Submitted by Dalleena

I was watching the black line blink. My shoulders hunched, I bit my lip and leaned forward until my nose nearly hit the screen. I was really going to do this. I really was. I was going to put a story out there. Into the world. For everyone to read. My story. My heart blood, my dreams, a part of me.

What if it got squished? Or even worse, what if no one wanted to read it? Gosh, what if they did? What if people even liked the stuff I was scribbling?

The black line blinked and I smiled, there was only one way to find out. My hands settled on the keyboard. And then they started flying...

Yes, I remember that moment like it was yesterday. The first time I posted something on wattpad. I had only been writing for a couple of years in English (a couple being two and German being my first language) and had shown my work to friends and family. They loved it, but they are family, so they weren't exactly harsh critics. I wanted to know what a complete stranger had to say to my work. I was just wondering. Was it any good? Was it something I wanted to continue?

So, I started my first story on this magical site. Most of my stories are marked mature. They're not raunchy, but they do have smexy scenes which warrant the R. Obviously, I had no idea how wattpad worked and was devastated that no one read my story. I had no idea mature works were, sort of, hidden. Of course, I was also too shy to talk to people. I read other works and voted, but I was a silent vote/reader for a while.

I was confused and sad that apparently, no one liked what I wrote, but I kept on posting chapters nonetheless. Eventually I stumbled across a few threads which I carefully followed until I had the nerve to say 'hi'. Surprised and heartened by the welcoming community I got more comfortable. I met people I could talk to about writing, their stories, my story and everything else. Genuinely nice people. I have met very few trolls, a lot less than I had anticipated.

I made friends, met mentors, carefree spirits, artists and kindred minds. I learned to split my writing into paragraphs, (Thanks JenniMRose) to use punctuation to my advantage and to end chapters with a cliffhanger. I learned to be strong and show no weakness. (Thanks kraftygal)

I grew, both as a person and as a writer, met people from halfway around the world who share their passion for stories with me. Because, let's face it, one should never underestimate the power of a great story. They bring parts of us to life we don't even know are hidden away within ourselves.

The reads for my first book (The Soul Reaver 1 Night of Souls) grew slowly, but steadily. I have over 80k reads on it now and just won the Wattpaders choice Awards (Paranormal) hosted by lindayassine-!!!

I don't have a huge following, but those readers I do have are sweet, honest and more like friends than anything else. Which brings me to the final part of why I love wattpad: The readers, the community. I would never have finished two books in one year if it hadn't been for my readers and this incredibly supportive community. I constantly feel pushed to write better, to learn and to just, simply write. I would not be thinking about really publishing any of my work if it wasn't for my wattpad experience. I would never have had the courage to follow my dream.

So, I'm happy I did. Writing makes me happy. Writing on wattpad makes me keep it up.

If you're new around here; don't be shy. Talk to people, we are all crazy and none of us bite (much).;) Just have fun, enjoy the stories you read, enjoy the stories you write (if you write) and keep an open mind.

Love, Dalleena (V.L.)