The Nightmare Daze

Update: Leaving Wattpad

Hey loves,

I've thought for a long time about this, and I don't take it lightly, but I've decided to leave Wattpad. As of today, my writing will no longer be available on this platform. The profile and novel image and blurb will remain, but all chapters will be taken down.

Why leave?
Wattpad's ever-changing content moderation policies, combined with their new hack-job AI moderation tools mean that, inevitably, these stories are going to be removed anyway, or I'll be banned. I'd rather keep this profile open as a way for you all to find my work elsewhere or read it in the future. The next few chapters I have to post on these stories are....dicey. And I am positive that they are going to be pulled anyway.

Additionally, I truly think it's only a matter of time before Wattpad or another site starts training AI based on fiction freely available on the internet. I'd rather not leave mine to be used in that way.

I'm also at a point in my life where I just approach writing really differently. I want time to rework these stories and make them into something better. When writing chapter by chapter for an audience, there are sometimes alternative routes a story could take that I have to pass by in order to make sure you all get a cohesive story. I want to let these stories be the best they can be.

Where will these stories be finished?
I plan to finish these stories separately, edit them, and self-publish them as whole novels, likely through Amazon. They will be bigger, better, and hopefully well-edited.

I can't make any promises about when this will happen, though. I expect that once I'm able to approach them a little differently some of my zeal for writing will come back. I have a couple other stories that I'd like to publish alongside these stories that I think would be fun to work on right now.

Overall, this is going to be a positive move, both for me and for anyone who happens to want to read my writing.

You guys are the absolute fucking best
It makes me cry thinking about leaving this platform behind. I've been on Wattpad since 2013, and these stories have all been years in the works. When I said I wouldn't abandon them, I meant it. But I think by keeping all my writing on Wattpad I'm guaranteeing that I'll get banned or ultimately lose my writing here and my connection to you all. But being a part of this community and getting to read your work and share mine has honestly been one of the best experiences of my life. Sounds super dramatic, but it's true. Writing for you guys has given me so much confidence and meaning.

Where to get updates?
I'll post periodic updates to Wattpad as things come up, but I plan to be more active on my instagram @lara.chasey as well. I want to make this fun again! I've put a lot of pressure on myself in regards to writing and it's really made it so much harder to pick it up again.

Thank you guys for being your lovely selves! I know Wattpad has the DMs disabled, but drop me a line whenever you want, or message me on insta. I'm being really dramatic leaving off and I know my writing is a drop in the bucket on here lol...but yeah. Feels weird after all these years.