END OF TIME ─── writing help

09.05.2022 | growth

A little talk from a slightly big account I guess (it feels weird to say that) to anyone and everyone no matter the account size.

Growth comes in many different forms. From being more social to changing your attitude to getting more followers to changing your writing style to practicing graphics.

Wattpad gives you a lot of places to grow, but just let me tell you, it takes time.

I recently just celebrated my third Wattpad anniversary. I've been on here for three whole years, and I've struggled and I've learned.

1. writing and graphic growth!!

001. practice writing and making graphics. it may not even feel like practice, it may be making yourself or someone else a graphic or writing the next chapter for your book. but every time you put those skills to use they grow.

002. experiment!! try new writing styles!! play around with graphics and the tools in editing apps!! just let yourself have fun with it and see what comes out of it.

003. it will take time!! I've been making graphics for two years and writing for far far longer than that. I'm still working on graphics, but I'm finally at a place where I love my writing. it all comes with time and you have to be willing to put in the effort and wait for the results to really show themselves.

2. account growth

001. let me tell y'all something, I've had this account for three years. that literally means that I've seen it all, okay. my account was nothing at the beginning. not even twenty followers with about three horrible books that have been under major reconstruction or complete deletion.
within one year I barely had one hundred followers, a few friends (most of which are gone now), and a few books that were slightly better.
year two I had just barely reached over two hundred followers, my books were getting better, I had my first graphic shop, and a few more friends.
then I decided to change everything.
refreshed my books, started posted more positive things, started interacting with people more, started making more graphics.
graphic contests are an amazing way to make friends and so is reading other peoples fics and just genuinely expressing your love for them!!
somehow I nearly had six hundred followers by my third year anniversary — but I haven't earned anything that you all didn't give me.

002. account growth isn't about the numbers. it might feel like it, but let me tell you something. when I reached 300-400 followers I thought I had made it big. but it felt like nothing. very few of those people were my friends and even less interacted with me and my books.
account growth is more like making friends. you're really going to feel "bigger" when you have those people that you can talk to. when you have those people that you want to support because you know that they're going to support you back in some way. don't focus on the numbers because they're just numbers. focus on the people that make up those numbers and you're not going to care about them at all.

3. words of advice

001. it may feel like I've been giving advice this whole time, it is an advice book. but buckle up because these are the harder things that come with growing your account.

002. some people are only going to want to be there for as long as they can use you.
I've had almost a dozen people now follow me and/or interact with me just to get something out of me. I was just someone they could manipulate into getting something from and then that was it for them.
I recently had my 17th birthday, and now a lot more of you know that I'm seriously young to have the kind of trust issues that I have. some people aren't going to want to be your friend, they're going to want something from you.

003. forget growing and the numbers. I honestly stopped caring about them a little while ago and it really just makes wattpad more fun. making graphics and writing is supposed to be fun.
and make it fun for people who follow you too!! interact with them when they interact with you!! tell them how much their words mean or offer them help and advice on how to do something. offer polls for what gets updated or rant about what's to come.
let this app be more fun than anything else. you're going to get so much more out of having fun and growing relationships than you're going to get out of growing your numbers!!

feel free to ask me any questions about anything!! including other topics you want me to discuss!!

and if you have any wise words or feelings from this chapter don't be afraid to share them!! whether here or privately I would love to discuss this stuff with you!!