Submitting summaries definitely seems quite futile, as it must be nearly impossible to tell if the summary portrays the story accurately without having read the actual story (although I guess he could point out obvious flaws of summaries like not revealing important information or having way too many characters).
It does definitely feel like you can basically write your own review beforehand at this point, because at least Nick is consistent in his critique 
Yeah, that’s what I meant. Settings. It’s still romance. Blah. Me and words! Even so, switching up settings like that is admirable. 
Lol. He is consistent. It’s also annoying though because he consistently tells people that the hook is the day everything changed, right?
My first chapter is exactly that, it doesn’t get more day-everything-changed than that, but he still thought it wasn’t hooking enough, now for a different reason. The chapter ends with my MC running away without a plan. Nick thinks there should be a plan, and that plan would be the hook.
He really needs to make up his mind what his definition of a hook is.
Aww, thank you! It’s fun for me, but I usually try to use places I had been to or at least can envision. Basically, I need to travel more!
In other news, while working on revising my plan for the next few chapters, I noticed that I’m going to need a new character, a young cambion girl that’s seen some s41t.
So I’m a bit excited. A new character! Let’s have fun!
Yeah, I also distinctively remember him saying during the workshops that it’s enough for the boy and girl to meet by the end of chapter 1… but i also understand what he is saying. He wants to be sold on the main character.
Okay, we spend way too much time discussing Nick but I just can’t help and groan because I’ve read enough of the paid story beginnings to know exactly what type of a hook he’s talking about, but in each of those books, I HATED the hook.
So I really don’t think it’s possible to satisfy him and write a story I’d like to read.
Having said that, I asked for his opinion because I knew it would be different from my own and sometimes I need to get out of my own head for a while and look at things from a different perspective. Nick guarantees that.
In this case, I don’t know if I can rewrite the chapter to have the hook he wants but he did give me an idea for something else I could do in that chapter I didn’t think of before.
So even though I disagree, I still find value in his opinion.
I think this is key in evaluating Nick’s reviews. He’s basically trying to fit all stories into a mold he knows works well on WP. And you are probably not the reader of those stories. So then the question is if you want to try to appeal to that market or not (and there are definitely other markets as well, just not on WP perhaps).
I value it too. I tried a few things for that first chapter.
I tried ‘he hates women, so doesn’t want to save a woman’, but Nick himself didn’t see it as a hook.
I tried ‘maybe he thinks the woman is his date from the other week’ – but it’s NOT a hook if she is NOT. And she can’t be b/c story is different.
So, for now, I put the cards on the table with Harris’ mother/his boss early and try to give him unbendable/unforgiving brittle attitude and being competitive with his boss.
I do have the girl say something foreshadowing the story and connecting to Harris feelings by @J.L.O suggestion, but in chapter 2.
I ended up slicing through the middle and ending where Harris doesn’t know if he lives or dies next. It’s not a good hook, because ‘just survival’ isn’t a great hook, but I just want to write the damn story, so I will wait for workshops.
I submitted my summary because it’s part of the Watty package, something I hadn’t received as much feedback on, and something where I thought his feedback would be less predictable. I don’t need his feedback telling me that I’m not writing the next After and that “the average Wattpad reader” might struggle—I know that already. Like you said, I’ve read enough of his feedback to know that he’s not going to add anything interesting. Maybe if I slipped him an envelope full of Benjamins and asked him to read my entire book he’d say something more insightful, but otherwise it’s an exercise in futility (especially when there are other experienced reviewers out there who actually will read the entire thing for me). The summary’s the closest I can get to “tricking” him into reading my story. But I do agree with you: it’s not like he can determine if it portrays the story accurately or not anyhow.
Additionally, seeing strong writers like Domi engaged in an endless battle of wits with him on their first chapters tells me that the only winning move is to not play. Spending energy trying to convince one person who’s never going to read my book that all my other readers aren’t crazy is a poor use of my time. It’s not like he’s the sole Watty judge (if he’s even judging them to begin with). It’s a shame that he’s one of the few people of his caliber who are actually willing to hand out advice so generously—I’d submit my summary to 20 different people if I could or force 20 different people to read my book and give me reviews. But it’s just him, and so that’s the fact of the matter.
David and Vicente better fight soon and be angry!
Wouldn’t it be cool if WP had a panel of people that would do what he does? I think it would be awesome to get a variety of professional opinions or even better, to witness them argue amongst each other. I bet a lot of the conversations we have over here, they do at WP as well.
Huh. I think I just cracked what’s been bothering me about WP lately. They’ve lost their human aspect. They hide behind their legal disclaimers and auto responses, and we no longer see the people behind the algorithms.
Nick is the last straggler that dares to leave the safety of the net.
I agree it would be nice. The mentor server had a bit of that during the application season, but at the same time it didn’t feel quite as personal as Nick’s help. It’s not that I think Nick is the ultimate writing guru, but he knows exactly what gets clicks on Wattpad (some might use the phrase “least common denominator”), and as we all know he’s actually willing to chat with you about it. Sometimes I feel like people get one successful novel on Wattpad through whatever means and then act like they’ve been blessed by the writing deities with ultimate knowledge, but you know Nick has looked at thousands of these summaries and first chapters.
It was great when they had open podcasts… but it didn’t last long, alas.
I did my two chapters tonight, but it was the chapter that went with a specific song, so I added songs to all 11 chapters, now I am worried I will run out of songs, because I have a musical range of an average hedgehog. 
Also, distracted by the garden…
Yes! It was nice to have Nick’s grouchiness contrasted with her, I unfortunately don’t remember her name.
Nice! Your efforts are paying off.
My last flower (orange Asiatic Lily) has just finished. The only one left is the pair of hydrangeas in the front yard which have only began blooming recently. This is the one that the color depends on the soil. Ours are somewhere between pink to purple. We planted them just last year so it was nice to see them bounce back big and healthy.
Late to the party here, but this is why I’ve stopped submitting chapters to Nick. I submitted the one he called “near perfection” 3 times now, and the last time I did (out of pure interest because I edited it again) he didnt really tell me much other than “at this point it’s about cutting words down” (paraphrasing, but basically he was just arguing semantics)
I’ve accepted recently that my work isn’t Wattpad-type of work. I can get some engagement on the site writing mostly romances, and I have a sort of strong following, and I always get some form of reader on my work, but Wattpad isn’t where I’m meant to be I think, and thats okay.
I use it for workshopping/editing now and then moving to paid work - Radish or publish.
Nick has one archetype, and thats fine because he works for Wattpad. I’m currently editing a book he said had 0 hook because the MC’s ex didnt return till chapter 2. But thats not the story I’m telling, it’s larger than that. (In fact I think it was Domi who suggested moving that to chapter 2 and it works much better!) and every single reader since I made the change loves the book as-is. So I kept it as-is.
I think people get worked up on impressing Nick (me included at one point) because we’re posting on Wattpad. Which is fine if thats what people aim for, but his advice doesnt work for every story, and thats okay too. He’s one person.
The ones I caught were two guys… can’t remember their names.
Exactly the way I see it. 
I remember a time on Wattpad pretty much before people started caring about the Wattys and about what Nick thinks.
Obviously, I’m not downgrading his opinion, and I know that he does it to help people but yes, he is just one person.
You need to focus more on actually writing the story first, and then asking him for advice afterwards.
