My Wattpad Rants

Holding Chapters "Hostage"

So many writers on Wattpad do this thing. And it's a dumb thing. A thing that should not be a thing. And that thing is none other than holding chapters hostage! Which is what today's rant will be about!

I'm not really sure how many people understand what I mean when I say this, just because while it's a pretty common thing there's no one set name for it. basically what I mean is when at the authors at the end of a chapter leave an A/N that looks something like this; 

-----

Hey guys, here's a new chapter! I hoped you enjoyed it. I have another twenty chapters written...bUT I WON'T POST THE NEXT ONE UNTIL I GET TEN VOTES AND FIVE COMMENTS LOL BYE XD

-----

...ew.

Basically writers 'hold their chapters hostage' in exchange for votes and comments by the readers. I've found that this is a lot more common in young writers who have just started out on this website. (If anyone could provide any examples on accounts of a larger scale who do this though that'd be great, just for some variety and stuff. Teens aren't the only horrible people, goddammit.)

Now I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with wanting votes and comments. Let's be honest, we all really like getting them. Personally when I get a notification that there's a new comment or vote on any of my stories, it makes my day. But it's a whole different thing when you're refusing to write in order to receive more of them. 

When people do this to me it shows that they're missing the entire point of this website. The point is to share our writing because we enjoy and we're proud of it. But instead some people treat it like Instagram of Tumblr or another (more mainstream) social media website and cause their self worth to be dependent on the number of reads, votes, and comments they receive. Honestly if you aren't writing to enjoy it, then you don't really belong in this community anyway. 

And besides, all of that stuff feels ten times better when they come out of nowhere and you earn it on your own. I knew a girl who used to hold this Criminal Minds fan fiction hostage. She literally was constantly miserable while writing it it felt like a chore to her, and I think she might've gotten only two or three chapters in before she deleted and left the website. Today I have my own Criminal Minds fic. I've never held it hostage and to be honest mostly just wrote it for myself. I kind of only threw it up here for the sake of having another book. And now it has almost 30,000 reads, loads of votes and comments, and I'm actually happy with it. 

See the difference?

Anyway, the morale of the story is don't hold your stories hostage you guys!! It aggravates the readers and in the end helps no one.

So whaddya guys think? Have you guys ever help chapters hostage, or do you know someone who has? What are your opinions on it? I'll see you guys soon and thank you so much for reading!!