Like most Gen Zers, I spent some of my middle and high school years on Wattpad. I know — when most people think of Wattpad, they cringe as books like After and The Kissing Booth come to mind. However, writing on Wattpad gave me valuable advice I don’t think I would’ve gotten anywhere else, and memories that will stay with me forever. I look back on it — and the tips I learned — with fondness, like a time capsule of some of the most formative years of my life.
I got to figure out what my writing style is.
I began writing on Wattpad in November 2014 when I was in eighth grade. I was on the bus for a field trip, one of the rare instances we were allowed to have our phones. As I sat by two of my closest friends, I asked them what they were doing and they replied that they were reading stories on Wattpad. I had never heard of it before, so I was very confused. They told me that it was an app where you could write your own stories and, as someone who had a notebook full of story ideas (and still does), it would allow me to showcase my writing ability to people other than just the two of them. Intrigued and a little frightened by the idea, I downloaded the app. I spent the entire bus ride reading their stories, as well as the stories they recommended to me.
The weekend after that, I began to write and post my story on Wattpad. Considering that Mockingjay: Part 1 had just been released, I thought that people would be interested in reading fanfiction for The Hunger Games, so I wrote a fanfiction about Joanna Mason and Gale Hawthorn. As it turns out, not many people besides my two friends read it, but it gave me a grasp of how Wattpad worked and what my writing style is.
Seeing other people enjoy my stories gave me a boost of confidence.
In January 2015, I really became passionate about writing for Wattpad. I decided to write a fanfiction for Spencer and Toby from Pretty Little Liars, my favorite couple on the show. I updated it multiple times a week, and while I enjoyed writing it, I didn’t expect that it would get extremely popular. Around April, I realized that people were begging me to update — when the story got 1,000 views, I couldn’t believe it. It gave me a newfound confidence as a writer I had never felt before. Looking back, I think it’s really embarrassing and obvious that it was written by a young teenager, but it’s still my most read story on the site with 38,000 views and 1,000 votes.
In June 2016, I decided to write a fanfiction for Riley and Maya from Girl Meets World for Pride Month. By this time, I was much more comfortable with my writing and I knew it was something I wanted to do for a living, so I edited every chapter before posting it. I vividly remember being holed up in a hotel room working on it relentlessly during a vacation, while the rest of my family was down at the pool. By the time I finished writing it, I had submitted it to the “Wattpad Pride Month Fanfiction” award contest and it won the category of “best girlxgirl fic.” That was the only award I won on Wattpad, and it still gives me joy.
I found a community of friends, and established an identity as a writer.
In the summer of 2015, I wrote a “duology” of fanfiction for The Fosters. While the stories didn’t become super popular, they did introduce me to how wonderful fandom communities can be. I made my first fandom friend, Liv, who also wrote fanfiction for The Fosters, and we would share our thoughts on the show whenever a new episode aired. Though we don’t talk anymore, I have fond memories of the time we spent talking.
When I was a freshman in high school, I took a creative writing class that strengthened my writing and amplified my passion for it, which I was able to use when I wrote a fanfiction for Stefan and Elena from The Vampire Diaries. That was the first piece of writing that I took seriously and cared about what people thought, since I had a better understanding of my own writing and how to craft a story. I had a list of ideas in the Notes app on my phone — some that made it in and others that didn’t.
Along with my writing being more structured, I also met one of my best friends because of it. I had admired her stories and her writing for a while, so I had asked her if she could read it. She did and we’ve been close ever since. To this day, we still send each other what we’ve written and offer feedback.
I learned how to deal with online hate.
Writing the Vampire Diaries story also gave me a lesson on criticism and making sure I get canon details right. Years after I had written the story, someone left a comment that read, “His eyes are green! GREEN! Why can’t you get simple details right?” When my friends and I responded that they could’ve been a little nicer, I got back, “Like I care what a sh*tty ass author of a sh*tty ass Stelena fic has to say.” Despite the negative comments, I got a glimpse of what authors go through on a regular basis and realized that it’s best to just ignore it. As much as unwarranted criticism hurts, that’s always going to be something you’re going to face if you let other people in on your craft.
I gained tips for becoming a stronger writer that I still use today.
After writing the Riley and Maya fanfiction, I wrote one for Riley and Lucas. While I had been plotting out my stories for a while at this point, I also began making edits and moodboards for the stories. Doing so allowed me to feel like I could have a better understanding of the characters and the story, because it served as a “physical” representation of what I wanted for the characters and storylines. This is now something I do for everything I write and it makes the writing process go a lot smoother.
The last story I ever finished on Wattpad was another fanfiction that I wrote for Stefan and Elena. This is probably one of my favorite stories I’ve written in general. The idea came to me in a dream and was inspired by a Girl Meets World quote, so I felt like it was very fitting for everything that made me happy. This is also the first story I made a playlist for, which is now something I do for every story I write. Using a playlist is also helpful for coming up with plot line ideas because I can use the songs as inspiration. Most of the time now, because of that story, the plots and title ideas are because of songs or quotes that I hear that stick with me.
It was also one of the first stories I used the “pantsed” process for: I had a general breakdown of what I wanted some chapters to cover, but in between them I just wrote what felt right and what came to me. It was everything that I needed at the time and gave me peace and comfort.
Writing the story was very cathartic for me and was a reminder that writing is truly what I am most passionate about. I was dealing with a lot of internalized homophobia and took it out on my out and proud friends, which resulted in me losing them and worsening how I was feeling emotionally and mentally. I felt extremely isolated, but writing the story and the people that read it and commented on it made me feel safe and loved.
Even though I stopped writing on Wattpad in 2020, I will never forget or regret the six years I spent writing and sharing my stories. It formed not only who I am as a writer, but also who I am as a person. The website gave me a way to get feedback on everything I’ve written and immortalized everything I’d written since I was a teenager. What I’m probably most grateful for is that I met some of the best people in my life through there. Wattpad may have a bad reputation by the general public, but it’s where I found myself and what I wanted to do for a living.