Wattpad has changed my life.

I say dear boy, that's a little dramatic. Maybe, but I'm a writer so I'm allowed. And can I call myself a writer now? Yes, and I think that anyone who writes, whether they've just started, or have just hit a million reads can do that too. See, that's a paragraph already. Mmm...writing...

But I'm still learning. And Wattpad, or rather the people I've met in the Community of Wattpad, is the reason I'm still learning, and the reason I still continue to write.

I started on Wattpad about five years ago as a complete amateur. Within a few months I joined the Ambassadors, started making some great friends, and started getting some amazing critique. Over the next five years I wrote more and more, got Featured, and got to know the Community team at Wattpad. A few years later, I joined them part-time as a professional Science Fiction geek (and I still love using that description when I go through border control in Toronto), and then joined them full-time in August 2014.

It was the best move I ever made. And it's all down to Wattpad, and reading and writing on Wattpad.

But the most common question I get from Wattpadders is "How do you get known on Wattpad?" I quite often get the "It's ok for you, you've already got followers etc". And yes, I have, and I love 'em. But everyone starts on Wattpad with 0, regardless of who they are.

Bottom line as a writer: you want people to read your stuff.

Gavin Wilson aka TheOrangutan started off on Wattpad as a writer, then became an Ambassador. He now works full time for Wattpad as part of their Community Engagement team and manages the Ambassadors. He has had a few short stories published in magazines, and his story "Merlin's Gold" is nearing 2 million reads.