Why post your writing online? [discussion]

The Chatters
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#1

Let’s chat.

I watched Swell Entertainment Amanda’s review of Wattcon because I couldn’t go.

I knew what her review was going to be like XD I’ve been watching her videos. I know what she’s like. I knew the review of Wattcon wasn’t going to be gushing about the platform or getting excited about meeting writers. Amanda was a reader on Wattpad but not a constant reader. She was an outsider, basically.

I just wanted to see what events were there. And what it was kind of like. Anyway, she had some questions about why post online and not just keep it to yourself, so that got me thinking: Why post writing online?

So, I just want to talk about this with someone and the best someones are here on Wacky :wink:

I was going to actually post in my announcements the honest truth of why I post online, but I decided it’s best if true readers never find out XD It’s really selfish.

My reason initially on Figment was to share my writing with people and to make writer friends. Maybe learn from more experienced writers, too.

Now, on Wattpad, it’s a little bit of that, but also just a selfish reason to get praise and feel good :stuck_out_tongue: Honestly, it’s nice to get comments and votes and reads. I also like to have a wall of finished books. So chonky and nice. And they are all works I’m proud of. I’m a collector of things. I like volume. It’s just so nice. It’s just so selfish, and I own it XD

Another reason is to get feedback from writers and sometimes readers. Especially if you want to grow and you have no one else to show your writing to, posting online where you can get comments is a great thing to do.

So, why post writing on Wattpad?

For me, it’s quite simple. I like it. I like the layout, the inline comments, how it’s relatively easy to use, and I like the votes and the read count. I like that orange. I also like how very little spam there is because oh my gosh, the last two years of Figment was such a darn struggle. That’s why. It might not be a good reason, but I don’t want to go somewhere that’s hard to navigate and/or not aesthetically pleasing and/or has constant spam after spam after spam.

Anyway, why post writing on Wattpad or any other platform? What’s your take?
Or any take you have on writing online?

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#2

Many of the reasons that you have stated…

But for me mostly, the fact that someone may take a look, have a little read, and actually enjoy what my story is for the sum of it’s parts.

If they leave a comment or two, that’s great. If they like it and continue to read all that I have posted, and continue to do so with each chapter added… Even better…

But the reason I write, is because I have a story to tell. Even if no one reads it, I have told it… For me, that is the main part.

SD

3 Likes
#3

I post to make a little money. I’ve only posted at two places: Amazon and Wattpad. Wattpad is still the largest, most popular reading site, so big that Amazon created Kindle Vella to compete with their paid stories. I think every writer should have a presence on Wattpad. A lot of famous ones do, as you know – Margaret Atwood, R.L. Stine, etc. If nothing else, it provides a place where potential readers can read your work and decide whether they want to check out your paid books without having to get Prime or Kindle Unlimited. ¯\_(ﭢ)_/¯

4 Likes
#4

Feedback, community, and growing an audience.

You can post anywhere online and if you hit right you’ll probably get some of that. But Wattpad in particular is huge, there’s more potential. If i do the same amount of work and attract the same amount of interest on a smaller site and on wattpad, it means more on wattpad because that interest will stimulate more interest and so on, whereas on the smaller site eventually there just stops being readers you haven’t reached already.

also i’m elderly and stuck in my wattpad posting ways. i at least know where to go to get some cursary reviews/critiques on there.

3 Likes
#5

Mainly because thats where my audience lies. I’m a contemporary romance writer, but I’m also a little niche in that, so while my main audience (romance) is Wattpad, my writing style isn’t wattpad, but it’s the best I can do so here we are.

I post on Radish and Wattpad, and Radish is good for me as well, but the feedback/community aspect of Wattpad is mainly what keeps me there, so I book club on Wattpad and find my community there, then post some books on Radish (mainly my, uh, more mature work)

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#6

I haven’t posted any writing related stuff online in years it feels like. I guess it is a crazy mixture of fear/nervous/impatience, finding a good online writing site better than Wattpad, and wanting it to be perfect and polished.

1 Like
#7

For me, it started out as a high school dare. Then my stories actually got attention so I kept going. Then the wattpad forums closed down, I lost all my readers except maybe 5 people, and stopped getting any really good and useful feedback on what people thought about the stories. It was a good way to get into the minds of the readers and see their takes on things. Now I just keep going because everything else is here.

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#8

Recognition.

I love stories. Though I should read more books (which I am working on), I consume them in movies and TV and games. I dream to one day publish my works and adapt them. Even if I don’t get to that part, I like the recognition I can get from Wattpad.

3 Likes