Welp, this is awkward.
I know I said I wouldn’t stop writing for free when I first published my books, only to 180 and completely reject any possibility of ever coming back.
In a way, I really don’t want to stop writing on Wattpad. Not even a year ago, I had so many plans for new stories I could write on the platform up until WSSME got deleted (and reinstated). It really made me fear that 10 years’ worth of my writing was in the hands of a single platform, and if I ever lost that account, that would be the end of all I had achieved as an author.
I tried platforms like Inkitt, and at the same time, decided to finally debut as a real author. I looked into professional editing (that cost me a liver) and set my books out into the world… and honestly, it’s been really hard to look back.
Why?
I've already made a quite lengthy blog post about all of Wattpad's failings, truly toxic readers, etc. But there were certainly topics I didn't cover on that rant that I wish I had, yet I didn't feel like touching on that controversy with a six-foot pole, not when some people feel so strongly about this topic.
But my mom didn't raise a bitch, so here I go.
- The basics. I can finally write on my own time. There’s no reader pressure to pump out chapters, especially now that AI usage is rampant on the platform. I can’t compete with authors who put out daily updates. I can take up to a year to finish a full-lenght 70k-word story, in fact, WSSME took me five whole years to write (full of grammatical errors, but at least I can say each and every letter came out of a real keystroke). I understand how it’s frustrating for readers to have to wait for chapters of a story they’re enjoying, so this isn’t me calling readers out as toxic for liking a story so much that they can’t wait to get to the next chapter. I’m truly so grateful for all the amazing support and love I’ve received from my readers. But this is me calling readers out for setting unrealistic standards that are machine-assisted, and holding human writers to them.
- I hate the blatant plagiarism and AI slop machine that Wattpad has become. This one is pretty explanatory, and I don’t think I need to get into detail. It shouldn’t be controversial to say that AI writing is a disgrace to the art and soul of storytelling, and a disgrace to the world and environment itself. Writing has never been about beautiful prose or perfect grammar, it’s about the emotion behind each sentence, a mirror to the soul, and Wattpad has become a soulless pit of the same couple of sentences written again and again.
No, I'm not calling out any authors out there, nor am I making a claim that every single author that manages to post every day or a couple times a week are inherently using AI to write. Fast paced authors have existed since forever, but when those author go from rare to prolific, I think we can all agree something odd is going on.
Regardless, at the end of the day, they're posting for free on a free platform. But that doesn't change the fact that it's truly depressing to watch creativity get eaten away with "practiced ease", whatever that means.
So… am I coming back or not?
Yes. I’m still set on producing free content for the audience that took me in and allowed me to get me to where I am. I’m not setting any dates, but this is a real promise that I’m not abandoning you, as long as you’re patient with me.
Aight, see you on my next rant.