Wattpad 101: Your guide to the world of Wattpad

Ten Common Wattpad Pitfalls In Writing

Warning: The issues depicted in this chapter are things I've notice from an innummerable quantity of sources. Any similarities to any particular persons writing is purely accidental. I'm not trying to target anyone with this advice.

You may make these mistakes, you may not make them. You may not even see them as mistakes, and will argue with me relentlessly that I am wrong. There opinions on how you can improve writing, and while not every single one of these things should "never" be used, I think they all should be limited serverly in use. When I mention them, it's because I see people using them constantly. However it falls, I think your writing will benefit positively by heading my advice though.  

Also on another note. You may run through my writings and find myself making some of the same mistakes. I totally do. I make the same mistakes I preach to you guys not to make. I like to say that "I'm less of a critic and more of a hypocritic". If you want to be good at critiquing, you're going to realize you'll have to be a hypocrite too.  

1) No Buts 

a. Entirely too many people keep starting sentences with "But". As a general rule, NEVER start a sentence with But. It's technically grammatically correct, but you'd be better off using "However" or some other word. "But" really sounds bad, and it really should not be used in 99% of cases. Please note I use it a LOT in this Wattpad 101 book. BUT that's because I write wattpad 101 in a conversational voice, and also because I don't really edit what I write on here. (put all my grammatical advice into perspective, huh?)

"Ands" and "Ors" are another one that often comes up. Like "But", I find it's a pitfall in writing. People use them, and often they use them incorrectly and over abundantly. So please, please either cut them from your writing completely or use them only in the circumstances when you know there is no other way to say what you want to say. 

2) Hyphenations and parenthesis 

a. These are not substitutes for commas. Hyphenation exists between two words, linking them together, or possibly cutting off a word. 

        i. The weed-whacking machine is deadly.

        ii. "Oh my god wha-" 

        viii. DO NOT: Jenny - the cute girl - sat by the beach.  

b. As far as parenthesis goes, don't use them. Ever. In journalism, it can be a useful tool. Heck, I'd even use it in a self help book, like this one right here; however, in novels and poems, it has no place as far as I've ever seen. Parenthesis are used to interject unnecessary information to the reader. In a textbook, that makes sense. In a novel, why are you giving the reader unnecessary information?  

c. There is also em dash, the use of two hyphens. It's antiquated. I'm not saying you absolutely can't use it, but it shouldn't be every other paragraph. If you use it at all, it should be for a specific reason, like in poetry. Just because you CAN use it, doesn't mean you SHOULD. 

3) It's 

a. "It's" is not possessive. "It's" stands for it is. "Its" is what you use when it is possessive. If you are in past tense, "It's" should not be used, because you need to say it was, not it is. (The exception being dialogue.)  

        i. It's getting bad.  

        ii. Its mouth is moving.  

4) Quotations and how to use dialogue. 

a. This whole thing is written fairly in depth in the chapter, "Writing Dialogue", so please refer to that to help fix dialogue problems.  

5) Fonts and Sizes