I love Pokémon community-centered tags so much because I find them a lot of fun, but things aren't going to be as positive as I'd like them to be today. This time around, the tag created by d_s_t_e is full of stuff I've been thinking about a while that I'm finally gonna address.

Well, let's get to it!

Which entry are you excited about the most for PWA 2019?

Let's take a break from TIOG and MNIL because I am more than ready to shove Caelum into my bin of "crap I'll never talk about again" once the awards hit lol.

So, instead, I'll draw attention to a fic that I read quite a while ago and enjoyed every word of it. While JunieWeathers' Swanna Girl and Braviary Man trilogy is good, SGBM2 specifically is great. The characters are likable, the action scenes are decent, the plot is easy to follow, and more. If you haven't started on the series yet, why not start now?

What is your favorite thing about the PWA?

Let's preface this with some background intel because I'm a dramatic ho lmao.

Before I joined this part of Wattpad, I spent well over a year and a half or so happily engaging in the sports anime genre community. After all, I was an anime Xreader one-shot writer. The thing about Xreader one-shots is that they thrive on writer-reader interaction.

Even with high engagement rates, however, the community never felt truly together. There was no unification of members coming together to accomplish things. Social interaction was extremely low because no one was keen on making friends.

I used to think all of Wattpad was like this until I stumbled upon the PWA. It started off with me just reading stories in the participants/winners lists, but then I started paying attention to the comments. The comments revealed something to me: not only are people here in the community friendly, but they're actual friends. I wanted to join in on this, so I stayed. And here I am today.

My favorite thing about the PWA is hands down the way it brings the Pokémon Wattpad community and all of its amazing individuals together. I've met most of my current Wattpad friends through the PWA, and I really think that's why I have such a soft spot for it besides it being an incredibly put-together competition. Without the PWA, I would've missed out on so many stories that led me to its fantastic writers who I adore and admire.

What is your least favorite thing about the PWA?

Disclaimer: I am NOT targeting any specific individuals in the below. These are general observations I've made in the past year or so.

Not gonna lie, but I've put off this question in particular for days now because I dread writing out my true thoughts on the subject. Sorry if I sound overdramatic and panicked, but I kinda, sorta am feeling overwhelmed and panicked. But here we go.

To be honest, my least favorite thing about the PWA is actually something it indirectly spawned. I don't blame the organization itself because there's no way the PWA could've prevented it, but it's still tied to it so I feel obligated to mention it.

I hate how barely anyone is writing anymore. Specifically, I hate how barely anyone is enjoying themselves by writing anymore.

Has anybody else noticed how barely anyone is posting stories anymore? Because I have. I can count on one hand how many people I follow are actually actively writing and posting all the while enjoying doing so. It seems like everyone and their mom has constantly been in their 'outlining/editing/re-writing' phase for the past year.

Part of me wants to believe that this is all a coincidence. Looking at the people I talk to, lots of them are high schoolers and college students who're extremely busy with their lives. That makes perfect sense. People aren't writing because they're busy.

but...

I think there's a deeper problem here that nobody is publicly addressing. I've talked about my theory with a few others via DMs, and they agree so I think I'm onto something. So you know what? I'll say it.

Nobody is writing anymore because (almost) everyone in the community has impossibly high standards that are impossible to achieve. Writers believe that they must post jaw-dropping, mind-blowing, boundary-breaking content or else their stories aren't worth it. They're perfectionists who care too much about what other people think which has caused them to become overly critical of themselves.

How did this perfectionist mindset become so widespread so quickly? Well, that's where the PWA comes into play. The PWA displays the best of the best. And what do writers do? They compare themselves to those incredible works and feel bad about themselves because they think they can't produce work of that caliber.

What happens when there's no one writing? There aren't any stories. What happens when there aren't any stories? There aren't any entries for the PWA competition. What happens when there's no competition? The PWA closes. And what happens when the PWA closes? The community as we know it crumbles and decays into a dead, lifeless fandom because, like it or not, the PWA is detrimental to the survival of the Pokémon Wattpad community.

I'll say it again, though: it is not the PWA's fault that this is happening. How can anyone prevent this sort of thing? The answer is that you can't.

And you know what? I'm worried about the PWA. Why? Because of how little entries we got this year. I can't compare it to previous years because I don't have the data on how many entries they received, but I think everyone's aware that the tally has been slipping.

*This data is public as it's located on the PWA's official website

PWA19 Entries Tally
One-Shot: 9
Short Story: 8
Adventure: 6
Miscellaneous: 7
Total: 30

...yeah.

I really didn't want to post this tag because I can't think of a way to remedy the problems I brought up, but I felt that I had the duty to. The thing is that you can't force people to change their mindsets. In order for things to change, writers have to take it upon themselves to make that change themselves.

And get this: I understand exactly how writers are currently feeling because once upon a time, I went through that same perfectionist stage. It was what made me want to abandon TIOG because I didn't think it was 'good enough' for the Pokécommunity's tastes. How did I overcome my insecurities? Through pure willpower itself. Basically, I learned not to give a single shit about what others think of my writing; I learned to write for myself and only for myself and that mindset makes me happy.

I mean, writing should make writers happy. But it's not. Not right now. And that sucks.

I want to end this tag on a positive note, but I don't think I can. All I can ask is for writers to start writing again and hope that they listen :c

Tags
ImberLapis
valflame_
blue___22

P.S.
Speaking of Blue, blue___22 has a fantastic article written on the subject of sportsmanship that's posted in the GottaReadEmAllClub's Writing Advice book that's way better than the mess I have written here.

P.P.S.
If anyone's worried about that announcement I made about passing out at the doctor's office, don't be. I recovered fine lol. However, I might end up making a post concerning that appointment if the results I had gotten taken from that episode come back unfavorably... zoinks.

Uhhh here's my doggos looking happy having a play date with my cousin's pupper—