The Writers Guide To Writing

Algorithms

I read this very handy guide once on the best way to receive better ratings on wattpad and I would like to share!

So, wattpad has this very complicated algorithm (system) that works out the rating for your book based on each tag every week.

The ambassadors have a little more info on this but the main gist of it is that it uses your reads, comments and updating frequency in its calculations.  This means you need to maximise these 3 things which, I know, isn't easy, but here's some tips.

Reads

Most wattpad users are teenage females (80 something percent) so you can assume that they also have homework, part time jobs, chores etc to do during the day. This means they will only have time to read quick chapters between their tasks. I try to keep my word count at 1000 words, some people even recommend 500 words, but I find it hard to develop the point of my chapter in that much time. As a fluent English speaker I can read my chapters in a few minutes so I use that as my base point.

Comments

This one is harder, because you need reads first to get comments. Also, you could end up with "ghost readers" who don't comment on stories but probably just vote on each chapter.

One thing you can do as a writer to up your comment count is ask questions. At the end of the chapter ask your readers:

What do you think?

Do you think X should have reacted that way?

Do you like Y, my new character?

What do you think will happen next?

This encourages your readers to engage in your story (and may even give you a few plot tips) and helps you see what your readers are expecting.

Updating

Since its best to keep chapters short, that means it's also best to update often. Only getting 500 words of a story every 3 weeks can be very frustrating. Also, the timing of when you publish a chapter is very important. You can bet for sure that if you update on Saturday morning when I don't have to rush to university, I will read your book, whereas on a Monday morning I will just clear my notifications and run for the train.

If you can't update often, create longer chapters and post once a week on a Friday night - Saturday morning.

If you can update often, you can either a) still write a long chapter and post once a week friday- Saturday or b) write 2/3 short chapters throughout the week and publish more often (every 2/3 days).

If you can't do Friday- Saturday, that's still okay, just make sure you update consistently so your readers know when to make time for your story.

These things will greatly help improve your rating on the hashtags you add to your story, this means your book will appear higher in the list when someone searches a hashtag for example (a bit of shameless self promotion)

My book 'Just a Drawing' is rated #2 in portraits but rated like #200 in some other categories so this means I am much more likely to be found if someone searches for portrait stories.

So, of course, higher hashtag rating means you're more likely to be found so your story is more likely to be read and given the love it deserves.

Hope that makes sense, feel free to ask questions.

Love, Orange

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