I recently joined TikTok to explore BookTok and connect with other writers and readers. This was something I thought would be fun and inspiring. But wow… I didn’t expect it to be such a harsh space.
Yes, I’ve met a few kind and supportive people, but the amount of negativity, judgment, and straight-up rudeness I’ve seen is overwhelming. It’s honestly discouraging.
I’ve never written stories because I wanted to be published. I don’t even call myself an “author” in the traditional sense. I write because it brings me joy. Because it’s my escape. Because I love storytelling and creating characters and building worlds. That should be enough.
But on BookTok, I saw comments tearing people down just because they write on Wattpad or because they write fanfiction, saying those writers “aren’t real writers.” And it just… sucks.
What hurt me most was seeing people judge books solely by their covers. I saw someone say that because a book cover was AI-generated, the story must also be AI-generated. Like… what?! Not everyone can afford professional designers. Not everyone has the skills to make a perfect cover.
I, for example, used AI to help design my book cover but the story? That’s mine. Every word. Every plot twist. Every emotion came from me, from my imagination. It’s mine!!!!
Seeing all this made me feel so unmotivated to keep writing. I started to question if I even belong here.
But then I remembered I write because I love it. I write because it helps me cope, because it brings me peace, because I want to share my characters and my stories with the few people who might enjoy them.
So, to anyone else out there feeling discouraged, You are a writer. Whether you post on Wattpad, write fanfiction, scribble in notebooks, or publish traditionally your voice matters. Your stories matter. Don’t let the noise take away your spark.
We write because it means something to us. That’s what matters most.
