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Take advantage of the built-in readerships that fanfiction offers.
On Wattpad, you will find some of the most robust fanfiction on the internet. From famous celebrities to fictional characters, blockbuster movies, award-winning literature, the latest Web series and comic books—you name it, Wattpad has it. If you’re looking to expand your readership on Wattpad, diving into fanfiction is a great way to do it.
Fanfiction’s popularity is due to the way Wattpad promotes the genre itself. Whereas fanfiction writers often struggle to find acknowledgment for their creativity and originality elsewhere, on Wattpad they are given space and consideration on par with original fiction writers. Discussion threads, fandom subcategories, and an official fanfiction profile (@Fanfic) are available platforms for writers to promote their books, learn more about fandoms, and increase their audience. Just like original fiction writers, fanfiction writers have a Hot List, take part in official writing contests (including the prestigious Watty Awards), and are eligible for opportunities from Wattpad to further their writing careers.
With a dedicated readership and writer base, fanfiction is one of Wattpad’s biggest genres. That’s saying something on a site with sixty-five million users, as of this writing.
For many years, some saw fanfiction as the gutter trash of the fiction world. They perceived fanfiction writers as piggybacking on someone else’s characters and plots, as if these writers could not come up with an original story.
Thankfully, times have changed, due in large part to the way technology can connect fandoms. As an example, Anna Todd, Wattpad’s biggest success story, started out writing fanfiction. After billions of reads, she scored major publishing and film deals.
If you’re new to Wattpad or fanfiction, it might seem daunting at first to jump into such a huge community. As a writer of both original fiction and fanfiction, I have firsthand knowledge of how difficult writing in the latter genre can be. But as with every new writing experience, all it takes is a leap of faith into one of the most exciting and vibrant communities on the site. Here are six things you’ll need to know about writing fanfiction on Wattpad.
Is there a television show that you’re currently obsessed with? Or are you a longtime fan of a book series? Perhaps you can’t get enough of a band that’s topping the music charts. Regardless of your preference, you would be hard-pressed to find a fandom that does not exist on Wattpad.
Fandoms are the key to fanfiction authors, especially new ones, gaining traction in the writing world. Here’s why: Audience engagement is a staple for many Wattpad writers. At any one moment, Wattpad stories are being read, shared, discussed, promoted, and even posted about on social media sites. But in order to achieve that level of enthusiasm, a writer first has to gain readers’ interest.
Fortunately, if you’re a fanfiction writer, the interest in your work is already there. Within the fandom that you’re writing in, there are readers eagerly awaiting a new book that they can add to their reading lists because they just can’t get enough. All you have to do is engage with them.
One way to do that is on the Wattpad forums, where readers and writers come together to discuss their favorite movies, shows, music, books, and celebrities. Over on the official @Fanfic profile, contests take place that reward the winning writers with exposure for their stories. Creating a killer reading list dedicated to a certain fandom can help, too. And even in your work, a little interaction with your readers through the in-line comments can make a significant impact. Your readers will feel acknowledged, and they will be glad to spread the news about your fanfiction.
There’s a blockbuster movie that will be released next month. There’s a highly anticipated album that’s dropping this week. There’s an ongoing television show that social media users can’t stop raving about. What do you do?
Catch the hype.
Whenever there’s new activity in the market for a particular franchise, the corresponding fandom’s activity on Wattpad will also spike. In other words, within that fandom, there will be a surge in the number of readers and the amount of reading time spent on Wattpad. Seasoned readers will return for their fresh dose of fanfiction, while readers who’ve just signed up on Wattpad will likely be hunting for works catering to that fandom.
To prepare for this, it’s important that you familiarize yourself with the subcategories and trends within fanfiction. For example, it is not enough to look at the DC or Marvel fandoms as a whole. You need to look specifically at Wonder Woman or Spider-Man because it’s more likely that these subcategories will trend according to their respective theatrical releases in the market.
The other method that you could use is to anticipate a future release and publish your fanfiction according to that timeline. Say, for instance, your favorite K-pop group will be releasing an album at the end of the year. You have a solid plot in mind and a few prewritten chapters in stock. Instead of posting it during a lull, postpone it to coincide with the album’s release because that’s when interest in the band will peak.
The downside of catching the hype is that it can put you in the midst of fierce competition; many who write for that fandom will be publishing their fanfiction alongside yours. By the same token, succeeding under these circumstances will mean that the interest in your fanfiction is genuine. And if you’re able to capture that pool of readers, you’ve got a good thing going for you.
Crossovers are perhaps some of the most complex kinds of fanfiction. They require a blend of characters from two or more universes—such as Star Trek and Star Wars characters interacting with each other in a single fanfiction. You could even set Star Trek characters against the backdrop of the Star Wars galaxy, and that would constitute a crossover.
Writing a crossover requires you to have adequate knowledge of two or more fandoms. You need to do sufficient research to have a good grasp of two fictional universes and their respective characters. You need to imagine all kinds of scenarios and ask yourself many “what-if” questions. Would the rules of a certain world still apply if characters from the other stepped into it? If two protagonists from different worlds meet, would they complement each other or become adversaries? And if two villains meet, would they attempt to best each other, or would they work together to become even greater forces of evil?
It’s therefore no surprise that for many fanfiction writers, crossovers are something that they’re apprehensive about due to the sheer planning, world distorting, and character analysis they have to do. But for the bold and brave, crossovers can be your golden ticket to expanding your audience.
Consider the aforementioned point about engaging a fandom. That’s your current pool of interested readers. Now multiply that number by two or three or however many fandoms your crossover entails.
That, right there, is your new audience.
Writing under a single fandom limits your number of interested readers. But when you write a crossover, you’re growing your potential. Instead of tagging your work on Wattpad with only James T. Kirk or Leonard McCoy, you can expand your tags to include Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. That draws twice the number of readers interested in the former tags to your work.
But writing crossovers doesn’t only have to be about expanding your readership. You may at times find yourself stagnant—writing the same trope over and over. You may have an equal love for two fandoms, but you’re limited by time to write only one fanfiction. Or you may just want to explore a new aspect of fanfiction altogether.
So if you have a wild imagination and a fascination with challenges, crossovers might be the way to go. The hard work that you put into writing your crossover can prove to be very worthwhile in the end.
Surviving in one of the biggest genres on Wattpad isn’t easy. After all, fanfiction authors do not write for their works to be published. They write to share their enthusiasm and make a name for themselves on the site.
It’s not a bad thing to want an audience—every writer needs them. And many fanfiction writers choose one of two routes to expand their readership within the community:
The first entails making yourself known within the fandom for which you write. For instance, a writer could publish fanfiction after fanfiction solely for the Supernatural fandom. Regardless of the specific plots or characters that they write about, they’re already building a reputation for themselves. Once you become a prolific writer for a single fandom, you should be able to maintain that steady flow of readers because your followers will direct new Wattpadders to you.
The second requires a bit of courage because you will be constantly going from subcategory to subcategory. Let’s say that you’re a huge fan of several television shows and, as previously mentioned, you’re hoping to ride the latest wave of hype. You can write for the Supernatural fandom this time, but move on to The Walking Dead next, and so on.
It might seem a little scary at first when the majority of readers don’t recognize your work since you’ve only contributed one book to their fandom. But each time you post within a different sub category of fanfiction, you’re expanding your pool of readers—some of whom will follow you to your next work. And as you hop from one niche interest to the next in your stories, that pool will only continue to grow with time.
Both methods are equally viable. It’s up to you to decide how you will make a name for yourself in the fanfiction community. Nevertheless, it’s important to remember that consistent updates and new books are essential to generating reader interest, regardless of which option you choose.
The parameters of fanfiction are generally wide, but there are several things to take into consideration.
One thing you should never do is disrespect the original author’s copyright. If your fanfiction on Wattpad is based on an existing work or show, it’s essential that you add a disclaimer in your foreword or synopsis that identifies the creator(s) of the source material.
The second is that you need to be aware of what is or isn’t canon. Every fictional universe is created within a set of guidelines. If a fanfiction author traverses these boundaries, an explanation is required.
For example, it’s canon that Harry Potter is a wizard. But if he’s not a wizard in your fanfiction, then you’re required to state that your work is an AU (alternate universe) in which, say, Harry Potter is simply an average guy in college.
While veering outside of canon allows fanfiction authors the freedom to create more original plots, doing so risks receiving more criticism. Plenty of fans have opinions about the way a certain character should be portrayed, especially since they often base their perception of the character on the original material. But what if you want to write a villainous version of Harry Potter—one who freely uses dark magic and eventually becomes a Death Eater? You need to brace yourself for readers who might not be too happy with that. And for the majority of your readers, who will be open to reading something fresh, you need to properly flesh out the reasons for his behavior in your fanfiction.
As someone who writes both original fiction and fanfiction, the common questions that readers ask me are: “Why not stick to original fiction? Why dabble with fanfiction when you know for a fact that these works can never be published?”
My answer is simple: practice.
Many writers write fanfiction simply because they’re passionate about some corner of pop culture. But there are other writers who, perhaps, do not feel very confident about their writing. They need an avenue to improve their writing and experiment with new styles. And what better way to do that than with fanfiction?
Writing fanfiction allows you to take a step back and look at your writing as it is, without the pressures of submitting manuscripts or getting published. You are forced to pay attention to the setting of another writer’s fictional universe and the nuances of their established characters. You must shape a plot that builds on the existing one, and you need to abide by the rules of that established world, all while creating your own narrative that distinguishes you from the original writer.
When you’re done with your fanfiction and return to your original work, you’ll be able to look at your writing from a fresh perspective.
You’ll become more adept at world-building because you’ve already practiced by embellishing on someone else’s. Your characters will no longer be one-dimensional—they will be multifaceted, with proper development and solid backstories. You will be bolder in your narrative because you have a style that’s singularly yours and you have improved.
Additionally, walking the line between both can give you unexpected perks that other writers do not get. For instance, establishing yourself as both a fanfiction and romance writer will enable you to reach across two of the biggest genres on Wattpad. You will be able to incorporate romance elements into your fanfiction, as well as increase your proficiency in world-building, thanks to the practice you’ve had writing fanfiction. So if you’re solely a fanfiction or an original fiction writer, all it takes is one step out of your comfort zone.
Suppose your fanfiction becomes popular enough that another writer asks, “Can I write a fanfiction based on your work?” Now, this would be fanfiction about fanfiction—one of the more complicated and rare forms within this genre.
Whether the person’s request is accepted or not is the author’s prerogative. Some fanfiction authors—like many published authors, in fact—are open to it, while others are not. But if the author answers in the affirmative, this presents a question. Who should the credit and disclaimer go to—the author who wrote the fanfiction in the first place or the author of the original, source content?
All credit and disclaimers should be attributed to the original author or creator.
It is essential to remember that fanfiction is an homage to the original work. Without the original creator’s world, plot, and characters, fanfiction would not exist. Therefore, giving credit where credit is due is necessary.
Writing fanfiction on Wattpad can be both challenging and rewarding, but it’s worth a shot given its popularity on a site with sixty-five million users (and counting). Just remember that it takes time to research, draft, and plan out your fanfiction. It takes time to write a good work that showcases your best writing and the love that you have for the fandom. And it takes even more time to build a dedicated and loyal readership on Wattpad amidst the millions of users on the site.
It is essential, therefore, to embark on this journey with a positive mind-set. Think of fanfiction as a genre that is fun to write, something that you love to do, and/or as a means to improve your writing. And remember, no matter how many followers or reads you have on Wattpad, you can only go up from there. Welcome to fanfiction on Wattpad. Once you’re in, you’ll never want to leave.
Noelle N. is a pseudonym for an English major graduate who hails from Asia. On Wattpad, she writes both original fiction and fanfiction, has been privileged enough to win four Wattys, and maintains a pretty sweet status as an anonymous writer. Off Wattpad, she enjoys good music, great food, and spending time with her loved ones. More often than not, she writes because she wants to read something that she can’t find elsewhere. As long as her work inspires someone, she’s pretty happy.