Unseen Talents: Interviewing Undiscovered Wattpad Writers.

makeandoffer: Inspirational letter!!!

Dear writers of wattpad,

LaurenSweetHeart has asked me to write you an inspirational letter giving advice about what to do if you find yourself pregnant at 16. 

Well basically kids, apply for MTV. They give you a show now.

No I’m totally kidding, this letter is about writing on wattpad so I will give it my best shot to not be a bad influence for once in my life and channel the Ghandi side of me.  Oh and FYI, I am not a mother and I was not pregnant at 16. Best advice if anyone here is only reading on because they are interested in that advice is slap yourself in the eye for being such a silly prick

Anyway, writing.

Basically I started writing when I was around 11 or 12. Looking back at my writing now I actually cringe because my grammar and plotlines were so bad. I mean seriously it was awful. It was almost as bad as that ‘50 Shades of Grey’ shit that has gone insane all over the world. How, I have no idea. I started writing on quizilla because to be honest I thought it was the only sight on the internet that let you do stories.

 I thought quizilla was the actual shit. After about a year, I discovered it was just shit. 

I mean you couldn’t even comment or get feedback for the story, so when I found wattpad I was so freaking happy it was unreal.

I discovered Wattpad while I was at home, bored out of my skull and wanted to read a teacher student thing (for the pervert in all of us who used to sit in maths staring at our teacher and wondering why he couldn’t be like the dude off Pretty Little Liars and just take you there) basically I googled teacher/student, something I advise no one ever does because you will see some of the most vile sights you have ever seen.  My laptop was infested with porn viruses for days after that. 

Anyway once I found Wattpad, that was it I was hooked. I loved how people could vote for your chapter, as well as give you feedback and let you know where you were going wrong and where you were doing well. That’s important if you want to write, everyone wants to know they are doing well so getting feedback makes you want to carry on writing. After a while you get fans that message you regularly and read basically every book you write, and that alone makes you want to keep writing knowing someone is taking the time out of their day to read something you wrote is an amazing feeling. 

Fuck if I ever get published, I would love to make a load of money don’t get me wrong but the best feeling is getting a message through from someone saying your book has made them cry with laughter or cheered them up after a really shitty day.

I get the idea for my stories, or my inspiration if I want to sound like a corny little douche, from music. Holy crap that does sound cheesy. It is true though. The first story I ever came up with I was in a car, the journey was going to be like 5 hours and I was so bored. I put in my iPod and basically I started making up scenes in my head, often putting myself as the main character and seeing where things go. Made the car journey fly I can tell you that. I always think that life should have backing music, like if you had an argument with someone and you got the last word, when you went to walk away a really cool song should come on while you're smirking with pride. Life would be so much better.

To be honest the question I get asked the most is how did you get your stories so noticed. In all honestly, I have no idea. I posted the stories in a few discussion forums on wattpad but that didn’t really do anything in my opinion. I know it sounds bad but I think it’s all based on luck. If you’re lucky wattpad will feature your story on the main homepage and you’ll get more views. 

One thing I do recommend is an eye catching book cover. Nothing dull or plain black, because majority of the time we do judge books by their covers. I know it sounds bad but that’s the way people are. It’s like the fact it’s no coincidence every male lead in a story is hot. We judge books by their covers, just like we judge people at first glance by their looks. It’s a vain world and I wish it wasn’t but if you want your stories to do well, then my advice is make your cover bright and bold. Preferably with a naked picture of Jensen Ackles on it, but that may just be me. I would read the crap out of your book if that was your cover.

Anyway, back to reality. The best advice I can give a writer on wattpad is no matter what people say to you, you need to write the story how you pictured it. Do not let what anyone says change the outcome or the plot of your story because at the end of the day it’s your idea and only you can make it perfect. 

If you get people who write nasty comments on your story, just remember, all publicity is good publicity. They have just wasted a minute of their life writing a bullshit comment and what have you gained? One more read on your story. 

Take on the constructive criticism that could mean improving grammar or things like that, take it all in but don’t let the spiteful comments get to you because those people have no lives. I mean they spent their time reading a story they don’t like just because they want to be mean on a comment. Cool life there bro (Y)

Another thing I would suggest is when you write a story, don’t hold back. One thing I have to do in my book is when I write a chapter from a characters point of view, I write it like I am in their head. Like those are all their thoughts on the page and let’s face it, since people know no one can hear them their thoughts are pretty random, crazy, stupid and sometimes dirty. But I think that’s what makes your characters stand out, what gives them life. Don’t worry about swearing a little too much or making your character sound stupid. We all have those moments. If people could hear what I was thinking half the time I would either get bullied for having an IQ of about 7 or get beaten up for some of the shit I say mentally about people. So yeah, make your characters stand out and write their thoughts, however irrelevant they are.

Holy shit I’ve rambled on for a bit. And to think I started this letter with a teen pregnancy joke. If anyone reading this is 16 and pregnant, good luck to you and all. I couldn’t imagine the whole 9 months without a drink thing.  

So anyway, hope this letter helped some of you writing stories of your own and if it did I would love to hear how so message me or leave a comment below.

Good luck to all of you in what you're writing :D xxx

P.S if anyone does have that Jensen Ackles picture, give me a holler.