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San Diego Comic-Con is known for its massive exhibit halls and blockbuster panels, but tucked away from the convention center chaos, Den of Geek and Wattpad carved out something different this year: a night built entirely for writers.
The partnership took shape as Wattpad Presents: The SDCC Writing Club, led by Wattpad Head of Content Alessandra Ferreri, which transformed Mission Brewing into what organizers called the ultimate writing lounge for the night. The event welcomed everyone from seasoned professional authors to aspiring storytellers and fanfiction writers eager to try their hand at something new.
The stakes of the night went beyond inspiration, too. Attendees who posted their own Writing Club stories to Wattpad using the tag #SDCCWritingClub were entered for a chance to be featured in Den of Geek magazine. One winning story, chosen jointly by the Wattpad and Den of Geek teams, will receive up to a four-page printed excerpt complete with professionally commissioned artwork as well.
Writers in attendance also had the chance to meet Wattpad author E.M. Wilson and walk away with an advance, signed copy of her newest novel, Break Up For Two.
Three authors spoke with Den of Geek during the event, and while their paths into storytelling varied, their advice converged again and again on the same principle ideas: growth as a writer requires discomfort, deadlines, and an honest relationship with one’s own work.
The first of those authors was Punko, creator of Stagtown and Cinderella Boy, who spent much of the night discussing her creative philosophy. She was candid about the necessity of criticism in an artist’s development, urging writers to seek feedback rather than avoid it.
“Your goal as an artist and a writer, as a creator, is to create the best possible stories you can. You will not do that if all you do is seek out praise, because you don’t grow from praise; you grow from criticism,” she said. “It can be painful, but it’s necessary. It’s like riding a bike; you’re going to fall off of it, but if you don’t do that, then you’ll never learn.”
The same clear-eyed approach carried into how she talked about balancing personal creative instincts with audience expectations. “What’s interesting for you to write as a writer is not always interesting for the audience to enjoy, and you have to know the difference between the two,” she explained.
Beyond advice, Punko also shared exciting news about Stagtown‘s film adaptation. When asked how much involvement she would have in the project, Punko spoke warmly about partnering with LuckyChap Entertainment, the production company founded by Margot Robbie, and filmmaker Benjamin Brewer.
“I feel extremely blessed that Margot and everybody at LuckyChap are very interested in working with the creators, like the source material, and really staying honest to their vision. And we have a terrific director, Ben Brewer. I’ve spoken to him on Zoom. He’s funny; he’s great,” she said.
Derek V. Song, author of Fantasy High, brought a craft-focused perspective to the night, breaking down the two archetypes writers tend to fall into. “They say there’s two styles of writers; there’s architects and gardeners,” he explained. Gardeners let the story unfold as they write and, in Song’s words, “scare the fuck” out of him, while architects plan everything out before putting pen to page, which is more his style.
Song offered a refreshingly practical take on writer’s block too, arguing that it’s often a symptom of too much freedom rather than too little.
“I think writer’s block is almost like a liberty, you know? If I’m working on something that’s just me that has no deadline, no expectations, that’s where writer’s block comes in,” he said, which contrasts heavily with when the writer works on his WEBTOON series, “where readers are expecting a new episode every Monday.”
In those cases, “there is no room for writer’s block” according to Song.
Song also spoke of how innovative WEBTOON was when he first discovered it. After reading Lore Olympus, a well-known cultural titan, and discovering the WEBTOON format for the first time, Song remembered marveling at the virtual scroll and effect features on the app.
“[WEBTOON] was doing things I had never seen before…I remember reading [Lore Olympus] for the first time back in 2019 and thinking, ‘Holy shit,’ like this is so new, so different,” he recalled.
Rounding the night’s lineup was author E.M. Wilson, who, before signing copies for attendees, spoke with us about her career and time with both WEBTOON and Wattpad. Her road to publication, however, was far from smooth. Reflecting on her early attempts to break into traditional publishing, Wilson recalled a discouraging round of feedback from an agent.
“They basically told me to give up… ‘Not everyone has a strength in writing, like you don’t really have an author voice that’s discernible,” Wilson remembers being told.
Rather than quitting after that reflection, however, Wilson turned to Wattpad. “At the time that I joined, people were starting there, finishing a draft, getting feedback from people, and then pitching it,” she said. “So it was like, ‘Okay, well, that’s where I’m at. At least I can have somebody tell me how to get better.”
That decision eventually led to a publishing deal under the Wattpad/WEBTOON umbrella, spanning books, audiobooks, international deals, and now a webcomic. “It’s just one big happy family for me,” Wilson concluded happily.
And so, after a night of drinking, drafting, and dreaming, it was clear the Writing Club had done exactly what it set out to do: get people to write, be creative, and have fun!
The post Pens, Prose, and Pints: Recapping Wattpad’s SDCC Writing Club appeared first on Den of Geek.
