Wattpad Community and Etiquette

It’s been a busy last several weeks. I still have a lot more to do, but I wanted to give another shout out to Wattpad because of some of the amazing people I’ve met there and the opportunity Wattpad offers to writers. There are also a few things I noticed for those hoping to get more reads and followers. It might fall into the line of etiquette, or an unspoken case of courtesy and support for your fellow writers. It’s not much different than what I posted about recently in regards to Ben Affleck playing Batman and the support he found with Damon and Smith early on.

When it comes to writing, or most artistic and creative endeavors for that matter, it’s a struggle for many of us who aren’t making enough to live solely off of our creative work. We have jobs we have to work, maybe we have kids, and then we have to make time to actually produce something creatively to even have a chance of someday being able devote more hours to what we love. Trying to find the time to also support other artists can be difficult, especially with something such as writing where you have to read the work they’re putting out to comment on it.

But if you can find even a bit of time each week for a bit of professional courtesy it can go a long way. There are many ways to do this, and some only take a few seconds of time. Let’s go through some of the ways you can support your favorite artists, and why you should. We’ll use Wattpad as an example since they’ve been so great and I’d like to support them for the support they’ve given me. Although, keep in mind that these ideas can be used in other areas if you’re a bit creative and understand the sites you’re on.

Getting more Fans and Reads on Wattpad

1) A few months back I noticed one of the volunteers on Wattpad posting about the voting system and how many people were unaware of it, or rarely used it. Voting on Wattpad is one of the simplest ways to show support for your favorite writers. Voting on the work of others can also help you get noticed. To vote on the Wattpad app you merely click the star on top of the screen of the chapter you’re reading. On the website you’ll notice the star on the top right of every page. Something I don’t think many people are aware of is the fact that the votes count per chapter. If the story has multiple chapters as many do, the votes count for each chapter, not the story as a whole.

Us writers notice votes, and we appreciate them! Imagine spending all your time and effort writing a great story. While you might get a lot of reads, if no one’s voting it’s discouraging. You might think no one likes your story. On the other hand, if everyone’s voting for your chapters it encourages the writer to keep going. How terrible would it be to read a great story and the writer quits writing half way through because he’s not seeing votes. He might think everyone hates it, and thus there’s no point in continuing. Not only that it, your votes help the writer’s ranking, which means more readers, more encouragement, and they’re more likely to continue the story.

And here’s a bit of a secret, your votes also help in getting you noticed! As a writer on Wattpad, I do go through the people voting, and when I have time I check out their profiles. While I don’t have a lot of time to read, if something catches my eye I try to at least read a chapter or two and give a vote or two in return. At the very least I’ll add their to my reading list so those that view my profile may catch it and read it themselves. It’s a way for me to help support those who are supporting me, and hopefully we both benefit.

2) Commenting on Wattpad works very similarly to voting! If you get a chance, and are enjoying a story, leave a comment. Again, you’re encouraging a writer. Also, myself and many others on Wattpad notice comments more than votes. We’re more likely to check out your profiles and leave a comment of our own to help you out, much like I mentioned doing with voting.

You may also notice that most writers on Wattpad, especially the popular ones, comment back and try to return the favor on your stories. That’s part of the great community Wattpad has, and part of being successful at finding readers. It has to do with building relationships. People are more likely to support you, or notice you, when you comment or speak with them. It’s a two-way street of support. For someone like me who tends to read in spurts and gets really busy, comments stand out more than anything. I also feel as if I have a higher obligation to respond to comments than votes because someone took the time to comment. They deserve that same time in return. I’m sure there are many that feel the same. If you Google Vin Diesel and Facebook, there’s an interesting article on how he had one of the largest groups of followers on Facebook because he took the time to interact with the fans who made him such a big name. Wattpad is no different, regardless of how popular you are at the moment.

3) Follow your favorite writers on Wattpad! I’m not really sure where this would fall. Sometimes it’s as effective as commenting, and other times it ranks slightly lower than commenting but still better than voting. I usually try to check out followers as much as I check out comments. Although there have been times I’ve picked up so many followers at once I fell behind and it slides off my plate, unlike comments that I always try to respond to even when it takes me awhile to actually do it.

One thing I’ve noticed is that unless you’re following some of your favorite writers, you won’t always notice new stories they post, or maybe a follow-up book to one they’re writing. Following them keeps you up to date, so you can see all the new stuff they’re adding, or maybe a second book of your favorite story. There have been times I’ve gotten votes and comments and checked out profiles to find they had great stories of their own. In such cases I give them a follow, and usually they do the same in return. Even if they don’t, it’s a nice way to show your support for them. It can also help them acquire readers from those going through your list of followers. Again, supporting each other is the name of the game!

4) So far we’ve talked about supporting each other on Wattpad, but Wattpad needs some love too! They’ve created this great site that allows us to post our stories and hopefully get noticed. The very least we can do is to help them get noticed in return. Social media’s a great way to do this, and it can help us too! Sharing your stories on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Tumblr, Blogger, and other social media is a great way to help people find your story and Wattpad’s website. You can also share the stories of your favorite authors on these sites to help them out too.

Don’t be afraid to also shoot Wattpad follows and likes to show your support. Remember, liking and sharing stories on Facebook and Google Plus, or retweeting from Twitter takes very little time and helps everyone out since it shows up in your feed for other people to find. If you can’t find time to read and vote to show your support, this is likely the easiest and fastest way to show support for those with little time. As I just found out today, Wattpad has a few social media sites for sharing that I wasn’t aware of. For those looking to help support Wattpad, here are the sites I’m aware of as of today: Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. If anyone’s aware of them having a Google Plus page, feel free to let me know in the comments as I know it’s a great ranking builder for the search engines. I’d like to show my support to them there if I can beside just posting links there back to their website.

That’s everything I can think of off the top of my head. If anyone has any other tips for supporting each other feel, free to mention so in the comments below. Remember, every one of us and Wattpad are bound to do better when we support each other. I know some people tend to be fearful of others getting ahead of them in the rankings, but by doing so you’re only hurting yourself. You’re walling yourself off from a wonderful community of people who help one another. When you’re part of the community, even if someone beats you in the rankings, or even in getting published, you never know if they might return that favor of support by recommending someone take a look at your works. And that is the benefit behind supporting each other in our goals to be artists. Making a living off of writing or creative pursuits is tough enough, why not help one another out and lighten the load.

Also note, I’m not recommending voting for the sake of voting, or following just for the sake of getting a follow back. I have noticed there are people who tend to do that and it doesn’t help anyone if no one is reading. Take the time to actually read a bit, even if it’s a little. If you really enjoy a story, vote, share, and consider a comment. If you don’t like it, be a part of the community by commenting and helping the author out. Don’t be harsh but be constructive (and it might be a good idea to ask if they want a critique first too! Some people don’t). Remember, the intention behind everything should come from genuinely wanting to be a part of the community, and not just following the above tips to get your own readers. I think for the most part, a lot of us there can tell when it’s genuine and when it’s not.

Speaking of support, what type of hypocrite would I be if I didn’t support some of my favorite Wattpadders myself. So here’s my list, in no particular order, of those you might want to check out on Wattpad for their great stories and because they have been so generous in showing their support to others.

• LittleCinnamon – One of my favorite writers on Wattpad. Her Playing Dead story recently hit number one, and her Dark Sanctuary stories are great too! Super supportive and a must check out! I can guarantee you won’t be wasting your time!
• KeepAustinWeird – Another one of my favorite writers from Wattpad who’s amazingly supportive. I love her Sinners and Saints story. Definitely recommend checking out her Maggie Moon story also, which is her main focus.
• SeriousMoonlight – Just recently came across her work after she commented on my story. Great story with Something Lost, and her second Something Found novels. Highly recommend for those who like romance stories!
• HisGorgeousChaos – She’s been extremely supportive with voting. Her story Breath Me Fire had a really interesting start and I hope she continues it. Shoot her some encouragement!
• kchandok – Another one who’s been so kind in voting. Hasn’t written anything of her own yet but has an interesting profile where she mentioned considering it. Someone shoot her some inspiration and see if she’ll start.
• SamanthaCTallon – Just came across her work after she commented. Bunch of stories on her page, and from what I can see they’re really good! All lengths of stories too depending on how your time is!
• iriniheart – A young writer on Wattpad and one of my first readers. I think she may have taken down a few stories but her Bad Dreams book is still up. At such a young age, there’s no telling where some encouragement can take her.
• sydhud5 – Another young writer on Wattpad. Extremely imaginative stories and currently ranked #80 in Historical Fiction. Definitely worth a look-see and some well deserved encouragement.
• GeMiniMeG92 – Some very interesting romance stories to find here. If you like hot and steamy these are the stories to read.
• MartyCat – Two stories here. For those who like Harry Potter fanfiction there’s Cracking Severus Snape. I glanced through her Princess Choice story and liked it. Interesting plot and a really nice writing style.
• xxSMxx – Another really creative writer on Wattpad with quite a few stories to choose from. A great variety too so you’re sure to find something you like.
• NowonMai – A very interesting writing style in both stories. The Calm and The Wild is the longer story, although I’m also really liking what I’m seeing in Midnight. Can’t wait to see where it goes from what I’ve skimmed.
• TrailsInTheSky – One of my favorite supporters. It’s a little tough for me to read since his stories are in Spanish, but he’s ranking in Mystery/Thriller and Horror for his story Death Symphony. Definitely worth a read!
• bri1019 – Recently read through what she had for her story Summerlyn. Really great writing style and story. She’s also got Essence which I haven’t had time to look through but has a very interesting premise.
• niamhisnowhere – Just one story here that’s a poem. I thought it was really well written. Hopefully she’ll add more in the future as I think there’s a lot of potential there.
• MrsJessicaHoran – Several short stories here, perfect for those who don’t have a lot of time and like stories aimed at teens. Looks like they’re fanfiction so if those are stories you enjoy, you definitely may want to take a read.
• OwensMartin – Haven’t had a lot of time to check out his stuff, but what I have looked through looks really good. Great writing style, and I always see him in threads having interesting discussion when I browse them. Really can’t understand why he hasn’t gotten more reads, as they would seem well deserved.
• Mrs_Manhunter_Jonzz – Another writer with a bunch of really interesting stories in the range of super heros and DC comics fanfiction. I definitely think at the very least a lot of younger readers would really enjoy these, and she as some more mature content too. Very creative indeed!

Wattpad Community and Etiquette

Fan Fiction Writing Contest

Fan fiction writing contests are a fun way to get your work seen by others and to get a nice boost in the search engines by using popular stories. It’s also a great way to come up with ideas of your own when your faced with the torturous struggle of writers block. Focusing on a short story for someone else helps me when I start to struggle on my own writings. I believe part of it is because it helps to quiet the mind. Some of the decisions are already made for us because of the writing contest rules. Fan fiction has the same allure. We already know about the characters. We are allowed to place our favorite characters into our own fantasy situations.

When I started writing The Bewitching I had several things in mind. First, I wanted it to be a trilogy where each chapter would make a good movie and appeal to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight fans. My second goal was to write it in a way that there would be multiple ways to turn it into a television show. The way The Bewitching is written it can be made into a Buffy the Vampire like series in the modern time. I also had a second idea in mind. What if it was written in a way that made it easy for fan fiction writers to create their own stories of the characters.

When I was younger I was a fan of the television show Sliders and Quantum Leap. These shows were written in a way that the possibilities were endless in where each show could go. In Sliders the characters would jump to different dimensions, worlds that were only limited by the writer’s imagination. Quantum Leap revolved around the lead character taking over bodies of different people in different time periods. For instance, in one episode he found himself as the body-guard of Marilyn Monroe. In another he found himself in the body of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the famous sex therapist.

I left those possibilities open with The Bewitching in a similar way. There are little bits and pieces of the character’s past lives. While writing about their past lives I researched some of the attire from those periods, what was going on in certain time periods with wars, or the routes people traveled and places they populated. While the first book didn’t go into a lot of detail, the second and third I hope to include more of that research.

I believe there are a lot of possibilities in a fan fiction writing contest for the past lives part of The Bewitching. I’m sure there are ideas I haven’t even thought of with ways to incorporate real history with The Bewitching characters. With some of the stories I’ve seen on Wattpad I’m sure there are those who can come up with some amazing possibilities. So here are the rules for the first ever The Bewitching fan fiction writing contest.

Fan fiction Writing Contest Rules

1. The characters used must either be Dantes, Elyssa, Annette, Alicia, or Tobias in any combination together or by themselves
2. Remember the last time Elyssa and Dantes were together was during the Salem Witch Trials. If your story has both of them after that time period, but before the present, they must not be aware of one another
3. The story must be no shorter than 2,000 words and no longer than 4,000 words.
4. Bonus points if you can incorporate any type of ancient or spiritual symbols that fit your story
5. More bonus points if you can mix the story with an event in history and place the characters in that setting
6. Multiple entries are allowed
7. You can email me your entry on FB at The Bewitching Fan Page or to Martin@TheBewitching.com and put The Bewitching Writing Contest as the subject
8. The contest ends September 30th and fan fiction winners will be posted by October 14th.

You can find an example of one of the past lives in chapter 13 of The Bewitching – Memories of a Lost Love. While that chapter deals with a flashback of a past life, for the writing contest feel free to write the story as if it’s actually happening.

I’ll post the top 5 fan fiction stories on both of my websites at MartinDouglas.info, TheBewitching.com, along with several social networks I have set up on the web. If you’re on Wattpad I’ll give you a shout out there so all my followers can find you. For those who haven’t noticed, in the last week alone my followers have gone from around 13 up to over 250+. I have some things I’m working on that should increase that number even more, along with a feature spot that’s been mentioned by the Wattpad managers. That’s a lot of possible followers that will be able to find your work through me.

If you’re up for a fan fiction writing contest then I’m up for checking out all the great stories you can write. I’ll be posting updates for the fan fiction writing contest on The Facebook Bewitching Fan Page and The Google+ Bewitching Fan Page for those who’d like to follow me there. You can also follow on my personal fan page on Facebook at Martin Douglas or on Google+ at Martin Douglas.

For those who may have missed it, besides the writing contest we still have The Bewitching character contest that is still open for entries posted here!

Fan Fiction Writing Contest

Writers and Wattpad, A Place to Share Your Work

There are things in life I’ve learned that tend to be the complete opposite of what I was taught growing up. What I’ve noticed is it’s not the most talented or skilled people who necessarily find success. Much more often I tend to see that those who find success have a certain level of talent, but their ability to win the popularity contest in life is what puts them in high and respected positions. In many ways life is like high school, but in a larger pond. For writers it is no different.

Whether in film, acting, writing, or any other creative community the same rules of high school popularity apply. You can be the greatest writer that ever lived, and yet you won’t find success off of that alone. A mildly talented writer though, who is known by many, has a greater chance of success. It could even be argued that a lousy writer could find wild success merely because of who they know, or who knows them. That argument has been posed in cases with books like 50 Shades of Grey, and its author who had worked in the television industry and likely had a bit of help from those connections.

If I could do things over again, I’d likely put more effort into the social media or networking parties even though I despise them to a large extent. We’ve all heard the saying, ‘It’s who you know, not what you know.’ The older I get the more I realize and witness the truth in this old quote.

Unlike 10 or 20 years ago, there are more options available to people today than having to dress to impress and attending a stuffy party of suits. With social media we can network from our homes, dressed in our pajama’s, and slurping on a drink we really shouldn’t be having on the job. Although do note that you don’t want to post photos of yourself doing this! There’s now no need to worry about having an expensive suit or dress, or that haircut that you really meant to get a few months back but just couldn’t find the time to do with your busy schedule. With social media we only need to do that once, take the pictures, and present yourself that way on the internet for the work you share with others. There’s nothing more fun than being comfortable at home working versus the feeling of being stressed over appearances in public.

When it comes to sharing your work filmmakers have YouTube, Vimeo, and a host of other options to present what they do. Political activists have their usual array of websites like the Huffington Post, and many are finding success on Facebook. Google Plus also has their niche with what appears to be a bunch of network marketers. But what about writers? Where can they go? You can attempt it on Facebook although it’s not set up properly for writers. The same goes for Google Plus. YouTube and Vimeo, while offering a specific way to maybe market a book (Book trailer anyone!) aren’t fit for writers either. Don’t get me wrong, these are great tools for writers to use to help in promoting their work and building an audience, but they’re not built specifically for writers.

One of the great sites I read about was Wattpad.com. I came across it in an article about someone finding a publisher through sharing their work on that website. Wattpad is nice in that it has a whole variety of writers and readers to share your work with. Several writers there have even found publishers due to the popularity of their work within the community. The nice thing is it’s built specifically with writers in mind. Amanda Hocking, a paranormal romance young-adult fiction writer, who has been in the news for finding success as an indie writer on Amazon also happens to have an account their she posts stories to. It’s a perfect place for writers to gather, share their work, and network in an attempt to find their audience.

I’ve met some really great people there, along with reading some nice stories when I’ve found the time. Lindsey Clarke, who goes by LittleCinnamon as a username for instance, has a nice following there with her Dark Sanctuary vampire series which I’ve found to be a really fun read. She was kind enough recently to give me a mention that helped kick up my own readers list, and she writes like a demon! How she can knock out so much so fast is amazing. Many of her followers are talented in their own rights as well.

There are a good number of other sites I’ve also been looking into recently that lean towards different genres or types of writers. I’ll try to share more as I go through them myself. In the meantime you can find my work on Wattpad.com under Martin Douglas of course, or check out Lindsey’s assortment of books on her profile here.

Writers and Wattpad, A Place to Share Your Work

The Bewitching Novels, A Story of Love and Magic

The Bewitching is the first book in what is currently planned as a trilogy by Martin Douglas. The story follows Elyssa and Dantes, two people who had been deeply in love in past lives. The book starts in our current time as Dantes struggles with memories of Elyssa, who we find out mysteriously abandoned him several lifetimes earlier.

Elyssa, unlike Dantes, has no recollection of the past, or even Dantes himself. Her nightly dreams are haunted with images of a mysterious cove and a faceless man that she feels deeply connected to. On a nightly walk she soon stumbles upon the cove from her dreams and begins to visit it consistently in hopes of also finding the faceless man. He never appears, yet she has the strange feeling she is being watched from the shadows.

Upon a visit to downtown San Diego she comes across an odd shop that she feels strangely drawn to. Once inside her life takes an unexpected turn. Elyssa’s swept up into the hidden world of witches and magic, where demons and angels walk among us, and human myths wander the shadows unseen. Dantes too appears, and Elyssa has the uncanny feeling he may be the man from her dreams but something about him doesn’t seem quite right. It’s as if he carries a dark secret of his own, along with a past that he hesitates to share.

As Elyssa and Dantes struggle with their feelings for one another, and she delves deeper into the world of magic, they soon find themselves hunted by a gang of demons. Will Elyssa find the connection between Dantes and herself, and the secrets of their past that he seems determined to keep hidden for some unknown reason? Can Elyssa learn her new-found abilities well enough to fend off the demons that are set on taking her life and Dantes? Visit The Bewitching on Wattpad to read the first several chapters of this first novel by Martin Douglas, or browse TheBewitching.com website to learn more.

The Bewitching was inspired by the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the movie The Notebook. With the Beautiful Creatures film that recently came out, there are certainly elements there that are also similar in nature to The Bewitching Novel. If you’re a fan of any of these films or books, then there’s certain to be something in The Bewitching for you to enjoy.

The Bewitching Novels, A Story of Love and Magic

The Bewitching Character Contest

The Bewitching character contest is now on! Anyone who’s read The Bewitching and checked out the website will have noticed the character page has pictures of how I envisioned my characters. Let’s add some more! The pictures used were from those who I knew that resembled The Bewitching characters both physically and personality wise, in some cases because I based them loosely off of friends.

While the demon character isn’t a main character per say in the first book, he does play a larger role in the following books based on what I have in mind for the story. What I’d like to do is add some pictures of the sub characters. Currently we have the 3 demons mentioned in Chapter 8 that have yet to have pictures I can place on the site.

For the women, have no fear! While for the time being this leaves them out of the contest, there will be two more characters introduced in the later chapters. Both have small parts in this book, but will have larger stories in the second, and possibly third book. This means that both male and females will have a chance to have their pictures featured as a character on the website. If pictures aren’t your thing I have a few more ideas for future contests that revolve around writing too!

With that said, here are the rules for the contest! Check out the character descriptions in Chapter 8 of The Bewitching. If you’re a guy, and you fit the description of one of the demon characters, take a picture. Make sure it’s a clear shot and not fuzzy. Send it to Martin@TheBewitching.com or send a message to our The Bewitching Fan Page on Facebook. Feel free to use makeup or whatever else you can think of to make yourself resemble the character, including the style of dress you see the character in. Include the name of the character you believe you most closely resemble in the subject line. Also include your own name so we can give you credit if the picture is chosen.

If you’re a female you can still participate. Do you know a friend who you think would be perfect for one of the demon characters? Get a picture and send it in. Include one of yourself so we can share who helped us find the perfect character to match the ones in the book! Also ask the guy you took the picture of to give us a like on our Fan page just so we know we have his permission to use his picture if it’s chosen.

We’ll list the winners and runners-up on our blog. The winners will be put into the slide show of characters for The Bewitching novels on our website. Since we’re still in the process of marketing the book, and we’d like to give everyone a chance to be included, we’ll likely pick the winners around the end of August or beginning of September. That gives everyone a nice amount of time to be included and to find out about the contest. So spread the word and become a character in The Bewitching Novels!

The Bewitching Character Contest

Hidden Bits in the Character Designs

Design was something that was important for me in my novel. One of the interesting things with putting together The Bewitching was when I had to come up with a website and the graphics for the characters. Pulling off a dark website is difficult enough. The character graphics and design were even more of a challenge. One of the things I wanted to do when designing the character graphics was to incorporate some of the spiritual things I had read about colors and symbols. Like the book itself, I attempted to mix the fantasy with some real world things.

In designing the graphics for each character I decided to use bright colors to contrast the dark colors of the website. I also wanted those colors to have meaning. For those who know a bit about colors, and how they relate to the spiritual world, you may notice that the colors used are representative of the characters emotional. In the case of one of the characters, the color used represents their material or wealth in the first book.

The colors weren’t too difficult to figure out. I did try to take into account the negative and positive meanings of them, usually leaning with the positive meanings for most of the characters. The symbols on the other hand were not as simple. They’ve changed meaning so much over time or as different groups have picked them up. For instance, people might be surprised to find out that christians and catholics garner a lot of their symbols from the Wiccans. The Wiccan’s are not much different in their approach to religion than the indians with their stories of nature and nature like gods. Even symbols like the Swastika have changed meaning over time. Where we usually associate the Swastika with evil or the Nazis, it actually originated as a symbol of peace in Australia. One particular symbol I used, while resembling others from history, is quite new. It has been adopted by different groups as though it does have a history older than it is.

There is so much contradicting information on symbols that I wouldn’t be surprised if this particular symbol appeared before then or with a different meaning. With the colors, I attempted to research the origins and meanings. I then matched them to the characters. I found some additional meanings to them later on that oddly enough more strongly coincide with the characters. I also attempted to keep them based off of Wiccan/Pagan, or Celtic lore which also seem to crossover quite a bit and borrow from one another.

I may change those symbols and their design over time as I write more of the next few books to coincide with the growth of the characters. In the meantime, I’m going to leave it up to the reader to see if they can figure out the meanings of the design on their own. I’d love to hear what you all think each symbol or color mean based on your own beliefs. Who knows, maybe someone will come up with something I can incorporate into the design for later stories.

A Special thanks to Madison Rockwell, Anne and Alice Pickard, and Les Belbot for allowing me to use their pictures in my design which so closely resembled my idea of the character’s looks. Also a special mention to Toby, pictured as Tobias, who sadly passed away recently. Our best wishes and prayers our with him upon the Rainbow Bridge.

Hidden Bits in the Character Designs