Nothing in Particular

4 Years on Wattpad - What I Think

So I've been on Wattpad for 4 years (and 11 days). There have been ups and downs, like when I got a lot of reads, votes and comments, and they made me happy. And when there was no traffic mainly because I stopped updating due to exams. Or when everyone discovered mirror sites and websites that blatantly stole stories from Wattpad (refer to my two "Mirror Sites" chapters). Yeah.

This is going to be a list of what I'm going to do with my Wattpad account from this point on AND what I think about Wattpad.

UPDATES:

Well, I'm gonna be frank: I don't think I'm going to be uploading new stories onto Wattpad. I have many stories in the works right now (I have plans to write them), and they won't ever be on Wattpad. Why? I just don't see any future in Wattpad. Honestly. And honestly, it's not like you care anyway. I'm just saying.

The only books I'll post here are those that I've written for writing contests. So far, all my books on Wattpad are written for contests such as the Open Novella Contest (ONC) that I have been loyally taking part in since 2019. Kiss and Tell is from ONC 2019. Begin Again, Sparks Fly and Mismatched are from ONC 2020. Tears Fall Like Rain, Twist in the Wind and The World is Ours are from ONC 2022. Coral Bay is the novel version of the short story I wrote for the #PlanetOrPlastic Short Story Writing Contest that was posted in late 2018.

I intend to finish Draft 1 (for unfinished or rewritten works) or Draft 2 (for works under editing) of the stories I currently have on Wattpad and post them here. I guess it kind of gives readers an idea of what my writing is like if I ever publish my books legitimately. And since they are drafts, I don't really care if they get stolen by random websites like novelHD dot com (or whatever this link redirects to) cuz they suck. They already stole Draft 1 of Begin Again, which had a few already-edited chapters, by the way. I wish I could just leave my stories as they currently are because I'm so sick of Wattpad, but I'm too embarrassed about my old writing. I don't want any Wattpad users who chanced upon my account to see my shitty grammar from when I was 14 years old. I don't know how others do it, but I can't. I need them off Wattpad.

Anyway, yes, I'm not going to have any of my new stories on Wattpad unless I create new stories for the Open Novella Contest, for example. Because I actually participate in the ONC PROPERLY and create characters and storylines on the spot instead of grabbing one of my old plots or half-written stories and weaving a prompt to qualify.

I love my characters way too much, and I think they deserve more than Wattpad. So none of anything written on Wattpad will be "final versions" if you get what I mean. That is, if I ever publish those books, they won't be like what I posted on Wattpad. Even though my books largely have no grammatical errors after editing, yeah, that's not my best. I know that.

MORE REASONS, mainly Wattpad

If I'm going to be super honest, I'm losing faith in Wattpad. Over the years, Wattpad just seems to have become a greedy money-grubbing beast. I heard WattCon used to be free in 2016, but now you have to pay for it. And Wattpad now has Paid Stories, which absolutely sucks. I mean, good for authors to be able to earn money, but there's always proper publishing, be it traditional or independent.

I would rather spend money on books in the form of paperback, hardcover, EPUB or Kindle than those on a WEBSITE. A website that might not even last forever. When Wattpad shuts down, everything is gone. And your money? Also gone.

Anyway, it's not as if Wattpad has a very good reputation outside of Wattpad. Among the writing world and even outside of it, people think this website is full of mediocre stories. If you say you're a writer on Wattpad, people instantly link all sorts of Wattpad stereotypes to you, such as that you write fan fiction, which I don't. And I think fanfic of real people is creepy, so I would hate to have that kind of stereotype stuck to me and my books.