𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫: Danielle | Dark_Ghostie
𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐞: El | footnoteofhappiness 
──── TheHappyWriters

─⁠──⁠───⁠─ ･ﾟ✧:･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧ ─⁠─⁠──⁠──⁠─

𝗛𝗶, 𝗜'𝗺 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆.
Hi I am Elishia, or more commonly known as El (@footnoteofhappiness), and I am the founder of The Happy Writers Community. We were founded in 2019, beginning with our infamous annual The Happiness Awards. We strive to build a family of readers and writers alike from around the world. Our motto is ‘We aspire to inspire before we expire’.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀?
I believe some of our unique departments set us apart from other communities such as; The Merry Writing Classes for Newbies, A Joyful Guide to Writer’s Block and our mini themed contests that take place throughout the year.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆? 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱? 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺?
The best way to keep a team happy and inspired is to create a safe space for people to feel brave enough to share ideas and feel welcomed to participate in discussions. I am thrilled and humbled that members continue to return to the team, year after year.
I find the biggest challenge is when people disappear without warning which only leaves confusion for others. This is particularly seen in the contest side of things. When a judge becomes unresponsive, it holds up results and disappoints participants. I do feel quite lucky in the sense that when a department is needing help, all of our team members rally around to fill the space. I couldn’t have asked for a more genuine nor generous team.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆? 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁?
My vision for the community is about helping writers hone their crafts while showcasing undiscovered gems. We also encourage writers, across the globe, to learn from each other and to share their passions. The choice to transition from a pure contest profile to a full fledged community was actually the result of a success pole in 2020. I asked the fellow writers and readers of wattpad if they’d benefit from a community rather than just a once off annual contest which has blossomed into a fully functioning community with many departments and activities, only four years later. We were certainly blessed with encouraging people willing to volunteer their time to grow our community.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆?
Some of my goals for The Happy Writers would be to grow our existing team in order to be able to hold more events and activities. We would also like to find new ways to celebrate our fellow writers and their individual creativities. We do currently have a few projects in the works that we hope can further these goals for us in 2024.

𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲?
I hope that in the future our communities can do a joint project where we can share our passions and hopefully create something cool together.

𝗧𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝗳, 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲?
A little advice to those who’d like to start their own community - it does require a fair bit of work but the feeling you get when you make someone’s day is entirely worth it. I would recommend starting small to begin with, a project or two, and build from there. After all, Rome was not built in a day. I wish you all good luck on your next endeavours!

𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿: Thank you, El, for the sweet responses and I hope we can have a collab as well!