Toronto Meet Up Journals

@takatsu: Meet Up #1 - August 24th, 2014

Traditionally, writing and reading is a personal, private and secluded aspect of life. It's not too often we can find people who operate on the same wavelength, to find those like-minded and similarly talented friends. We might even get weird looks if we start babbling about our favourite author's cat, the latest plot twist in a series, argue about cliches or try to present our discourses about complex philosophies in literature. But in the technological wired-in era, we have many resources and opportunities to connect.

I've wanted to have a meet up with like-minded writers from Wattpad for a long time; it also isn't the first time I've been to Wattpad HQ. Quite fatefully, the HQ is right in the city I live in which is a huge blessing. When I first met the Wattpad staff in person a while ago, I realized that this is a community. Behind the site and the scenes, these aren't people who work in an office and slave over nine-to-fives - they are a huge team of dedicated staff who love what they do, who are passionate and totally enthusiastic about what we are passionate about as writers and readers. Even their spectacular and artistic office space represents their innovative forward-thinking spirit in every nook and cranny. Seeing their friendly, supportive, eager faces opened up so many doors and so many ideas right away both in my heart and in actuality. But the culture of Wattpad and of literature deserves to spread beyond the HQ doors, and at the Wattparty/Open House I had a chance to meet some of the famous chart-topping authors that are household names of the Wattpad community; and we realize that we are all ordinary, yet brilliant people behind the pen. I think this vibe needs to continue to spread: we can be a movement of connected 21st century high tech social literature lovers and inspire one another. Even if we live in different places, we are all in the same world and in the same family. Literature is quite a metaphysical experience that engages our hearts and minds, and in the same way, we are connected through literature on a very deep level.

I believe though we can connect online via Wattpad or social media, it is so nurturing and helpful to meet in person and realize that, wow, there really is someone in real life, living and breathing, totally friendly, enthusiastic and passionate about the same things you are. It anchors our passions and dreams to reality. It makes pursuing life as a writer or an avid reader more possible. These are the kinds of people you can pour your heart to because you know they understand and in turn, these are the people you will be inspired by. Many successful artists and authors will often have a small circle of contemporaries whom they trade ideas and have a strong bond with, almost like a secret society. When I organized the first Toronto writer's meet up, I knew this would be an amazing experience. What else could happen when you have great writers in a great place, with great food and drinks?

Of course, planning began online and the original idea was to have a simple meet up in a coffee shop, but to my delight, Wattpad had the same idea at the same time and supported our initiative. So we had the great privilege of having it on August 24th at 6PM in the three-floor Wattpad HQ with a lot of orange and wood textures, book art and doodles, a massive kitchen, sofas and beanbag chairs, rooftop patio and onwards. A real party venue, even if it also houses many rows of high-performance computers and meeting rooms.

Initially, I planned a list of various activities - somewhat of a program - which included dinner (of course), introductions and the infamous game of Cards Against Humanity (with the Wattpad expansion pack - yes, there's a Wattpad expansion pack), a collaborative storytelling exercise, personal writing approaches and experience, readings of our own stories, wrapping up with a tour of the office, signing one of their walls to leave our mark, getting Wattpad merchandise and so on. At the same time, it was meant to be a very casual and informal event, where we can feel comfortable without strict or rushed programs, depending on the atmosphere and chemistry between attendees. These activities were only ideas in case there's nothing to do. But no doubt, when you put passionate people in the same place, conversation exploded.