Wattpad & How I Use It

Wattpad is a website I had heard about a few years ago, and even have an account through them. I wasn't sure about it for a long time and never really explored until a few months ago. I wanted to read something but couldn't afford to buy any new books at the time. I had the Wattpad app on my Kindle and decided to give it a try.

I discovered a lot of good reads on there and thought I would look into it more on my computer. There is a rather large writing community on there, and with further exploration, I realized that I could use it to my advantage.


How I use Wattpad:

• To get over my fear of showcasing my work. This is a big one. I plan on publishing a novel soon and if I can't share my work, then I don't think I'll be able to handle it as a writer.

• To get feedback. Feedback is important. I'm not the best writer and I know I have room for improvement so why not get feedback from readers to help me improve my writing.

• To find Beta Readers. This one is a little iffy. I noticed a lot of people on Wattpad flake after a certain point in time. It's annoying, but there are a few people who really stick with you.

• To make writing buddies. There are a ton of people who will gladly be your friend. Frankly, I find that the ones I find randomly are the ones that stick with me the longest. 

• To explore the writing community. In general. There is a massive writing community. As there should be, considering it's a writing website. It's a good place to get tips and ideas from other people. There will always be an occasional asshole but there are some really nice people on there.

• To post stories that I want to share but not publish. This one might sound a bit weird. I have a huge stack of novels that need to be edited and another stack of stories that I won't consider publishing. I know that sounds weird but these are just novels and stories that I don't want to publish. Why? I don't know. I don't think I got really excited about these novels in particular. One was a challenge from the WriYe forums while my District Pluto Novellas were just for fun. I wanted to try something new. They were stories out of my comfort zone. While I don't want to publish them, it doesn't mean  that I don't want to share them.  

There are various other ways you can use Wattpad to benefit you as a writer. It's good to take advantage of what you can especially if you are like me and have certain stories that you have no intention of publishing. Maybe one day, I'll consider taking them off Wattpad and get them professionally edited for self-publishing, but that's not on my to do list.