msreader310
You unpublished your story
I wanted to read it after the blurb looked good.
pattuck418
@msreader310 I am an older writer myself. I may havr to return to Inkitt. I used to go on that site for reading and the forums. I might have to reactivate my account and post there for a change.
msreader310
I mostly write on Inkitt. And I've used Inkspired. I've never used Royal Road and had no idea they have forums. This platform used to have forums and better ways to get your book out there, but those features have since been removed. Many stories on Inkitt have been adapted into miniseries and commercials. However, the majority of them are cliché themes, such as bad boy and good girl, or storylines that have been used a dozen times, particularly billionaire and CEO and forced marriage. Most of these stories are told in the first person.
According to my observations, any book that is not in that style will fail to gain traction online, in general. Books written in the third person are more likely to be picked up by an audience in bookstores. Readers are generally picky about writing styles, but many of them enjoy fantasy or paranormal storylines written in the third person. Readers on AO3 don't mind third-person stories because half of them are fanfictions. I can't read fanfiction because it ruins the fandom I like.
All online platforms have immature audiences, and many people pass up great books for silly reasons such as stylistic choices. Wattpad is heavily criticized on all websites and forums. When I tell people in person (I'm in my early 40s) that I write webnovels, they immediately insult this platform by calling it "the immature writing site." Wattpad has mostly earned a bit of a reputation over the last 20 years, which is half negative and half positive. I once published books on this platform and boycotted all awards and contests. The judges prefer poor writing, grammar-ridden mistakes, cliché storylines, and first-person works. No one with an incredible story, including The Wattys and Ambys, will have a chance to succeed. Many of the winners have first-person stories. Only a small number are written in another style. @pattuck418
pattuck418
@msreader310 you just outlined the one pet peeve I have with users on this site. “Write inside this cute little box or else” is an immature and shallow way of approaching writing. Everything does not have to be in first-person. Most good novels aren’t in that style. And the ones that are fit into the self-insert/fix the broken past cliche that unless you lived it then you will never full relate to the character. Your better and more sustainable writers do not even give this site a second glance. Royal Road’s forums are replete with people who demean Wattpad every chance they get. And to speak candidly, few if any, serious authors are taken seriously by reputable publishers if they use this site. From what I have heard from folks who attended the last couple of Wattcons there are big changes coming to this site soon because it’s becoming evident that the current state of affairs is far from producing the desired results for Naver, the owner of Wattpad.
