SPAG, the Culprit of Lost Marks and Other Assorted Writer Woes

Content Guidelines

Wattpad has very clear guidelines about should and shouldn't be rated as "Mature," and all users had to agree to follow those content guidelines when they joined the site, so none of this should be news to anybody, but I know many people probably just checked the box without reading the fine print. Except this isn't fine print. The content guidelines are actually pretty short, with three big headings covering what constitutes "Mature" content, and they're easily accessible from the Help page. Click the "External Link" button below the "Continue to next part" button to go directly to Wattpad's content guidelines, or click the link in the inline comments here. →

If you need clarification, read on, because I'll discuss the guidelines below. But if you don't, please don't skip this part yet. Even if your book does not contain any of the below content, if you think it might not be appropriate for readers under the age of 18, please, please, just mark it as "Mature." It's better to be safe than sorry, and if you have that gut feeling something may be wrong, you're having it for a reason.

Okay, on to the Big Three reasons to mark a book as "Mature." (And fair warning: it'll be shorter to read the content guidelines directly.)

1. Explicit sex scenes. If you haven't been hiding under a rock recently, you'll know Wattpad promotes Erotica and smut all the time. It's actually really hard to find a Wattpad Originals book that doesn't contain explicit sexual content because sex sells. So, yes, your books can contain this content, with some important restrictions.

a. The age of consent is 18. That means teen fiction cannot contain explicit sexual content. Non-sexual elements such as kissing and holding hands are allowed, and you can allude to sexual acts between minors, but you cannot depict it. Click the link in the inline comments for more info. →

b. Pornographic content is not allowed. If your book is nothing but sex with no story, it's not allowed on Wattpad. This is not a porn site. If that's what you want to write, take it somewhere else.

c. Sexual roleplay or messaging is not allowed. Wattpad is not a chatroom for you to engage in sexting or solicitation. If that's what you want to do, take it somewhere else.

d. Glorification of sexual violence is not allowed. This means your book cannot romanticize rape, sexual assault, sexual slavery, or any other form of non-consensual sex. These things are illegal for a reason. They're damaging, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and under no circumstances should anybody promote something like a woman falling in love with the man who raped her (with very rare exceptions, probably involving extensive therapy or major personality changes). However, that doesn't mean your book can't contain this content. It just needs to be shown in a negative light.

e. Illegal sex acts are not allowed. Wattpad goes by Canadian Law for this, but at a glance, I think most of this stuff is universally illegal. Bestiality, necrophilia, incest, child sexual exploitation, etc. - again, it's all illegal for a reason, but in this case, you can't portray this content in your book at all, even if you portray it in a negative light. Vague, brief mentions are probably fine, as long as they're not descriptive and they don't romanticize or justify these topics.

f. Any media posted must comply with Wattpad's guidelines, too. Images containing nudity, sexual intercourse, or any sexual acts are not allowed.

2. Self-harm themes or scenes (including suicide and eating disorders). Any mention of suicide or self-harm automatically earns a "Mature" rating, even if it's just a brief thought that happens in one chapter. Younger audiences may not be appropriately equipped to deal with these topics, and while it is important for them to learn how to handle mental and emotional distress, Wattpad isn't the place to do that.