royal888 is the first non-muslim writer I interviewed. Her long and in depth answers made this interview better than I expected.

■|■

1).How did you discover Wattpad?

royal888 : I only discovered Wattpad after using a smart phone,I searched apps in AppStore with the phrase free books and Wattpad came up.Back then when I started reading on the app in 2012 nobody had to have a log in,I just browsed the app and read stories Then around march or may 2013 they forced everyone to have a log in,I was unable to read anything in my library unless I logged in.So I had to sign up with a profile. I preferred it when all was anonymous,The social aspect is a curse and a blessing.I was so surprised to get a red dot on notifications I got my first message from an author who I had votedfor.I accidentally had pressed the star button and they messaged and said thank you... I had no idea about the social functions and didn't think much of it until I started writing and when people voted and commented on my book for the first time I realized what functions there were.

2).What inspired you to write?

royal888 : I read so many books on Wattpad non stop.I had ideas in my mind for one scene that kept playing in my mind,I really wanted to find a book about witches and warlocks so found none. With that one scene in mind I started her heart his obsession...I was very surprised at my self that I managed to go beyond one scene that I had in mind,Chapter 1 and 2 was all that I had...as time went on I managed to update the book weekly and ideas came slowly....so I guess it just happened.

I write for fun and I enjoy it.

3).Tell me something about your first book on Wattpad.

royal888 : It started as a simple plot and it developed into a 184 chapter book that I still haven't finished writing....I am currently editing the book off Wattpad.It is my first book so compared to my second book it has less reads but it has been attracting some external attention from off Wattpad,So I think it proves that number of reads don't matter much,If your book doesn't have reads it doesn't mean anything. It can have more potential to be of interest off Wattpad.

I think my first book is Fantasy,Teen fiction,Adventure ... it has hardly even any kissing scenes,it's for teens.

I think what bothers me is the pressure new writers have to make their books mature to get reads,No one has to introduce romance just to get reads.

The most original books that are publish worthy and most creative are books on Wattpad that hardly have 100 reads or less. When I see authors with no reads say oh we stop posting I just shake my head and think come on,Big mistake.

Reads don't matter.Content matters and originality.

If someone is capable to write a book with their imagination it's perfec,If they have writer block then they can stop.

When I wrote my first book I didn't care for reads and comments. I didn't record milestones.I only had one reader only who commented and I discussed the scenes with her,She helped me so much,I was grateful for that one reader.That 184 chapter book that I have now unpublished with exception of 5 chapters,only has her comments on some chapters.I never noticed how little number of reads I had compared to number of updates I did,Only recently I have started to record milestones. It's just because I like to remember where I was last year and where I reach next year, It's good in that sense.

My first book was simple and written for fun. Second book is for fun too. I write as a hobby.

3).How do you overcome Writer's block?

royal888 : Hm.I get writers block all the time,If I could.I would have written every day and would have updated non stop. But due to writer block I can't.I need to have a few days in between to put my thoughts together and plot the next scene,Sometimes my writer block lasts days,Sometimes months,It depends.But it's only natural.

It all depends on our expectations of our writing as writer.If you try to rush it, then the scene would not be that good. When I have had a big flow comments liking a chapter was after I spent days on a chapter.The longer we spend on a chapter the better it is....I say from day one I have always had writer block in between. I see it as a good thing. It's frustratingfor the fans and I only get upset for them since they have to wait but a block is good for a writer because once the time passes excellent ideas flow. I advise everyone to be patient and not rush to publish a chapter they are not happy with. A book takes months to finish.I think Jk Rowling took years to finish Harry Potter series. Jk Rowling took 6 years to write her first book and then another ten years passed until she released the last book of her series.So overall it took her 16 years to write a book.

I say she did have writer block for sure.... she just doesn't call it writer block. Maybe it is the brain trying to organise the thoughts around the scenes in the mind of writer.I don't know. I am no expert in psychology or brain but I know a block is natural and that never bothered me.I just never pressed publish if I was unhappy with a chapter.When we force ourselvesto write to come out of the block we write scenes that are out of character or some scenes that don't look write. I have had plenty deleted scenes like that that I never published.

4).Aside from writing and reading,Have you made any new friends on Wattpad?

royal888:I am Wattpad buddies with people but don't know anyone on personal level. Our communication is strictly about writing and reading.The closest to friendship I have is with people I met at a wattcon (a Wattpad official conference).I met a few people there last year and I am in touch with them,But even that is just about books.I am close with some of my readers and also writers who's books I read. I discuss books with them on Wattpad and social media.I am also part of book groups on social media with fellow wattpaders with which I find useful.

On Facebook it's much easier to find answers compared to Wattpad forums because on forums the rules are extensive and it's hard to find the right audience to get answers from...I just use social media to find out about latest news of Wattpad from fellow authors I follow on Twitter,Facebook and Instagram.When I need help with book related matters my social media Wattpad friends help. I think we are all avatars. It's impossible to get to know someone like this sitting behind an icon,Only if we meet someone personally we can truly get to know them. So yeah. Attending a Wattpad conference and meeting people maybe the only way to know people on Wattpad on personal level.

5).Did it take quick or long,for your book to get known by readers on Wattpad?

royal888:It took very long time.I didn't even notice in terms of months how long it took because having reads actually was not crossing my mind.The reason was,I didn't know what Wattpad was. I was a reader without a log in for a long time,I had no idea what vote was or what comment was,When I had no reads or votes I kept writing.

I think I remember one of my first votes came from Someone after I was way past the 10th chapter because they voted for like 10,Something like that. So I really wasn't recording milestone and didn't even know Wattpad readers could interact with writer until my first commentator came.I think only after I started my second book and marked my book complete it did increase the reads. When you have more than one book then it helps. It still is taking long. I have been writing for three years and my readers come very slow. I have written so many books some of which I have unpublished. I update weekly. For number updates I do and number of chapters I have I feel that I don't get many reads. I am invisible like everyone else (except featured list authors) and only get visibility when I update. Otherwise I won't even have one reading list add.It's a long process I guess and it will take more years.

The issue is some readers just see number of reads and assume it came overnight and don't know it took some people years.Don't get me wrong.Some achieve what I did in three years simply in one week.Someone I know applied to get featured on romance and from zero-reads they reached one million reads in one week. I am not saying everyone on romance featured list gets 1 million reads a week but when you just get featured in early days you get crazy number of reads.So everyone have to work hard to even get one reading list add except very few.So it is very important for me not to compare myself to other people who perhaps write in genres that I do.We are all different. There are millions of users on Wattpad and we think why don't I get more reads.

But the truth of matter is the readers are clicking on front page and featured list a lot. Or are writers and don't read. Also some get lucky with their catchy stories. I don't believe that quality is reflected in number of reads. It's sometimes opposite. I have read some amazing undiscovered books on Wattpad that can be the next Harry Potter,I also have read books with millions of reads which I feel I have read so many times before and are not as original as some undiscovered books I have read. A publisher looks for originality.Undiscovered books have it because new authors don't write to get success. They are creative and inspired to write without caring for reads and votes. They succeed in long term if their work stays original.Sometimes I get really frustrated when I am reading quality read. Then suddenly I see a scene that really puts me off from reading further while I know the author got the idea from another famous book they are reading currently.

I am talking about violence,torture etc in the middle of PG13 books.Just because some author with billions of reads has done it people feel pressured to add unoriginal repetitive aspects that's obviously not part of their plot based on the readers view.It's my opinion as a reader. Some may not agree.But yeah if I love a book I know the writers style inside out and know it when they try to be pretentious or try to have unattractive themes to the audience they have worked hard to build.

NaeemNaufer:I can't help but agree with this.

royal888:Indeed. The truth is a publishing company won't want their book if it's everywhere else. They want an original book. Not same story that people read all over the place.

6).Your favourite writer? Both inside and outside of Wattpad.

royal888: AnnaSantosAuthor

xXdemolitionloverXx

Makmaklala

charliej

So AnnaSantosAuthor is my idol ... she is an amazing and talented author as well as being a good human being. She is so realistic and every day I learn something new from her,

xXdemolitionloverXx is my idol in writing. I read her books when I first joined and are most original Wattpad stories I have read in werewolf genre.Nobody had to be tortured and abused in her books for her to have a plot.I am so sad that she is on hiatus right now.Most books are read when I first joined Wattpad were original.Now somehow they all want to be like fifty shades of grey and it has to have abuse for some reason in the books which really puts me off when I am looking for an original book. There is more to a story than romance and we need excitement. People don't have to add abuse and violence or omega mate shunned or alpha bought me from auction or scared with silver etc... I don't understand what is going on with the explicit stuff in books. I am not talking about mature books.

My favourite mature books are from charliej.They don't put you off but are mature.Maybe on Wattpad with the standard we see around here the books are not really mature.She writes so well and has a proper plot.

Also now Makmaklala is also one of the first writers I saw when I first joined. I read her books and fell in love.She sadly has stopped writing and says she can't finish her books.Again this is another example of book I found "Son of alpha loves the music" that was so well written.Writer didn't spend traumatising people with distasteful scenes in 20 out of 30 chapters which is what I see commonly these days. Back in 2012 I saw normal enjoyable entertaining books.Right now all I see are abusive books that are way too graphic and excessive even for mature books.I am tired of being cheated when I read PG13 books.Don't get me wrong I read mature but only from authors I trust. I don't trust books not to traumatise me on Wattpad so I go with safe option of PG13 books so I don't feel disgusted as female is abused in the middle. But sadly PG13 books are going down the road of cheating. They are mature books. They label it PG13 for the sake of getting ranked days ago.

Having said that I love many writers and can't name all. But it's been a bumpy ride to find good books to read. I love original abuse-free books to get entertained...I don't want to feel depressed reading unnecessary stuff that's not even part of the plot and writer adds because someone else who is famous is doing it days ago,At cost of traumatising people.

7).Your tips for new writers on Wattpad?

royal888:To not talk about private stuff.and I say write non stop and update.Don't worry about reads and votes. They will come later slowly or may not come but if you have original work it will get noticed one day.Believe it or not its best not to have many reads before you publish.Some even say it's best not to post on Wattpad because of plagarism.

My book was plagiarised and put on Amazon for sale.It's taken down but the criminal may try again.They copied my book word for word.Even they didn't change the name of characters and posted it and became number one in Romance erotica category on kindle. So yes. Plagarism is a big issue,No one is immune.
It's your choice to post on Wattpad,If you post someone may steal your ideas and sell it,Nothing can stop them.

So if you aim to publish on Amazon maybe don't post anything on Wattpad,First publish on Amazon and then post on Wattpad,I write for fun so I don't mind.I write as a hobby but if you want to have a writing career maybe Wattpad is not best simply due to the fact that you have no ISBN and work is not officially yours. It's harder to get it taken down if a cheat posts it.Be careful on Wattpad.Just treat this website cautiously.Don't feel pressured to give your personal details to anyone.Just don't disclose anything.

Maybe you are now a student and don't have a job,But years later you might and your pictures here can spread around,Don't feel pressured to give people your age or country,There are some bad guys on Wattpad disguised behind avatars,Don't be afraid to mute people.You are here to read and write,Not to get harnessed by creepy people.Keep interactions minimal to avoid trouble.Some people can be nasty and may bully you by posting stuff you told them as feedback in a rude manner on social media and spread lies about you,I have seen it happen so many times.So please take my advice.Don't try to make friends on Wattpad.Discuss books and writing. Nothing else.If you feel pressured just say sorry it's my personal preference.

Also nothing on Wattpad is worth stressing over.If you have a disagreement just move on. Mute the person and ignore them. You are not here to get stressed.You have a life.Writing is not meant to stress you out.This is book website that's free.Don't feel obliged to respond to rude people. Just delete their comments.You don't owe people explanations.Enjoy your time on Wattpad.If you are targeted by bullies,report them.As for writing just keep writing. Don't worry about reads.Don't compare yourself to people with billions of reads.Set yourself goals to write 2000 words a week. Update weekly and celebrate the breakthrough every time you update and publish new books.Maybe record milestones but don't worry about it.

Also on Wattpad look for opportunities in contests from official profiles,You never know,You may win and it can change your life. Some contests are specific for certain regions,But some are international.Wattpad page and Wattpad Ambassador page sometimes announce new contests.Keep an eye out and make the most of it.

If you are an adult then maybe also join social media and promote your books and make friends with Wattpad authors,It's your choice,I do that but I don't lose any personal information on social media.The same info you see on my Wattpad profile you see on my social media pages too.If you join let me know and I can recommend you some groups on Facebook to join or some pages to follow on twitter that I find useful.It's upto you.But asking around helps.We are all here to learn.

I'll surely take your advice and try it In'sha Allah,Thanks a lot for it and We have come to the final..

7).Finally,What do you think I should do to improve my Interviews.

royal888:Your questions are amazing.Thank you for taking time to come up with meaningful questions.

The questions were good.I think you can learn from the_write_place account,the guy who runs it comes up with great questions for his interviews based on content of books written by people.Maybe check people's profile and use everything on their profile,from their books to the conversations on the wall....

For example if you scroll down and see someone went on Hiatus just ask,

I heard you took time off,Is all well? Or you finished all your books?What's next? I mean these are the kind of questions that the fan of the person might like...maybe add those too. The questions you asked are general questions that all readers would love to read.I loved the questions.It depends on your style.But as I mentioned the guy who runs the profile is really good with being a journalist digging deep.Journalists look up everything about the person they interview and research all the stuff they see on the web to find interesting questions that another magazine won't be asking.. or also they ask recent stuff.So if someone is only publishing a book yesterday they make sure they ask about that before any other journalist does so it's an exclusive one to them...Having said that I am getting ahead here....your interview was fine. I loved it and enjoyed it. Thank you for interviewing me live....the advantage of live interview is that you can pick on some answer I gave and ask me to expand on it so you don't have to always come up with pre-prepared questions.This way it's a conversation flowing.

Ask me why. How, when? Expand. What do you mean by that?

|■|

That was a great Interview,One of my best interviews so far to me! I loved every bit of the answers you gave,Thank you royal888 for such an amazing Interview!

And Jazakallahu Khayran guys for reading!I'll see you in my next interview,or a Rapid Fire Challenge ;)