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③② 🧡 Wattpad Tip: Multimedia

Multimedia in a book is any pictures/gifs or YouTube music/videos you link. I will talk about both, but there isn't much to say.

PICTURES/GIFS

Unless you're writing a nonfiction story and want to include pertinent photographs, or are writing a guide like this one, or are posting in a random book, I wouldn't recommend much multimedia. No .gifs.

In fiction, keep it simple. Maybe create a header or a footer for your chapters, and maybe upload a map of your world or something, but people are there for your writing. If you do illustrate it, use an illustrator or illustrate it yourself. Your goal is to make it like a real book.

MUSIC

Linking YouTube music can be a nice thing to do. Just be sure it looks good as a thumbnail at the top of the page. You can also link original music, which I do sometimes! 

I wouldn't include much music, though, after the start. Again, your goal is to make your story like a book. Moreover, the more extra things you have sitting around, the more it distracts from your writing. You want your writing front and center!

VIDEO

If you link a video in your work of fiction, it's probably a trailer for your story. That's the way it should be. Trailers are okay, since they can be skipped and only exist at the front of your story, so they're not too distracting. If you have some great ideas and want to make a trailer, go ahead! I wouldn't use any copyrighted material, though.

I used to have trailers up for my works, but I removed them. They didn't use original material and I don't think they added a lot.

The bottom line is: never use multimedia in place of good writing, and use it sparingly!

...

...not one bit. Not one bit of multimedia in the whole multimedia chapter, huh?

...

...okay.