Writing and Wattpadding (a guide)

Handling the 'Haters'

Every place, every site, every genre has them. The troll, the hater, the person who tries to put you down. It's like they ooze from every nook, cranny, and crevice possible.

It's hard to keep going sometimes when you get the person that tries to put you down. Publishing your story on a site like this takes a lot of guts. You're putting your work out there for millions of people to potentially see, and as writers, one of our biggest fears is how people will react. I know that before I start a story I sometimes wonder if people will even like it. Will it be received well? Will they just think it's dumb? Does this even have potential to go somewhere?

We all know that the only way to find the answer to those questions is to take that leap and post the story or update the part. Sometimes though, our worst fear becomes a reality.

You start a new story, or you upload a new chapter and you think things are going well, splendid, terrific and then BAM! You get that comment or that message on your board or in a PM telling you that you suck.

It happens, it never fails. It's happened to me on several occasions and it really his heart-wrenching. You look at that comment or that message and you start to think 'maybe they're right. Maybe I do suck at writing.'

Well I'm going to tell you how to handle those people that have gotten the name of 'hater' or 'troll'.

The thing to remember when you get a comment like that is that it's one comment.

For every person that dislikes your story, there are a thousand others on the site who love it/will love it. It's hard to move past that comment, it really is. I sometimes struggle with it too, because those comments really hit home. They're designed to hit home. They look right into us and they prey on our deepest fear, that maybe we aren't good enough to write stories.

I'm telling you right now, brush it aside. You can delete the comment if you want or you can reply to the person and address what issues they have with your story but there are a few key things you NEVER want to do and I'm going to tell you those right now.

1. Never respond while the comment is still fresh in your mind and raw within you. You're going to be more emotionally geared in your response and a lot of times, nice things don't come out when we're hurt and/or angry. Give the comment some time to cool down within you. If you see the comment in the morning, wait until the afternoon before you respond. If you see it in the evening, give it the night, sleep on it. You'll know about how long it takes you to cool down. Just make sure you don't reply to the person while you're still emotionally charged.

2. I would advise that you NEVER respond to the person publicly. If they leave a comment on a section of your story, then you can leave a little something, but nothing confrontational. I would recommend sending the person a private message instead. This is better than a public confrontation. Think about it, do you really want that on your story or on your board? I know that I wouldn't want that. Send the person a message and ask what they meant by what they said. It won't help all the time, but it's better than opening up your comments for a potential war.

There are many reasons why people may say things like this, maybe your story is doing well and someone gets jealous because theirs isn't. Maybe it's a person who genuinely just doesn't like your story, but please know that leaving comments like that is never acceptable. Wattpad is a place where people can share their stories for free. You are being provided with a service, one where you get entertainment, something to read, at absolutely no cost to you. If you don't like a story that you read, you can just exit on out or leave a polite comment. Tearing people down is never the answer. Everyone on this site is at a different stage in their writing career, some are just starting, some have done it for a little while, and some are published authors. This was designed to be a community of people who can write and read together.

My hope for Wattpad is that the negativity can be weeded out and this site can be used to help new and up and coming authors hone their skills in writing and storytelling.

Do note that every comment you get though that points out something, isn't always bad. There's a difference between a person leaving a rude comment, and readers pointing out a flaw.

It's important to listen to what your readers say, especially if you're getting multiple comments about the same issue. If you're a reader who does point out a flaw, please do it kindly and in a constructive way. Don't leave the comment in a rude way meant to attack the writer, try to phrase it in a kind way. I try to follow the three C's when leaving a comment that is meant to point out an error/flaw and that is:

Compliment

Critique

Compliment

Tell the person what they're doing well and what you like, then follow it up with a critique, pointing out what has you confused or what may need changing, and then follow it up with another compliment or just something nice. Using this method really helps, and that type of comment is perceived better than one that just says "Yeah, this isn't right. It should be _____"

Be kind to the people publishing their stories on Wattpad. It probably took them a lot to finally take that step to finally put it out there.

That's all I have for today...

Happy Wattpadding!