A day at WattCon

Getting all philosophical today…

At the beginning of December, I attended Wattpad’s London convention, held in the Crypt on the Green—a beautiful venue hidden away under an old church in Clerkenwell. It was my third trip to this annual event, and it got me thinking. At what point do I call myself a writer? Whenever a stranger asks me what I do, my answer to date has always been, “I’m an accountant.” It’s easy to say that—I work for a large accountancy firm, and I’ve got the fancy certificate that says I spent three years of my life obsessing over tax rates and double entry. If pushed, I’ll admit to writing a bit on the side.

But as writing takes over my life, and my number of published books slowly increases, I wonder whether that should change?

The first year I went to Wattcon, I’d only just discovered Wattpad. I’d written seven novels but until I posted the first chapter of Pitch Black online in August 2014, I’d never shared my work with anybody. Not even my boyfriend knew what I was doing as I tapped away on my laptop. He just thought I spent an awful lot of time on Facebook.

But at Wattcon, I met a whole bunch of wonderful people—my kind of people, learned a bit about the publishing industry, and finally rolled home, slightly tipsy, at around four o’clock in the morning. Over the next year, I wrote more, shared more, and some of the people I met that day became firm friends.

Fast forward a year—I’d published my first novel, Trouble in Paradise, and hired a professional editor to work on both that book and Pitch Black. When I got the edits on PB back, I took one look and cried, despite the fact that my editor is so damn nice when she’s tearing my work apart. I filed the book away for a month at that point. I couldn’t bear to look at it.

By the time I went to my second WattCon, I’d rewritten Pitch Black entirely, started up a publishing company (I knew the day job would come in handy at some point), and was preparing to release the Black trilogy. That day, I put the names of people I’d been speaking with online to faces, and learned more about publishing. Despite being in my thirties, it finally felt like I’d found my place in life—that “thing” I’d been searching for as I studied science at school, completed an engineering degree, worked in IT, then learned how to use every damn function in an Excel spreadsheet. Words were my passion, not numbers.

Another year passed, and by the time this year’s WattCon came around, I’d written twenty-five novels and published ten books. Better still, I’d started to find my people—those who enjoy what I write and “get” my characters. Some authors see marketing as a chore, but I love talking to readers. I treasure every email I receive, and every piece of feedback makes me think, even if I don’t necessarily agree with all of it.

This time at WattCon, I stepped up as a co-host. It had been a while since I did any public speaking, and having a hundred expectant faces staring back at you is nerve-wracking, believe me. But by the time I sat on the Industry Insiders panel at the end of the afternoon, I’d got over my fears, grown used to the sound of my own voice, and begun to enjoy myself. And I came away having met a whole bunch more wonderful people, some of whom I’m sure will become friends.

I can’t post so much of my work on Wattpad anymore due to publishing commitments, but I’m an ambassador for the community and I still love to hang out there. It’s a fabulously supportive environment for writing, with plenty of fan interaction, forums, and contests. This December, I’m participating in the Decameron 2.0—eleven teams of ten writers, eleven themes, and one hundred and ten short stories which will all be free to read.

If you’re considering taking that first step into the writing world, I’d definitely recommend paying a visit.

And me? I think in 2017, I’m going to introduce myself as a writer who does accountancy as a sideline…