Wattpad Chapter Tips: Your 1st Chapter Set-Up

So you’ve just finished writing your first chapter on Wattpad. You hit publish, wait a week…you receive little to no views.

What could be preventing readers from being interested? You’ve worked so hard and know your story entails a unique plot. Your writing is strong. Your ideas stand out. So what could be keeping readers from swiping to the next chapter?

Well, maybe your first chapter looks something like this:

Aside from the red underlined gibberish (thank you lorem ipsum), the first thing the reader is going to see is heavy paragraphs. The majority of readers are not going to be very attracted to a chapter with paragraphs upon paragraphs in the first chapter (and especially right at the beginning).

Remember, this section of your story is the FIRST thing they are going to see.

Online reading is becoming more of a visual experience. How can we make our chapters more appealing to the eye? How can we connect with our readers? The answer:

Be visual.

Make your first chapter visually nice to look at.

Use images, videos, or gifs pertaining to the genre of your story or chapter. Think of each chapter as an episode of a tv show. What is your chapter about? What kind of music, images or gifs fit the aesthetic of it?

Consider:

• Emotes in your author notes (I will talk about author notes in another post as they are a great way to connect and engage your reader if used properly).
• Gifs throughout the chapter. Be careful when using gifs that they don’t become too distracting or take away from what they are representing (consider how they may affect your readers perception of ie. a character).
• How much dialogue you have. Do you have any dialogue in your first chapter?
• Is your first chapter between 1000-1500 words? Is it longer? Aim to keep chapters below 2000 words as the 1000-1500 makes the read more gripping (readers will be tempted to read more).
• Did you leave off on a cliffhanger? What does your first chapter make the reader want to find out more about?
• Did you post an image or video above your chapter’s title for the reader to see?

What does this all mean?

As a writer, you must make your chapters not only enjoyable to read, but equally enjoyable to look at. The key to it all is remembering that as writers we are working to provide a means of entertainment to the reader. It is critical to consider who your audience is and how you will work to connect with them in your first chapter.

Think about what you enjoy reading/seeing in the chapters of other authors on Wattpad. Was there a certain way they structured their chapter with author notes and images etc. that you found visually pleasing? You may have an author’s name in mind, or perhaps, their story’s title.