70 Deadly Wattpad Sins (The Book Of Evil Advice!)

Sin #20: Had A Bad Day (Urgh.)

  We've all been there. Depression can be a female dog, and life sometimes throws too much human waste into the fan. The important thing to remember is that it won't get any better, and no one really cares about your feelings.

  Hey, now you're speaking my language!

  Sorry to disappoint you, but this one might get a little too real. We've already talked about knowing when to push forward and when to give up, but there's still a certain middle ground that needs to be underlined. This is a sin that we're all guilty of, particularly the self-employed or hobbyist folk out there.

  After all, who doesn't have a bad day every now and then? Maybe you had to pull an all-nighter, or your mom's been screaming bloody-murder at you for absolutely no reason. Bookish types like us tend to be lightning rods for other people's drama, whether we can deal with the strain or not. Most often the latter.

  Uh, yeah? Crud happens. Some people do have lives outside of Wattpad, y'know!

  Hmm, stranger things have happened. It's not always the little things that can knock us down, though. A lot of bad days can turn into bad weeks, typically during a rough patch. It could be due to a long grieving process, which can affect most people long before the passing itself. Anything like anxiety disorders, termination from school or work, losing close friends or even domestic issues.

  There's a ton of bad stuff just waiting to happen, and what do us humans like to do when that storm cloud hits? That's right, curl up in our beds and pretend that we don't exist for a solid 24–48 hours.

  With ice cream?

  ...Sure, ice cream—

  And Netflix? Chill.

  Whatever. Yes, I might've eaten a whole tub of cookie dough ice cream and binged one-star shows all last week, but I've bounced back now. My point is, you'll never know when life is going to smack you in the face with a healthy dose of crippling depression.

  The trouble starts when you try to cut yourself some slack. You think, 'I had such a bad day today, all I want to do is go home and put my feet up'. You tell yourself 'I can do it tomorrow', and 'I'll be so much more rested'. 

  How many times has that ever worked out for you? I mean, really? They don't call it procrastination simply because it takes a mouthful to say. It's a downhill slope, my friend.

  You skip today's writing session, and then the next. It only takes one or two, until you're aware that this life problem is now defining what you aren't doing with your day. Your week. Maybe even your whole month.

  The very second that you choose to give these depressive thoughts an inch, they will climb into your brain and muscle you out of the driver's seat. A project that once gave you purpose is now collecting dust, because you'd rather sit around and 'recuperate'. I don't say that lightly; I know how it feels to be confused, to be lost in that cycle of apathy.

  You might feel a little better after waiting out your bad days... but that writing time has been lost, and you'll never get it back. Fresh ideas have come and gone, your inspiration faded away.

  I suppose you have the 'cure' for depression now, eh?

  Nothing that impressive, no. What I can offer, is exactly what I needed earlier this week. A kick up the tailpipe, along with a chunk of motivation to jumpstart the old-fashioned story machine.

  You won't always be able to beat your problems. They will take over at times, and it might seem scary to admit how much power they have over you. That's when you take a deep breath, and say 'this will not define who I am, and what I can do'.

  Never forget the reason why most of you got into writing; the artistic need to express your feelings, to leave your mark on this world and compel others to understand your nature. Use your grief as a creative tool, rather than a crutch. Own it.

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  When you've had a bad day, you might feel too exhausted to open Wattpad and pour out your soul... but that is precisely the time you should be taking action. Motivation is a superpower that everyone has inside, and yet the most difficult one to activate on will.

  There's at least a dozen of you brooders out there, perhaps more. Maybe you're buried in bed skimming this chapter, or far too busy melting into the couch. Your bad day seems like it deserves to claim the rest of your afternoon, your entire evening. Don't give in to that temptation.

  I'm telling you that it's not too late. You can still set a task, and achieve that goal. Whether you only write 100 words or edit a single paragraph, it still makes a difference. Every little bit helps.

  Just do something, and take your day back.