Reader Engagement

It’s been a while since I’ve written on here, and I think that I should update more often, but the struggle of engaging people with your writing is real. Once, I saw a story on Wattpad and it had like 300k reads in the first chapter, and then about 30k in the next, and then it kept declining at a rapid rate, until the end where it barely got any reads/comments. And then you have stories that have, say a million views and average out about 80-90k per chapter, and have a similar but fluctuating amount of comments/reads. The finish rate is overwhelming in those stories.

I think that reader engagement is crucial, but I also think that taking calculated risks is important to the story… but here’s where it’s a Catch-22: When you start to add twists to the story, but the readers drop off because you aren’t giving them something familiar, or something that makes sense to the plot. Your twists are too ambitious, or they come left of field too soon, and people don’t have enough context to make sense of the twist. Or they’re engaged and excited to read on, but the plot twist is basically a slap in the face to them.

If you engage in your story, you make it a labor of love and you keep your fans invested by asking them questions (on social media, or Wattpad, if your story is there). You want to encourage people and keep them coming back through your cohesive plot (yes, you can add cliffhangers) and your own, personal engagement within the story process and an active role in answering questions on social media and promoting your story through it.

The formula also appears to work better if you find your niche too. If you know your target audience well enough, you can figure out what interests them and can keep them engaged in your stories through your social media presence. You have to keep them hooked on both the experience and on your immersive works. You’re selling them an experience with the story, and with the process.

Promotion is one thing (as in promoting your stories alone), but creating a niche, building up a fanbase, and winning over loyal readers is another. If you add all of these elements together and wait for everything to start taking shape, then you are sure to start making an impact eventually.

Persistence and patience will pay off if you find the right mixture of the above elements. You will be surprised at what people will read if you encourage them to branch out, given the right material and circumstances.