Watt the Pad ?!

2c. Justifying yourself to readers

This one doesn't annoy me per se, but it does concern me.

Here is a (completely fabricated) example of what I'm talking about. Say you're happily reading a story on Wattpad, and you drop by the comments section and you see someone's left a comment to which the author has responded.

The original comment is an observation (that could be in varying degrees of hostility -- from the most benign observations to the more tougher critiques): "Well jolly gee, Lucy's reaction in this chapter seemed a bit forced. She was really angry over him touching her shoulder. She went from zero to 10000 in the drop of a hat."

The commenter may very well be missing something. They may very well be wrong. So the author responds: "Actually, Lucy is a victim of sexual abuse in the past, so she gets very jumpy and triggered when someone touches her unexpectedly."

Was that a valid explanation? Yes.

Does the author have to share such information in the narrative? Not necessarily. But it should at least be hinted at, and consistently. The reader has no way of knowing Lucy's background unless you -- as the author -- have built up enough foreshadowing and context around her.

And here's the bummer: Despite how many hints, foreshadows, subtle and not-so-subtle cues you provide, there will always be at least one reader who misses it. But you know what? You don't have the luxury of "correcting" your readers, or "explaining" your plot and motives to them. Not if you plan on publishing.
JK Rowling did not stand behind you as you read Harry Potter and -- as you're wondering why no one simply used the time-turner to kill Voldemort before he could become the villain he now was -- whisper in your ear, "Well, actually, to go back centuries into the past and change something so drastic could have massive dire effects on the present timeline that would cause the universe to implode."

If you couldn't explain it in the narrative, it's a plot hole.

Wattpad is different because you do have the luxury of explaining yourself. But it's not something you should get used to, if you ever plan on publishing. Explaining and justifying yourself in the comments section is a bad habit to get into. Unless a commenter directly asks you a question or requests a clarification, I would advise you to avoid justifying yourself to readers.

Unless, of course, you're only on Wattpad for shits n giggles and don't have any interest whatsoever in becoming a "professional writer". In which case, you do you, boo.