I excitedly read through the Watty's rules and guidelines, my eyes tearing through the screen in enthusiasm. I quickly exited the book and tapped the 'edit' buttons on my favorite stories I had written that qualified.

With a triumphant squeal, I typed in the #Wattys2018 tag and pressed save, confirming my entry.

I was delighted. It was my first year on Wattpad, and I was entering my first Watty's contest! I dreamed of having my work seriously considered 'good' by professionals. I closed the app and decided to calm myself down by playing some games on my phone. But I couldn't stop thinking about it. I had entered the Watty's!

Time passed by, and I was beginning to doubt whether any Watty's officials had even looked at my books. The profile was silent, so I could do nothing but wait and wonder if my books were even considered worth them pressing the 'read' button. I had read somewhere that they wouldn't actually read our books, but still I had faith that someone was bound to like mine. After all, I had followed all the rules.

At long last, the Watty's posted a message on their message board. They had finally posted the long list! I gasped excitedly as I read it, frantically going back to my notifications. My heart dropped. Nowhere did it say that I had made it. I felt like such a loser. Hundreds of long-listed books, and not one was mine! I should have known, I thought, my work is that of an amateur, and no one would ever seriously want to read it and enjoy it.

I slumped back on the couch, trying not to be upset about it. But the thought kept beating in my head. I hadn't even made the long list. So much for being accomplished.

But then I thought about two of my favorite novels, a Wrinkle in Time and Harry Potter. I thought about how much I cherished them and loved to read them, how I couldn't put them down. Those books and been rejected numerous times, despite how amazing they were! And once they were finally recognized, they had even been eventually turned into films! (Although the books are way better.)

I realized, I didn't need to be recognized by anything official straight away, my books were already good, no matter what anyone else thought.

I smiled to myself, knowing that all I had to do was just keep my head up and keep on writing.