Have you ever read the opening lines of a book and been immediately captivated? Of course, you have. Just like a fine meal, when the combination of ingredients are prepared just right, stories can entrance us and will often form the bedrock of our desire to become writers ourselves.

Here on Wattpad, you'll find many resources that reinforce the importance of capturing your reader's attention in the first chapter. While there are plenty of great novels that walk us slowly into a character's journey, online storytelling requires writers to take a specific approach. This usually means a fair amount of practice and finesse to get the flavor right.

The Bootcamp Mentors would like to share our recipe for grabbing a reader's attention from the moment they start reading, using the methods we've learned during our online writing journey. Some of you will recognize these ingredients as part of Wattpad's Resource Library and Story School. But we've gone a bit further – offering prompts to get you thinking about how to apply these methods throughout your story, not only to tease your readers' taste buds, but to keep them satisfied until the last bite.

And, of course, we've created a workshop around these methods, giving our community of writers the opportunity to receive feedback on a new or existing story. This workshop will take place on our Discord server (link in bio) from October 16th through the 18th. We hope you'll join us.

🍲 🍲 🍲

Three key words to keep in mind when writing for success are: Immediacy, Engagement, and Commercial (tropes); IEC for short. These elements should be considered from the opening chapter to the final lines of a novel.

Story metrics on Wattpad show that hooking readers through the first 5 chapters generally indicates they're willing to continue reading. A reliable predictor for this comes from stories that begin with the protagonist's journey and jump right into the action or relationship. And it's all the better if it can be tied to the inciting incident, even if the inciting incident hasn't happened yet. If a writer can do this, it will help lessen early drop-off of readers.

Let's explore how these elements can be used for the biggest impact.

IMMEDIACY: The first element, immediacy, sets webnovels apart from traditional books purchased from a retail shop. When a reader invests money in a book, they are more inclined to keep reading even if the story doesn't immediately grab them. But with online stories, there are millions available to read, most of them for free, and it's easy for readers to click to the next one. So hooking readers immediately will help secure their investment in the story.

When it comes to characters, immediacy puts a focus on creating a relatable protagonist and establishing their motivations as soon as possible. In addition, it's important to give them a strong voice. We don't mean they should be shouting at the reader. We're talking about being thoughtful of what they say in dialogue, what they don't say in internal thoughts, and being sure they're taking actions and making decisions that reflect their personality and desires. It's easier to connect with a character whose attitudes and aptitudes really come to life on the page.

Immediacy also involves action, or a sense of being sucked into the story, so it's important to pinpoint the best place in the plotline to begin your character's journey. Of course, backstory, exposition, world-building, and secondary character roles are critical story elements, but if you spend too much time on these supporting elements at the beginning, you'll risk slowing down the connection you want to build between your reader and your MC. Do what you can to immediately immerse readers in the current situation that your MC is facing and give them a reason to care about the MC.

🔥HOT TIP 🔥 Put your character(s) in an emotional situation straight away, and describe how their emotions manifest in their thoughts, feelings, and actions.

ENGAGEMENT: When it comes to engagement, this is something we want to keep in mind throughout the writing process. Not only is it important to engage your readers in the first chapter, but you need to be sure there's something in every chapter holding their attention.

To break this down further, each chapter should include one or more incidents or elements that relate to the character's motivations and advance the reader's understanding of the plot. These are often referred to as story beats. Of course, you don't want to keep the pace and energy high for too long, but even the lower points of the story offer opportunities to include an important story beat.

Including cliffhangers at the end of chapters is a fantastic way to keep your readers engaged. You'll want to be careful not to write these just to bait your reader, however. If your cliffhangers are done for shock factor alone and don't relate to the plot, this will become obvious and annoying real quick.

🔥HOT TIP 🔥 It's a good idea to place a cliffhanger at the end of chapter five. This is typically the cut-off chapter before the paywall starts for Wattpad Originals ongoing stories.

COMMERCIAL: As far as Wattpad is concerned, they're looking for stories that are clearly situated within an established genre, and will appeal to fans of that genre. Another way we can appeal to genre readers is through tropes. For romance readers, that might be the slow burn or enemies to lovers. For horror readers, we often see the abandoned building or cursed artifact. These are common elements that give genre readers a sense of familiarity within the story you're trying to tell.

Some writers may feel like tropes are creatively stifling, but they don't have to be.  Consider adding a unique twist or alternate take on a familiar trope. Readers enjoy the thrill of expectation and arrival, the setup and payoff, familiarity mixed with novelty. Tropes shouldn't be the focus of your story, but merely serve as a driver for a character's motivation or to enhance the plot. Wattpad readers love tropes. So, if you're looking for more success and better exposure on Wattpad, consider using them.

And finally, it's a good idea to find comparative titles. These are stories, either on or off Wattpad, that are similar to your own. They should be popular enough to be recognizable, and you might want to include a few descriptive words that illustrate the comparison. For example, 'If you're a fan of the doomed love trope, his story delivers all the tragic drama of a modern day Titanic.'

🔥HOT TIP 🔥 Subvert your tropes! You can lure readers with a familiar trope then give it a twist. Take the fantasy trope 'The Chosen One', for example. Your MC is believed to be the clan's next savior when in fact the savior turns out to be their sibling.

🍲 🍲 🍲

What makes a compelling story? The characters and their journey through the story. And what helps to form the bond between characters and readers? Goals, Motivations, Conflict, and Stakes; GMCS for short.

On Wattpad, writers may hear the acronym GMCS tossed around when discussing successful storytelling on the platform. However, it should be said that following this recipe can help writers succeed wherever they're looking to promote their stories. How do you know if your story follows this recipe? Ask yourself these key questions (prompts) when you're looking over your finished story or plot outline.

We encourage you to write out these prompts and work through them.

GOAL: Does my main character have a clear goal they want to reach? What do they want most at the beginning of the story? How can I make it as clear as possible? Does my story convey that goal in one of the early chapters?

MOTIVATION: How does my character pursue their goals? What are my main character's motivations driving their thoughts and decisions toward their goal? Do their actions align with their motivations? How have I made this clear early in the story?

CONFLICT: What is the conflict or obstacle(s) my main character faces in order to reach their goal? What challenges are standing in their way? How does this conflict keep them distanced from their goal? Have I revealed this conflict early enough?

STAKES: What is at risk for my main character if they can't overcome the conflict and reach their goal(s)? What, in their mind, is the possible outcome if they fail? Are these stakes high enough to keep my MC motivated? Have these stakes been demonstrated in the early chapters of the story?

⚙️ ⚙️ ⚙️

Workshop

For this workshop, we're focusing on a few handpicked elements that help to engage readers of webnovels, with a special emphasis on the opening chapter. NOTE: This workshop will be hosted on our Discord server from October 16th through 18th. If you'd like to join us there, you'll find the discord link in our bio.

In order to get the most benefit from this workshop, you'll want to use a story that is either finished or fully outlined (or at least have an idea of the ending). After you've completed the activity, you can share your work in a single post in the #requests-for-feedback channel. In order to keep the channel organized, PLEASE PROVIDE ALL FEEDBACK IN A THREAD.

This is a community endeavor, and we cannot guarantee that everyone will receive feedback on their work. All we can do is encourage reciprocation (if you receive feedback, kindly offer feedback to someone else). We will do our best to see that nobody is left out.

As always, please remember to be constructive and kind. Think of the type of feedback you would like to receive. ❤️ All off-topic conversations should be held in the #general-chat-all channel.

⚙️ ⚙️ ⚙️

Workshop Activity

Provide the genre and trope(s), if applicable, of your story and include a comparative title with descriptive words.

Share your main character's Goals, Motivations, Conflicts, and Stakes as they relate to your MC's journey.

We also want to know how immediacy comes into play in your first chapter (how you're hooking the reader). So, tell us how you introduce the MC to your readers, and how the MC is involved in the action.

Please follow the format below when submitting your work.

Format:

1. Genre and Trope(s), if applicable:

    Comparative Title (include at least two descriptive words):

2. Describe the following main character elements of your story as briefly as possible.

Goal:

Motivation:

Conflict:

Stakes:

3. Provide a brief description of how your MC is introduced, and tell us how their journey starts in Chapter 1?

We'll see you in our Discord server October 16th - 18th! (link in bio)