Warning: Will probably sound extremely sappy and lame. Sorry in advance.
I suppose if you're reading this now, that means that you managed to finish reading the whole story. If so, I guess that officially makes us friends. So, hello. Nice to meet you. For the longest time, I never shared any of my stories, whether they were long or short, with anyone. Ironically enough, I've always wanted to be an author, but I could never bring myself to share any of my stories because I always had friends in my life that would doubt me or tell me that I wasn't good enough or - in their words - I was "complete shit." That being said, I do appreciate any sort of constructive criticism, but the way they treated me was far from helpful.
So, I decided to do something that was way out of my comfort zone: publish something on the internet for any stranger to come across. That being said, I only expected to get maybe a few hundred reads. But a few hundred turned into a few thousand and now (as of December 6th, 2018), this has about 31k and counting. That's - wow. That's pretty insane.
Reads weren't really my motivation for writing. I think comments and votes probably were. Let me clarify that I don't write solely for the purpose of getting attention. I write because, well, it's a passion. Seeing so many of you, whether you were a reader that never voted or commented, or if you went out of your way to go above and beyond with it, it kept me motivated. My ultimate goal was 100 votes and now we're passed 10x that amount.
I remember one time, someone DMed me (shout-out to you, you know who you are) and we DMed back and forth (and still do, they're a lovely person) and they had said something along the lines of, "I think you're one of the only people with a bigger audience that responds to your readers." And I'm not sure why, but that kind of stuck with me.
Do people really view themselves as "my audience?" Or even "my fans?" That's mind-boggling. I'll probably never consider anyone that because you're not a mindless fan or supporter of mine, you're my friend. Hell, you're my fellow South Park enthusiast. I could literally know nothing about you - not your name, not what you look like, nothing - but if you've taken the time to read each and every chapter and have anticipated reading the next one, you're my friend. And not the shitty kind that I used to have either.
So, hello. My name is Devon, I'm almost 16 years old, I've been writing stories since I learned my alphabet, I'm a guy, I'm from the US, I'm an Aquarius, and you are now my friend. Nice to meet you. I would shake your hand, but I can't reach through my screen (and even if I could, that'd be kind of creepy).
Now, here's a little assignment for you. I challenge you to do one thing that's entirely out of your comfort zone. Want to perform a song in front of people? Go for it. Want to ask out your crush? Fuckin' make that bitch yours. Want to publish your own story on Wattpad? Hell yeah. Seriously though, this is probably one of the best decisions I've made in a long time. Even when I was struggling with my own inner and outer demons, any notification of feedback I got from this made my day a little better.
For real though, if you're struggling with insecurities about your writing, let go of that fear and publish it anonymously. Whether you want to post an original story, poetry, even some weird ass smut, or a fan fiction about Guy Fieri, you can do it. I promise you'll receive much more praise and helpful criticism than pointless negativity. And if you ever want advice or someone to help edit (even though I'm not the greatest at writing), I'm always here. My DMs are always open for anything, so don't be afraid to reach out. I love talking to new people.
As always, thank you so much for reading. Random question, but what was your favorite and least favorite part of Buried and your overall thoughts on it? I'm genuinely curious. And if you'd like to read future stories of mine (I have about 3 currently planned for the future), you can follow me to be notified when they're posted.
Much Love,
-devvyon