Writing

~ Liz Charnes
Here’s a serious post.

I started writing because I was sad.

Why? Reasons.

I had moved to a new city. My boss didn’t like me. My student loans were strangling me. I was tired all the time. Life was bleh. So I started writing. It helped. It got me thinking about something other than myself.  I began making friends.  I found a new job. I still have the student loans, but here’s hoping for public service loan forgiveness.

Fingers crossed

Soon I had a rough draft of a book. I didn’t know what to do with it. I knew it sucked – all first drafts suck – but at the same time, the few people I forced to read it said it had merit. That gave me the courage to query…. and I got shot down. Totally shot down.

I knew what had to be done. I needed to re-write it. I tried looking for a writer’s group, but they were intimidating. I wasn’t certain about going online. And so the story sat, like many do, until I forgot about it altogether.

Why? Life.

Then one day when I was cleaning I found it. Re-read it. Found some merit in it. And started asking around. Eventually I stumbled on Wattpad. I know, it’s got a reputation for teenage vampire and fan fiction love stories, which is well deserved, but it also encourages commentary and feedback. I went back and forth on it. Did I want to post my work for free? What if someone steals it?

hiding

Whatever. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I held my breath and jumped.

Wattpad has its pros and cons. The cons? It’s a social media website, not a bookstore, and it’s run like a social media website. Most people don’t have editors, so you get what you get, bad spelling, grammar and all. It’s also ridiculously competitive. People will cut you for a Watty.

That being said, there are a lot of pros. I have met some wonderful people at Wattpad. I’ve gotten good advice. I’ve also read some awesome books. (Yes, Wattpad books are real books. For every 14-year-old girl’s Harry Styles fanfic, you’ll find a thoughtfully plotted and well-written book.)

Time for a shout out.

My girl Kristin Jacques writes some quality quirky Sci Fi. On Wattpad she’s known as @krazydiamond.  She’s won a ton of Wattys, too. My favorite book is Ragnorok Unwound.

There’s also Sally Mason, known as @SallyMason1, who is a force to be reckoned with. She took me under her wing, showed me the ropes, and helped me get started. I’m grateful to her. Her Trapped series has over three million reads.

Check out @Tamoja. She’s a consistently kind voice in a cut throat community, and a skilled writer to boot. She was one of Target’s Once Upon Now winners with her short story The Friendzone Promposal, now published by Gallery Books.

Juliet Lyons writes awesome vampire stories. Her book Dating the Undead is available in a Wattpad version and a traditionally published version.

Nota Bene: Wattpad does make you sign up to their platform before you can read any content. They now offer a premium version without the ads for a subscription fee, and a new app called Tapp which uses a story messaging format.

 

 

17 thoughts on “Writing”

  1. This was such a well written post – I love your writing style so much! I just had the scare over the weekend of losing my book after spilling water on my computer but I just recovered it over the weekend. Writing is such an emotional thing and your post totally conveyed that!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, I appreciate that. I’ve been slow to join the blogosphere because, hey, who wants to hear from me, but at the end of the day I feel like I’m ready to leave WP (Wattpad) and try something new. Sometimes you got to close your eyes and jump.

      I cringed when I read about your water spill. I’m so happy you didn’t lose anything. When I first started on Wattpad, they had glitch after glitch, and I lost more content to the ether than I care to admit. Now I back everything up in at least three separate places. There’s nothing worse than spending all that time choosing the perfect way to say something, and then have it disappear.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. My pleasure and hey, I want to read about you!!! Definitely a good decision to join the blogging community because I have found that it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made!

        But yes my laptop was a complete nightmare but at least everything’s moderately alright now! But for the few days I was without it, I couldn’t bear to not write and I learned the value of actually writing with a pen, something I don’t do much anymore

        Liked by 1 person

    1. 🙂 It would be! Right now I’m working on two full length novels as well as some short stories. Every now and then a new story will come and squat in my head, and I’m all, okay, tell it to me.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. This was such a lovely thing to wake up to on a Saturday morning 😀 Thank you for such a glorious shout out! ❤

    In regards to writing, that is exactly what made me attempt wattpad. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. It seems like most opportunities are what you throw yourself at.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. But of course… I mean, learned it from you! I learned it all from you!

      Once I get fully settled in, I want to do a Wattpad Wednesday or something that highlights an author and their works a week. But I’ve got to finish unpacking first. *breaks down a box*

      Like

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