Chasing Wattpad

Is Wattpad dragging you down?

When I first started this series I didn't intend for it to be some rant. Sometimes I think it isn't, but then I step back and take look at it and realize that it probably really is just that. I wanted to talk about Wattpad and the Wattpad experience. There are plenty of rants about Wattpad on here already. But I wanted to say the things that I thought everyone was thinking and no one wanted to say out loud. I think I have done that to some extent.

But at what cost? Am I writing anything else now? When I got on here I had a bunch of stories already written so I pasted them on here. I followed a few people and got followed back. But my stuff was non-fiction and this site does not favor the non-fiction writer. I don't understand that. Seems like people run around chasing fiction when they are really searching for the truth anyway. To me there is nothing greater than a wonderful true story that people can learn from. But that is just me.

Don't get me wrong, I love fiction. There are some gorgeous fiction writers on here. There are wonderful poets whose words seem to come down from the heavens on clouds that just wrap you up in their words. There are writers on here who can weave a story so well that I can hardly pull away from the screen.

But I am partial to the non-fiction writer. They keep you grounded. They put the naked truth of their lives out there. They do that in such a way not only do you learn from it but you enjoy the writing. The truth flows better than the fiction I think.

Here is the strange thing about reading that I always hear readers say. The best fiction is great because it seems so real, and the best non-fiction sounds so good because it reads like fiction. I think the best writers in the world don't know the difference between the two. The best writers just know how to tell a story.

Writers, if they want to be read, can't just consider what they feel like writing. I had to write Chasing Wattpad to get any real number of people reading my stuff. It was only through Chasing Wattpad that my reads go up on my other stuff. I get that. But sometimes I think I have to keep writing this because this is the only thing you want to read. That is the curse of writing on Wattpad. It makes you feel that way. It doesn't help you get your stories out there. It only helps you get the stories that help them get activity. It pushes the stories that benefit them. If you want to be on Wattpad you have to live with that.

Most of you have that great story in your works somewhere that nobody has read. The one that you are real proud of but Wattpad just won't let you unleash it. I have a few. That's why when I read a person's work I go through the list and check out what beautiful pearls might be hiding in that list.

I'm going to slow down this series a bit. Maybe down to once or twice a month instead of almost every week. Going to work on a novel I have put on the back burner for far too long. I am going to write some more stuff I want to write. I feel better when I do that.

I hope you understand that Wattpad is not the center of the universe of your writing. Write the story you have in you. Do that for you. Someday your audience will catch up to you.