I've already mentioned some of these ideas in etiquette chapters from long past, but I felt a need to return to and describe my opinions in depth on the subject, especially after I received a few comments that got me thinking about stuff. And by stuff, I mean how people should comment and like work on wattpad.

Now, some time ago, I mentioned that the "best" way to write a critique is to read the whole thing and provide a "whole book" critique. Chapter by chapter critiques, the kind most common on wattpad, tend to be riddled with problems. You never get a real sense of what's going on. You can sound real critical. You miss the big picture... and even when you give the big picture, the author might not really see what's important, because you mentioned so many quibbling points over 30 some chapters of book comments.

However, as time goes on, I find myself being the type of person to comment on every chapter. I don't always "critique" every chapter, but I feel the need to at least provide them with a comment. And often, I'll say so many things over the chapters, that by the time I get to the final chapter, I don't give as good of a "full book critique" as I might have, because I feel like it would be needlessly repetitive. I know, I know, always the hypocritic.

But there is a reason for this. Wattpad thrives on comments and likes. If you wait to the last chapter to comment, then you don't really help motivate the author to write. Wattpad isn't a hardcore analysis site. Most of the people on Wattpad are just trying to work up the drive and confidence to complete a story in general. When people choose to not comment, they chock the writer's motivation and drive to continue.

From my experience on Wattpad, I can tell you that silent readers are the worst. Every time you read a chapter, and don't star or comment, the writer is wondering if they did something wrong. Is there a reason you didn't like it? You, in your willingness to take free content and not even offer a star, just made a hit at the writer's self-confidence. Many of us have a hard enough skin, and know that some readers are just silent and that's their nature, but I'd be hard pressed to find a single writer on here whose thought on silent readers wasn't at least "slightly annoyed".

If you really hated a story, and you literally can't do anything but give scathing remarks on it... yeah, I can understand choosing to be quiet. But I can't imagine the often 20: 1 reader:star ratio on chapter 30 of a book suggests that you don't like the story and are just reading it because... you hate yourself?

Now, I mentioned in my etiquette chapter and I'll reiterate here, writers shouldn't "expect" stars and comments. We need to understand readers have no obligation to do anything for us. We put our work out there for people to read, and whether they like it or hate it, that's not really ours to say anything on. However, as a reader, you should understand how important this system is to us. If nothing else, it's a motivator.

It's often forgotten that the writer's here don't get paid to do our work. We do it because we want to. Many aren't even planning to publish. And no, it doesn't take 50 people to motivate someone to write... but 2-3 people who make sure to engage you and ask you questions about your story and continue to cheer you on can do wonders. So if you are invested in a story and seeing it completed, and even if you don't care about cheering the writers on or encouraging them, you should at least still do it for your own sake if you want another chapter this century.

So, I talk a good game, but if you're darned if you do and darned if you don't, what does that mean you should do? Recently, someone made a comment to me. I commented every chapter on a book. I was fairly critical of the book, mostly because I felt like the book lifted scenes strait from twilight and made a few insensitive comments on psychiatric disorders and rape and those are a pet peeve of mine. Despite my annoyance with the book, it remained interesting enough that I was able to finish it, and I liked every chapter of the book.

The commenter was annoyed that I "liked" every chapter. She seemed to think that you can't "like" a chapter and be critical of it at the same time. I'm of a mind to hit the like button on everything I read. I'll even hit the button before I read the chapter, because more often than not, I forget by the time I get to the end.

Is it right of me to do so? I think so. My opinion is this. If you put the work into writing something and distributing it for free, you deserve a star for completing it. I like the writers putting out their chapters and trying. And if I like their books, I read them. I don't read books I don't like, so why wouldn't I offer stars on every chapter?

If I stop reading your book, stop liking it, and stop commenting, then you can wonder what turned me off your book enough that I stopped reading it. However, if I like your book, I like the chapters that make up your book, or otherwise I wouldn't be reading it.

Here's another way of looking at it. I like my kids (arguably). They have all kinds of personality quirks and habits that annoy me. I'm critical of those personality quirks. I want them to change them, because I think my son would be better off if he had more patience, and didn't run around screaming when it's supposed to be quiet time. These traits annoy me, but that doesn't mean I like him any less. It doesn't mean I hate the individual aspects of his personality either, because they help make my son who he is, and while I wish some things are different. If I like part of him, I like all of him.

Apply that to books, and you basically have the same thing. That's why I can be critical of a book, but still like every chapter. Even if I didn't like the book, I like the fact that the author spent time writing it. I like that they worked, strived, and put effort into it. The only times I don't like a chapter is when the profile and the quality of the story suggest to me they really didn't put effort into it. It's rare, but every once in a while I'll tell someone who asked for a critique that I just can't do their story. I feel like they're just fishing for free stars and I genuinely don't want to deal with them. I have a critiquing system to filter these people out, by trying to engage them in PM tag for a few messages, asking them questions. People who spam everyone for comments usually don't bother to respond back more than once... or put the barest one word responses.

Now with regard to comments, comments don't have to be critical. Don't get me wrong, simple comments like "Good Job, Rite More!" are not good comments. However, comments that mention something in the story you liked tend to be good starts. I'm a person who writes what I'm thinking when I finish a chapter. If a single line made me reread it three times, I mention it. If it annoys me, I mention it.

My method isn't necessarily "the" right method. I can go off on tangents or get pretty critical when I get going. Some of the people I can comment on get annoyed or angry by my comments. Not everyone is good at taking criticism. Like the commenter above, they just can't understand how you can like something, but be critical of it at the same time. While, some people are deeply appreciative of my comments, others are downright resentful. To them, things have to be "OMG, the BEST CHAPTER EVER!" or "OMG, WHAT A PIECE OF CRAP!" There seems to be no middle ground where you can like aspects of a chapter and dislike others.

Of course, some writers can't even tell when you're being positive if it isn't over enthusiastically so. Even on a comment that has equal positives and negatives, a person's self-confidence plays a major part on which they fall on. A lot like critique horoscoping, if you have low self-confidence, then the negative comments are going to hit you and you're going to ignore the positive. If you're full of yourself and think you're great (like me), well, those positive comments are going to resinate and you're never going to learn anything, ignoring the negative until someone arrives that doesn't bother to say anything good you can cling on to.

But this is all getting a lot more in-depth than I really wanted to get here. The main point I'm trying to make is that if you're going to read someone else's work... if you're going to take pleasure in something distributed to you for free, you have a responsibility to at least give them your thoughts. If you don't have time for that, at least hit the star button; you owe it to them. If you want to see more of their work, then you owe it to yourself as well.

Once you make a comment, then the writer at least knows what's going on in the chapter. They can take it good, or take it bad... but either way it's better than giving them nothing, which is what 1 in 20 readers seem to do. You give them nothing, and they get nothing, and you might find you'll receive nothing in return (like slower chapter releases). It's a vicious cycle. Long story short, appreciate your writers, folks.