Writer Tips

Write the Wattys Story You Want to Tell

What is the story you want to tell? What does this story mean to you? What are you trying to say? What is central to your vision?

It can be tempting to discount our voices and our writing, especially if that writing doesn't take a form that most of the world considers to be "serious" or "literary." But every writer is writing about something. Every story is about something beyond the plot and characters. Maybe you're writing about feeling unlovable, but finding love anyway: or about being faced with challenges that feel so much bigger than you, and finding a way through them. Only you can say what you're writing about and why.

Being clear about the story you want to tell offers you a way through challenging creative questions. If you're not sure what happens next in your story, returning to your why can help you figure out where you're going next.

Writing is a process of making a thousand tiny decisions. What shapes the decisions you make in your work? What are you trying to say with those decisions? You are a writer, and the things you write matter. There is something only you can bring to your writing, and cultivating that internal sense of perspective and priority is an essential component of the writing life.

- Wattpad HQ