As you might have seen on Friday, I just posted the twelfth and final chapter of “The Grand Mythos of Úr’Dan, Volume One” on Wattpad, so I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the last year of publishing with Wattpad, as well as the writing of these stories.

The Idea

This collection of creation myths came about as I began to ponder the supernatural elements that existed in my fantasy universe, Úr’Dan. I didn’t just want to make shit up to inject my stories with magical realism — although that can be a fun excercise.

I wanted the sense of wonder and magical realism in my stories to have meaning beyond the stories themselves. The paradigm I decided to use felt natural to me, focusing on Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, and Void as the five elements that comprise the entire universe. (Anyone with a passing familiarity with Japanese martial arts or even anime can guess where I might have gotten this idea.)

I have a ton of ideas for myths with heroes, legendary figures, and supernatural beings, but I wanted to start all the way at the beginning, from the creation of the universe itself.

So, that’s what I’ve tried to capture in this first volume of myths: fantasy world building on a cosmic scale.

The Writing

I wrote most of these stories over a couple of months, then had my editor review them. Honestly, I knew that Wattpad would not be their final publishing, but I wanted them to be well-written. A lot of writers use Wattpad to get feedback on their first or second drafts, and that’s cool. But I wanted to publish a story that could stand on its own.

At some point, I’ll want to go back and rewrite, perhaps even expand on what I have, but I’m proud of what’s there now.

The Wattpad

I’ve already written a bit about Wattpad and why I like it. I chose to publish on Wattpad because its positioned as an open forum for all writers and readers. They have programs to boost stories that do exceptionally well, but they also support the little guys. At the very least, they provide a community to support each other.

My story currently has 83 reads on Wattpad, which is pretty cool. It’s nowhere near the 600 I was aiming for this year, and smaller still comapred to a ton of other stories on the platform, but it’s cool to see there’s been continued interest in my story.

The reads have steadily increased as I’ve published more and more chapters, and I hope that trend continues. I fully intend to continue participating on Wattpad’s forums and reading other stories I find there.

The Next

I’m not done with publishing on Wattpad, I just need to figure out what comes next for my writing there. Volume two of “The Grand Mythos” still lives entirely in my head, and I’m not prepared to start writing yet.

Recently, I’ve been working on a short story that will not be on Wattpad (more on that on Friday), but I have ideas to keep me active on that platform.

One is a running, free-form background story of my Dungeons & Dragons character, which would allow me to a) actually write a background for my character, and b) connect with a slightly different audience on Wattpad. Another idea — a travelogue of an old archivist in my fantasy universe — would allow me to continue world-building in a much more casual fashion.

Either way, I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished with “The Grand Mythos”, and I’m looking forward to my next story.

Steve D