The Art of Writing: How to Write Bestselling Novels

How to Get Reads & Votes

[NOTE: This chapter is a little longer than most chapters in this book, but it has some very useful information about why we write and what causes most Wattpadders to fail, so I encourage you to read all the way through the chapter. You might learn something about yourself that could really help with your writing, reads, and votes.]

Before you read this chapter and think, "Oh, I just need to follow this chapter's guidelines and I'll get reads," think again. DO NOT--I repeat--DO NOT implement the things in this chapter until you've implemented several other techniques in this book first.

Why? Glad you asked!

Because if your premise isn't unique enough, or your blurb isn't gripping enough, or your opening line doesn't have enough of a hook in it, or your title isn't up to par, or your cover doesn't fit the genre and grab readers, or you opening paragraph can't hook a reader, or your opening chapter isn't crafted to draw the reader in, you won't hold the readers' attention to get the reads you want.

I'll describe how to do the things stated above in other chapters of this book, but in this chapter, I want to start by telling you why 90% of books on Wattpad get less than 500 views. If you understand the psychology behind the why, it'll make a lot of sense. And most importantly, it'll help you understand yourself, why you write, why you possibly post too early, and what you can do to avoid the pitfalls most Wattpad writers fall into.

If you're 100% convinced that you're a very skilled writer who's fairly good at the above-mentioned skills, then feel free to skip down to the section titled: HOW TO GET READS & VOTES. If you're not convinced of that, then continue reading to find out why most Wattpadders have issues getting reads and votes.

HOW NOT TO GET READS & VIEWS

Now you may not understand how this next part relates at first, but stick with me so you can make the connection--it's well worth it.

Most writers, when they start out, think their writing's great. That's due to the message that we're supposed to have good self-esteem growing up. So our parents and everyone gave us lots of praise and we ended up thinking we were great at things we weren't really that great at.

At least, that's how it used to be...before social media got ahold of people. Now kids end up getting on social media and they end up literally becoming addicted to "likes." They need someone else to approve of them, to tell them they're good enough. This causes the brain to produce dopamine. Social media isn't the only thing that does this--just looking at your cell phone gives you a hit of dopamine. All of this actually rewires your brain, and that's not overstating it. That's exactly how it works, except it's not actual wires, of course. The brain has plasticity, which means it can be changed, rewired, remolded to fit into whatever situation it's in. And when you give it social media, it rewires for the likes, the approval. And when you give it a cell phone, it rewires for the constant distraction so it can keep you from feeling all of the emotions deep down that you don't want to feel. That's why you get a hit of dopamine each time you look at your phone. It's all a coping mechanism. Hang with me, because this will make sense regarding how you write and post on Wattpad here in a minute.

Social media companies like Facebook have spent millions on research to figure out how to addict kids and adults to social media and to their cell phones. They understand exactly what gets you addicted.

The former CEO of Facebook says he feels very guilty for what he did as president in regard to learning how to addict people to social media. He now gives talks about how he didn't realize just what exactly he was doing to the world back when he started learning how to get people addicted to Facebook, and how he now stays off of social media. He tries to get others to stay off of it, too. That's how addicting it. He, and others who engineered social media in the beginning, give these lectures now about staying away from it.