Just a week ago, I discovered one of the first animal fantasy series (over five chapters, that is) on Wattpad for a long, long time. I have since been reading a lot of it and I decided to doodle the main character, Zach:

The Dragonfly series, by AwsomeDragons (deliberate spelling! Deliberate spelling, I swear!) is one of those rare oddities on Wattpad that are continually updating, have charm and personality... and yet, it seems to have remained relatively obscure.

(I recommend it. Absolutely. It's a lot like the Double Rainbow/Dreamland series if you've read that and the writing improves rapidly throughout the series from what I can tell. 
Now, I'm about to go into more of an opinion-y territory, so if you don't like opinions or you don't want to hear a call out that may apply to you, just don't read it. This is something quite personal to me.) 

Right. Everyone who's going to freak out gone?
Good.

I think that this is part of a problem that's plagued Wattpad as of late, and it absolutely burns me up inside just to know it exists: a lot of the heart of the site seems to be more or less vacant. People make books based on whatever they think will get them the most reads. There are so many books that start and end after two chapters because of a seething lack of motivation. Rarely, if EVER, do you see fanfiction series of decent quality that have continued for any length of time and original fiction (especially on this side of the site)? Nah. If it is there, it's either been stopped a long time ago or has almost no views.

Meanwhile, a lot of people are stressed or just generally pessimistic about their own works, to the point of not writing anything or quitting the site.

This book reminds me a lot of why I write. It reminds me why I started, why I wanted to come on here, and why I keep writing.

Because we writers are strange people and we have worlds within our heads, worlds that are so vast that they spill out onto paper and computer page, worlds that burn with so much color that they are imprinted into our retinas as we sleep. 

Because we think about our plots all day and daydream about characters we knew once and ones we made with our own hands.

Because we want to feel.

Because we love our worlds and our creations with such a passion that to not share them, to stay silent, would be the greatest crime in all the world.

I think somewhere along the way, people who came to Wattpad to do something like that lost their way.

"I'm not good enough."
"I'm not a writer."

"I don't write."

You hear that a lot, don't you?
Fun fact: no one is. No one in the world is born knowing how to do anything.

We practice. We learn. We make mistakes. We grow as people. You will achieve none of this if you never try because not trying at all is the only way to fail absolutely.

As we say in crew, hard work doesn't guarantee you instant success, but quitting guarantees you instant failure. 

So, let me ask again: Why did you come to Wattpad?
Was it for the followers?
First of all, if you aren't passionate about what you're doing, you will not find the success of someone who does. At best you'll get a lot of empty follows and people writing 'wow interesting' or 'great book' on the one millionth formulaic headcanon book of some fandom that just got popular and you managed to ride its coat tails.
Congrats.

Followers are extremely fickle and as someone with a lot of them, let me just tell you that almost none of them read a single thing I have. It's insanely frustrating but a follow is not a guarantee of a reader nor is a reader a guarantee of a follower. 

Instead, come here for people who are passionate about your work as you are, kindred souls who are working as hard as you are to create something magical.

Come here to create your own worlds and share them with anyone who will listen.

(If no one else, I will. I do constructive criticism. Just ask.) 

Come here to revisit an old world rewritten by a passionate new author.

Come here to recreate your favorite franchises in whatever way you wish. 

The entire world- no, entire universes... they're at your fingertips.

If you haven't found your spark yet, that's fine. Sit down and click on a book (any book! I can do recommendations too, I've seen some good stuff) and read it.

Revel in the world this author has made.

Done? Enjoyed yourself?
Now sit down and write a comment. A nice, long appreciative comment stating constructively what you did and didn't like, what inspired you, what needs to be fixed.

Authors crave that. We love to know our works have been appreciated.

More importantly, authors deserve that.

People pour so much of themselves into this for no money or other gain whatsoever. They do it because they love their stories and they love writing.

The least you can do is give them a little bit of encouragement.

Pass the passion forwards.

 Pass on the spark. 

Feel.