"You are the first and most important fan of your work. You might be the only fan. So write what you want to read." — V.E. Schwab (aka one of my favorite authors, who I highly suggest following on social media since she shares a lot of great advice and openly talks about her writing struggles despite being a widely published author. She's also been so kind and helpful to me when I've met her before and quite a bit of advice I share I got from her.)

Another hard (and sometimes bitter) lesson to learn is that you write for you. Because not every story is going to be loved by all. I mean, is any story universally loved? Answer: nope, not a single one out there.

Now, this doesn't mean you shouldn't share your stories. In fact, I encourage you to share them, even if it means standing on a stool and shouting it in the streets for a public author's reading. I mean, don't do it if you'll get into trouble, but you get what I mean. Share it because you want to find that one person who can connect with it and find something they needed; not because you want to be the next star (which isn't a bad goal, it's one of my dreams, in fact, but it shouldn't be your sole reason for writing and sharing).

Writing isn't an easy craft, and if you're in it for nothing besides popularity and fame, I can almost guarantee you'll end up with only heartbreak. Instead, you should sit down in front of your notebook or computer and write the story you want—or need—to tell. Write from the heart.

So, story time, when I was first starting to get into sharing my stories, I fell hard into the people pleasing mindset. Every time I would share a chapter, I asked what people wanted to see next or thought would happen. To be honest, it sucked the life out of the story and all enjoyment from my writing it. I ended up leaving Wattpad for a long time after that and stopped writing altogether for nearly a year.

When I finally got back into writing again, I started with stories that I never told anyone about (and that will likely never be read by anyone but me cause they were pretty awful), and it was a while before I met the friend who encouraged me to write and share the story idea I had told her about. Of course, there was still a lot of growing to be done as a writer and lessons to be learned, but I think the most important one was write for yourself.

So, my dear friends, the whole moral of this story is your best stories only come when you write them for you. I'm not saying they'll be perfect, but if you're proud of them, they'll be worth it. It's a sentiment that may change over time; but seriously, if you can look at your story and be happy to call it yours, be willing to stand up and say, "hey, I did that. I turned an idea in my head into this amazing thing!" You'll be one step closer to the writer I know you have always been meant to be.

Now, go! Write that crazy thing that might make no sense to anyone but you, or the thing for that fandom nobody knows about, or a poem with your most private thoughts and feelings in every word, or whatever it may be.

Just go out there and make it real.

Stay awesome, loves.

(And, if you're up to sharing it and bragging on yourself a bit, send me your work so I can read it!)