Inside Scoop

[9] Votes vs. Comments vs. Reads

What do you value most: comments, reads or votes?

Emmiie: Feedback

I try not to focus so much on votes and reads, as I do comments and feedback. I find that when you do focus on those things, you sometimes start writing for fame and other people, rather than yourself. Personally, I believe that you should always write for you. As I’ve said before: write because you love writing, write because you have all these ideas inside your head that are just dying to be put onto paper, write because you have a story to tell – not for fame or fans. But at the same time, as contradicting as it sounds, I think we all like a bit of limelight every now and again. 

For me, feedback is and always will be the most important thing, because that’s what helps me to grow as a writer. I mean, naturally some people get offended when they receive a negative comment or constructive criticism (well, unless it’s in bulk amounts which is understandable, because that’s never fun—and can sometimes take a little dig at your confidence and ego). But overall, I’m trying to be the best writer I can possibly be and it’s those helpful/insightful comments that push me to take things to the next level. For example: if someone points out some errors I made, I try to watch out for those errors in the future.

Of course things such as votes/reads/fans can help with your confidence, which is always a good thing. And sometimes, it can also give you the motivation to write the next chapter that wee bit faster. So it goes without saying that everything is important, just so long as you’re writing for the right reasons—instead of being forced into writing a story you just aren’t interested in anymore. Because that always sucks, right?

Final thought:  And for those who want more reads/votes/fans/ect  (don't worry, there's nothing wrong with it), I just have some words of advice. Try to get involved in the Wattpad community, speak in the clubs, and talk to people who are interested in reading the genre you write in. As a great author once said, perseverance is the key. 

Leigh19: The Comments

A tough question but in the end I think I'd have to go with comments. To know someone took their time to read my work is flattering , to find out they liked my work enough to vote is even more so. It's like their holding up a sign that says " I LIKE YOUR WORK!". Someone that loves your story enough to comment on it means the most to me. Whether it's positive feedback or negative- it's still feedback and it's more sentimental and valuable to the writer.

I love hearing what people think because knowing someone else's thoughts on your work gives you a general idea into the minds of your readers.What they love or hate about your story, which characters are preferred does help with the writing process.

Receiving comments makes writing the story that much more worthwhile because it shows that your efforts don't go unnoticed. However since voting affects the popularity of your story that would make it a close second.

The issue with voting is that it's  not hard for someone to click the vote button and it doesn't necessarily mean that they've even read any of your work. However reading comments on what people think about my writing , giving me reactions to what they did or didn't like about my posts shows me that they took the time to read my story.There's really nothing like waking up signing on and finding out you've got comments.

Vicky_Nfs: Comments

I think there’s no denying the fact that I love votes, of course I do. After all, they mean someone liked what you have written and that’s always a nice feeling.

Knowing how many people actually read your work is something else that is absolutely amazing. Somehow I still can’t wrap my head around the thought that people actually read what I write. Let alone that people all over the world follow your story – it’s still a bit surreal to me.

Whereas it is fun to get votes, and mind-blowing to see that more people than you ever expected really read your work, it’s the comments that I value most. I love reading what people liked about my story, and even what they didn’t like.

To come back to the reads, the reads on the first chapter are always higher than for the rest of your story. That’s why I only pay attention the reads of the past couple of chapters that have been uploaded. It’s those reads that show how many people actually keep following the story. The total amount of reads your story has is fun to see, but doesn’t represent anything.

For example, what’d you prefer?

    - Story A: 5 parts

Total of 10000 reads - with 8000 reads for the first chapter, and the other four chapters each have 500 reads.

    - Story B: 5 parts

Total of 10000 reads – with 2000 reads on each chapter.

Well, if I’m being honest, I’d prefer story B. Even though it’s fictional and very unlikely that every reader will continue reading the story, it shows that throughout the whole story, you were able to keep everyone’s interest. So when you look at it like this, reads can be really 'important' too.