Writing romance online, one predictable ending at a time

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I used to apologise for reading romantic novels. I’d try to justify this penchant by mentioning a brilliant surgeon friend who inhales as much of this fluff as I do. “I read other genres too,” I’d mumble. 

These days, I am a proud romance consumer. Give me drama, the intrigue, the bad boy with a dark past and the obligatory sprinkling of smut. Most importantly, I want the happy ending. 

Covid was a huge factor in my growing passion for romance. Who wouldn’t crave some predictable, escapist schmaltz after that two-year hell ride? So much so, that romance is a big business – an over billion-dollar industry, to be exact.

Now, like some heroine who’s secretly, feverishly in lust with the brooding count next door, I have a secret. I don’t only read romance, I write it too – online and anonymously. 

In 2019, I discovered a free online literature platform called Wattpad, which gives users around the world an opportunity to read and write original stories. 

Only reading at first, I was astonished by these non-professional writers. From 18-year-old college students in Brazil, to middle-aged housewives in Australia, their romantic tales were unputdownable. I was hooked and joined a community of 90-million people (that includes 5-million writers). South Africa represents 400 000 of these users.

Wattpad was founded in Toronto, Canada, in 2006 and initially only offered public-domain books – classics like Pride and Prejudice. In 2008, it was launched on Apple’s App Store and, coupled with the addition of original content written by amateur writers, the platform exploded.  

Wattpad has subsequently launched Wattpad WEBTOON Studios and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group. By using data that shows what stories are popular on the platform, they can source stories for print, film and television. An example of this is the young adult hit After, which accumulated more than 1.5-billion reads on Wattpad, before becoming a best-selling novel as well as a film. 

Although the platform is far from perfect, it does give a platform to anyone who wants to give it a go. Lauren Hopkinson, communications lead at Wattpad, explains “Wattpad is democratising who gets to tell their stories, increasing representation for a diverse range of authors whose stories might not otherwise be told.” She continues, “It’s also a safe space where anyone can write their own stories and has become a destination for those in the LGBTQIAP+ community looking for stories and characters they can relate to.” 

After a few months of reading, I began wondering whether I might try my hand at a story. Sure, I’m a journalist and write all day, but fiction is a different ball game. 

Reading romance on the platform had given me some new insight into what makes a great story. And so, I took to my MacBook and started posting a chapter a week anonymously. From the get-go anonymity was important as it created a safe space for my imagination to run wild. 

Slowly, I gained a reader here or there, and they started to vote on my chapters and leave comments – most of them positive. Over the last three years I have completed two novels and I’m working on a third. My writing has improved, proving practice really does make perfect, or at least in my case, better.

Reader interaction and comments have been incredibly important in my writing journey, although it does leave space for nasty comments and bullying. Critically, I can look at statistics and reader engagement on the platform. This lets you track whether readers are invested enough to read the whole book. Top stories on Wattpad can garner millions of reads, though my first novel currently has 40 000, which I’m pleased with. There’s a tremendous kick that comes with someone reading or voting for chapters I’ve written or adding them to a “Favourite Books” reading list. 

It’s also interesting to note that 45% of my readers are women in the 18 to 25 age bracket. Wattpad is known for being popular among young female or teenage users – a group often maligned and not taken seriously, but I love that I have a young reader base with interesting ideas and perspectives. 

And no, I don’t make any money from penning this fantasy world, but there are ways popular authors can monetise their writing on the platform. Personally though, I’m not looking to be the next Jackie Collins or Nora Roberts. At least, not yet. This is a passion project that gives me space and an opportunity to improve and try new styles of writing. 

The only thing standing in my way? My own imagination and finding the time to do it. But for now, I am happy to write for the love of one handsome, but totally misunderstood, rogue at a time.