What is Wattpad?
In a nutshell Wattpad is an online social network site where aspiring writers can write and share their work and leave avid readers spoiled for choice as they will find books, short stories and poems from every genre waiting to be read.
There are plenty of completed works to chose from and just as many works in progress, where authors publish their writing in serialization.
There are literally millions of Wattpadders on the site and even more content to read. It really is an amazing site if you love to write or read.
And the best thing is that it is completely free to use.
Who Can Write On Wattpad?
Wattpad is open to anyone who enjoys reading and writing and is over the age of thirteen. My daughter joined last summer when she was thirteen and loves it. She has always been an avid reader, reading books well beyond her reading age, and she spends her spare time tapping away at the keyboard on her laptop adding pages to her Wattpad books.
One day she hopes to become an author herself and I have no doubt that having access to a site like Wattpad will help her to achieve her dream.
How Does Wattpad Work?
Joining Wattpad is easy, all you do is sign up and then create a profile for yourself. You can then start to write. Your writing is only visible to yourself until you hit the publish button. I know that my daughter is working on a couple of books and publishes a chapter at a time, she can also edit her work after it has been published if she has a change of idea.
In their accounts, members can save books and stories that they are reading or planning to read in their library. They can easily access any work of their own or create a new book, story or poem with just a click of the mouse.
Members can follow one another, the main advantage of following someone is that you will receive updates of the work of the person you are following as it gets published.
The site also encourages interaction, members can read and comment on one anothers work, leave public messages on a public message board, send private messages, join ‘clubs’ and vote for one anothers work.
Members can design covers for their books, but if you don’t feel up to the task don’t worry, as you can always ask a fellow member to design a cover for you in return for dedicating a chapter of your book or a poem to them.
Designing a cover isn’t too difficult, I sat down with Catherine yesterday and together we worked out how to design a book cover for one of her books on Photo Bucket, and I am sure that you could use any photo editing site for the job.
The book below is one of my daughters works in progress. The cover is the one we designed together yesterday. This is my personal favourite of the three books she is working on and is a Harry Potter Fan Fiction. Feel free to check it out – I have run it by her and she’s more than happy for people to read her writing.
Can You Earn Money From Writing On Wattpad?
The answer to that is no you cannot earn writing on Wattpad. There is no way of monetizing your work on Wattpad, although if you write an outstanding book then it may be noticed by an editor and get published. But I wouldn’t hold your breath for that as it doesn’t happen too often!
People who write on Wattpad write simply for the pleasure of writing. When I asked my daughter what she liked about Wattpad, she said that her favourite thing about being on Wattpad was being able to write, have people read her work and also being able to read other peoples work for free.
Her least favourite thing about the site is that there are sad and twisted people that are able to set up hate accounts aimed at being unpleasant to other members. These accounts are deleted once bought to the attention of the people who run Wattpad as it is possible to report and flag nasty comments and unsavoury accounts. Luckily there aren’t many accounts of this nature.
Why Do I Like Wattpad?
I am not a member of Wattpad, but I like the site for the plain and simple fact that it encourages my daughter to do something she enjoys and in a relatively safe environment – no site is 100% safe, it is up to us parents to help our children stay safe online and even then it’s not always 100% possible.
Catherine is bilingual and is always looking up words and the meanings of words, both in Greek an English. Her English is far more advanced than mine was at her age and I was also a book lover, with the added advantage of growing up in an English speaking country! Her first language in education has always been Greek, her grades are above average even though at home we speak English…Now I’m gushing – sorry!
Wattpad feeds her thirst for reading and writing in English. She is also constantly thinking and asking me for feedback on her ideas and writing, which is nice.
The summer holidays are far too long here in Greece and she plans to spend hers writing on Wattpad as she did last summer, which will keep her occupied doing something constructive. This year she wants to do a 30 day challenge on Wattpad, which is when a member challenges other members to write a story a day for 30 consecutive days with each day having a different topic. It is not a challenge she can undertake during school time as it would take up too much of her time if she wants to do it properly, but it will be a great challenge to test her writing skills during the long summer holidays. Which I will encourage all the way.
Another of Catherines works in progress. Which is a Spot Conlon Fan Fiction book.
Do You Have to Be A Wattpad Member To Read And Write On The Site?
You do not have to join Wattpad to be able to browse through the site and read what people are writing. But you cannot create work, leave comments or interact on the site unless you are a member.
Why I wrote This Post…
I had never heard of Wattpad until my daughter asked if she could join the site last summer. We checked out the site together and it seemed a great site, now nine months on I know it’s a good site for reading and writing enthusiasts and I am surprised that not many people seem to have heard of it.
I feel that both adults and children – over the age of thirteen – who love writing and reading can benefit from the site. Being able to share work and get feedback is excellent, sometimes the feedback is great and other times it may come in the form of constructive criticism, which to be honest may hurt, but can also be helpful.
Mixing – even if it is only online – with other like minded people is encouraging and helps to keep the drive to want to read and write alive.
As I have been sitting here tapping away at my keyboard, my daughter is tapping away at hers adding to her books on Wattpad.
Had you ever heard of Wattpad before reading my post?
If you had, feel free to share your experiences of Wattpad below, I’d be interested to hear what you have to say.
Copyright © 2014 Debbie Roberts
© 2014 – 2020, Debbie. All rights reserved.
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