I posted this in response to a thread on Wattpad where another writer was thinking about quitting writing because they weren’t getting a lot of readers on the site. I thought that this advice could apply to many other writers (especially those just starting out), so I wanted to share it here as well.

If writing isn’t fun right now, it might be worthwhile to take a break. Sometimes our creative faculties need some time to recharge. Step back, find something else that you enjoy, and don’t even let yourself think about writing for at least a week. Hopefully you’ll come back feeling re-inspired and invigorated to start again.

But if you enjoy writing, and you’re just worried about not getting readers, then don’t quit. You should do it because you love it, not because it gets you popular on Wattpad or anywhere else. If you’re obsessing about your reader count too much and that’s taking away from your enjoyment, then maybe you need a break from Wattpad, at least from posting stories. Write something just for you, don’t share it with anyone, and try to find the reason why you started writing in the first place.

Because in the end, writing for numbers (or money) is never gonna make you happy. Odds are there will always be someone else who is more popular/successful than you, and it’s not going to be satisfying. But if you write what you love and just keep going, then sooner or later the people who love the same things will find you, and those will be your true fans. And a few true fans are worth more than all the big numbers in the world.

I am so grateful for all of my true fans who support me in my writing. Love ya, Witchlings!