super duper pretty. Guys like her. She's had quite a few boyfriends and guys are attracted to her.

Guys are attracted to me, too...just in a strictly-friendship way.

I've been friend-zoned.

Ouch.

Ah, well.
And life goes on.

Hope you've enjoyed yet another useless point from yours truly.
Over and out.

--Ivers

Crabs Suck

No, I do not mean literal crabs.

Today was another regatta. It was only Novice kids, but...dude, some of these novices are fucking crazy. Like, legit. I go to--and row with--the public high school I go to, and we're pretty decent for a public school. But these kids, they've been rowing since like September and they're ridiculous.

But that's not the point. The point is, crabs suck.

That's rowing slang for when an oar enters the water the wrong way and gets stuck. Usually it's for like a second, but today I caught like 4 mini ones in a row, then it was really bad...the oar was, like, parallel to the boat, and we had to stop the entire boat, and then start up again. What sucks is that:

a) We were doing O.K at first
b) If it had happened 10 meters before, we would've qualified to start all over again.
c) It's kinda my fault we lost.

That's pretty much what I looked like.

Sigh. We came in dead last, a full 30 seconds behind the 4th boat. lsdfkJ:Dlfkjs;lkfjas;dlkfj. It's so frustrating. My teammates were being really nice because they knew I was beating myself up for it, but honestly, it made it worse.

Gah. Crew.

Behind These Walls: Chapter Thirteen Sneak Peek

                The day I finally recovered was on Christmas.

                It kind of sucked, wasting the first five days of winter break. Jefferson High let out school later than others—on the nineteenth—and we started back up third of January, so it wasn’t as if I had an unlimited time of freedom before school began, along with the stress and work and lack of social life (not that I had one, anyway). So, while all normal kids out there in the world were celebrating because there were no classes, I was lying in bed.

                Well, at least I had plenty of time to finish Macbeth.

               Anyway, so Christmas finally rolled around. I was never a big fan for holidays—being a part of a typical Greek family, my many relatives were invited over to the house for a party. By many, I mean a lot. My mother was the youngest of six kids, and my father had three siblings. Each sibling of my parents were married and had anywhere from three to six kids. Throw in a few grandparents, a few great aunts and uncles, and some second cousins and cousins twice-removed as well, and that meant there were at least forty people coming over. That meant that my parents spent hours in preparation and needed Jake and me to help out as well. The guests would be over at dinner, so that meant that cooking started as early as ten. I hated working and my extended family was freaking loud, so holidays were never my thing, but as soon as my eyes popped open at precisely nine in the morning Christmas day, I was in a surprisingly good mood.

                “Calista! Are you awake now?” Jake’s voice called out to me. He poked his head through the doorway to check up on me, hair still stuck up at all different angles in a messy bed head. “Are you still sick?”

                “Nope!” I said, jumping right out of bed and stretching my aching limbs. My muscles felt tired and sore, as if they hadn’t moved in days (which they hadn’t), but I had a surprising amount of energy. “What’s up?”

                “Mom and Dad need you to run out to buy some stuff.” He held up a sheet of white paper, with several items scribbled on it. I grabbed it from him and scanned it. Plastic cups. Plastic spoons. Plastic forks. Napkins. Butter. Peppers... “That is, only if you’re feeling well enough to.”

                “Tell them I’ll be down in a minute. I just need to get ready, and then I’ll go shopping.”

                Jake nodded. “All right.” As soon as he left, I picked up my phone and turned it on, sending Melodie and Emilia the same messages—can you guys come tonight? I brushed my teeth and washed up, and changed out of my pajamas, throwing on a pair of warm leggings and oversized sweatshirt. With my hair tied into a messy bun, I couldn’t have been less bothered with trying to look nice. That would have to wait till later.

                Already, right as I stepped out of my bedroom, I could hear the clamoring of pots and pans banging into one another, as well as my mother calling out to my dad, “Honey! Where’s the oven mitt?”

                “Good morning,” I said, entering the kitchen. The thick smell of homemade cooking filled the air and made my mouth water.

                “Calista! I need you to—”

                “I know, go shopping. I’m on it.”

                Without another word, I left to hurry out to the car. The only store that was open Christmas day was a huge supermarket that was a quick drive. Just as I was getting in, my phone rang. It was a text from Melodie. Sorry, can’t make it. Hanging out with the family.

                Not long after, while I was scouring the aisles for a bag of white bread, did I receive another text, from a different person but saying basically the same thing. I’m so sorry, but I can’t come! Emilia wrote. My grandparents are coming.

                I sighed. I guess I’ll have to put up with my crazy Greek family alone...

                But it’s funny, because fate—I don’t know what else I’d call it, because I wasn’t quite sure if you’d call it luck—seemed to like to play at the most random times. Even at a stupid supermarket that didn’t have any white bread.

   “Calista? Is that you?”


=End of Preview=


Hmmm. Who do you think it is? Obviously it has to be one of the boys. Which one? :D
Which one should I make it?
Mwahahaha.