#WattpadBooksAreRealBooksToo Campaign

More Than Just a Hashtag! ♡

More Than Just a Hashtag | #WattpadBooksAreRealBooksToo ♡ – Virgocity

https://virgocity.wordpress.com/2016/07/28/more-than-just-a-hashtag-wattpadbooksarerealbookstoo-%e2%99%a1/

Make sure to check out the original article, and share it everywhere to spread the word.  This is why the campaign matters.  This is why we are doing it.

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#WattpadBooksAreRealBooksToo

For those of you who are newly subscribed to my blog, or just by chance, stumbling across it, I would like to take a moment to introduce you to a campaign that I started to recognize all art as real art.

Whether you made a masterpiece in your notebook that everyone is in awe over, or you have a piece hanging in a gallery, you are an artist and your work is considered "real" art.

Whether you just finished directing the next big superhero movie, or you just finished editing the short film that you got your friends to create with you, you are an artist and your work is considered "real" art.

Whether you have a series published in stories worldwide, or you just finished writing a short story in your journal that made your friend tear up, you are an artist and you work is considered "real" art.

I hate having to call it "real" art because there's no such thing to oppose the reality of it.  All art is art, and it's as simple as that.  You can debate it all you want, but art can take so many different forms that you cannot define it by just one standard.

For instance, a story written by an amateur writer and serialized on an "amateur" website is just as real as a story written by J. K. Rowling on the bestseller's list.  Both stories made the reader feel something — joy, grief, hope, amusement, despair, and some readers may even argue that they experienced torture.  (Hi, John Greene).  By those standards, they are both books — both things that people read — with the only difference being the platform in which they are delivered.

Wattpad offers a free account to anyone who wishes to sign up, and presents writers with the opportunity to publish their stories onto the site, which gives readers the option to read millions of books for free.  The site builds a relationship between author and reader by allowing the reader to vote (the Facebook equivalent to a "like") and comment their thoughts.  Take away that social media element, though, and you are left with the raw fact — readers are reading something that an author wrote, whether it be a novel, collection of short stories/poems, comic book, etc; how can you deny that that is a real book?

Two and a half years ago, I signed up onto Wattpad under the username OrangeCrushToucan.  I have been obsessed with the community ever since day one, but at first, I was hesitant to admit it.

I'll take you to the Monday after I signed up on the previous Friday night.  I had gotten to my physics class early, and I was the first one there.  The teacher asked me how my weekend was, and general conversation like that.  Coincidentally enough, she asked if I had read anything special over the weekend.

Of course I had — I was on Wattpad nonstop that weekend!

Now forgive me for I'm fuzzy on the exact conversation, but it went a little something like this:

"Yeah, I read The Cell Phone Swap, and it was really cute —" I stopped to think about what I was saying.  People always talk about how ebooks just aren't the same thing as real books, and I didn't want her to think so low of me, so I just causally shrugged it off.  "It was a fun read to just distract myself over the weekend, but it wasn't anything classic.  How about yourself?"

And as she went on about the book she read, I couldn't help but feel terrible inside.  I had just betrayed my newly found obsession, all because I was scared of something that probably didn't even exist.  It wasn't long after that moment before I began posting my own stories on Wattpad, gathering a bunch of positive feedback, which has only empowered and motivated me as a writer.

For a while, I did question what I was doing writing stories online when probably no one was ever going to read it.  I never gave up, though.  Sure, I had some rough patches when I didn't update for a few weeks because I didn't have time, but I never stopped thinking about writing and working on stories for my readers.

And I never wanted anyone else to feel that sense of loss.

When I saw that tweet stating that "Wattpad fanfics aren't real books", it really sunk in, and I decided to not let anyone ever think that again.

The effort we put into our stories.

The way they make people feel.

The life, the love, the energy, and the dedication.

I had absolutely no doubts that our amateur writings qualified as real books, and I wanted to make sure that everyone knew it, too.  Thus, the campaign was born.

So, even if you feel like no one is reading your works and you have no chance at becoming a "real" writer, don't give up.  Just think about what you're doing.  If you really love it, then you will not quit.  You will only go stronger, and make your stories the best that you can.

Stay true to you and your writing because that is something that no one can take away from you.  Your art is your art, and you have full control over it, so let your imagination run wild.

#WattpadBooksAreRealBooksToo

If you agree, then share the above hashtag on Twitter, and say something about it.  It doesn't even have to be about Wattpad/writing.  If you believe that art is art and an artist is an artist, then take this stand with us.

You can check out the original blog post that started the campaign off here!
Follow the official campaign account on Wattpad, @TheAuthenticArtist for more ways on how you can participate.

Like I've said before, it's not important that we get the hashtag trending, while it would be nice to force others to pay attention to us.  If you take a look at all of the tweets under the hashtag, you will see love, support, and positivity growing from the Wattpad community and that's what it is all about.  We are all in this together; to support each other and help each other because we are a community of artists and enthusiasts.