Chasing Wattpad

The Wattpad Blues

Everyone on here has them. Some more than others I am sure. But I wonder if we all have them the same way and for the same reasons? Probably not. Since we are all on Wattpad for different reasons there are probably different reasons why we all get tired of being here.

My frustration started out because of technical difficulties. It's frustrating to write on here. I have not written anything here in the last 5 months in which the process was not plagued by problems. The writing experience was filled with delays because of constant issues that Wattpad continues to have. Friends tell me to just write somewhere else and then paste to Wattpad but what is the fun in that? They have gone through all the trouble of making a friendly writing platform here designed specifically for Wattpad writing and we can't use it without having an anxiety attack? That's just wrong. Wattpad needs to get this fixed.

But I am used to this already. Yes its frustrating, but it is expected. So this isn't  really a reason to have the "blues" anymore. I don't expect Wattpad to ever really fix this and if I want to stay and write on here I need to accept that. So should you. Wattpad will continue to have issues until the day comes that they get serious about this program.

My frustration about Wattpad comes now from my intermittent belief that there is nothing real about what we do here. Every once in a while I will scroll through the newsfeed or browse through titles looking for something to read when I suddenly get the realization that none of this is real. I tell myself "these aren't real books" or "these people aren't real writers". I know what real books are. I've read them. I think to myself "This is just a joke, and the joke is on us".

Now this doesn't happen every time I look at Wattpad, but it does happen enough to get me wanting to find the exit door sometimes. All these ads and videos and other interruptions are not my idea of a reading or writing environment. All this begging for reads and votes is not what I had in mind when I decided to put my words here.

This system Wattpad has is designed to make people separate themselves into exclusive clubs and millions are left out in the cold. The rich get richer and the poor get nowhere. And, and this is a big "and", your success on Wattpad has nothing to do with how good you are of a writer. Not one damn thing. Think about that. A writing site where the writing doesn't matter.

Every contest on here that you can enter here on Wattpad will eventually come down to how many followers you already have. A brilliant piece of writing by the guy with 100 followers will never compete against the lousy piece of Junior High School writing from the little girl with a million followers. That is just the way it is. The ability to produce a good piece of writing will never mean anything here.  That definitely gives me the Wattpad blues.

Don't get me wrong. If I had 10 million followers I am sure I would still stare at my phone at Wattpad and every once in a while come to the conclusion that this is all bullshit. Not the people, or even the writing, but Wattpad itself. It wasn't done with the writer in mind. It was designed with the idea of taking advantage of the writer and their work. Sure, you can love Wattpad, but it can't love you back. You think it can but it can't. Wattpad needs you to survive. You don't need it. But it does everything just right to keep you hanging on without offering any real incentive to do so except for  the electronic feedback (much of it not real) it throws at your feet everyday.

But so far for me the blues are not an everyday thing. I am sure I will jump ship long before that day comes. My writing, for whatever it was ever worth, doesn't belong to anyone but me. I can't let a computer program make me feel any different and neither should you.

Is there a cure for the blues? Yeah, probably. Wattpad has this profile called "Wattpad Milestones". I follow it and therefore get notifications when people post to it. I get a real kick out reading writers stories about how they feel about Wattpad. Stories like how thrilling it was to get that first follower or that first comment. Or how they felt when a story of theirs reached 100 reads the first time. I remember that feeling. How cool that was. It seemed real back then.

Now it just seems like a game though. A game I can't win because it isn't real. I feel like someday I am going to find out that it was never real. It was all a sick joke designed to prey on our desire to want to be writers. That is sad.

Hell, I don't know. The more I think about it the less I care about it.

I just wanted to write.

P.S. - If you work at Wattpad listen to the song. lol