Ever since high school, mahilig naman na akong magsulat. Usually, mga poems ang sinusulat ko noon until nagkaroon kami ng project na story book tapos ako yung nagsulat ng story na para sa mga bata. Then pagdating ko ng college, sa dami ng naging ganap sa buhay ko kahit na first year pa lang ako (new school, new environment, new experience, new set of people) I decided to write. And well, na-bore din ako no'ng time na 'yon dahil sobrang haba ng breaks ko so I thought, why not try writing din kaysa basa lang ako nang basa? Tapos ayon, nagtuloy-tuloy na siya hanggang ngayon.

Nakakahiya man aminin pero na-discover ko talaga siya in a not so nice way. I was originally writing sa Teentalk then for a while, naging tahimik yung mga tao doon. Parang nag-lie low bigla. Then one time, may reader na nag-message sa akin. Nakita raw niya yung stories ko na naka-post sa Wattpad. E hindi naman nagpaalam sa akin 'yon so gumawa ako ng account sa Wattpad para ipabura yung stories ko.

If we would consider the amount of opportunities na nakuha ko, I would have to go with Moving Into My Ex's House. Ito kasi yung story na technically, naging gateway ko to a lot of things. Dito ako nakilala ng mas maraming tao. Ito yung unang published book ko and ito rin ang unang story ko na naging part ng Paid Stories Program.

Pero if I would consider yung growth ko as a writer talaga, I would go with Let Me See. Sobrang challenge for me na makasulat ng mahabang story. I really struggle with word count pero dito, nagawa kong makaabot ng 3-4k words per chapter tapos I ended up with halos 70k words yata which is really new to me. Nagagawa ko lang magpahaba ng story pag kailangang kailangan dahil sa word count requirement ng manus. Bago rin sa akin ang topic and scenario ng story. Adding in the fact na collab pa siya so may details na dapat magtugma sa iba kong mga ka-collab, medyo challenging talaga siya. I'm just proud that I managed to pull it off hanggang sa dulo.

Every time na may mga meet-up noon. I'm usually on the organizing team dahil sa pagiging ambassador ko pero kapag may nakakakilala sa akin na readers, parang nakaka-touch in a way kasi hanggang ngayon, feeling ko patatas pa rin talaga ako sa Wattpad. Saka during meet-ups, I really like the fact na nakikita kong magkakasama yung mga Wattpaders mapa-reader man or writer. Nagiging united lahat because of something that we love.

In a way, you would find similarities sa akin at sa characters ko. A lot of my friends would say na kaugali ko yung ganitong character or they could imagine me saying the lines of my characters. So if you have read a lot of my stories, somehow, you also got a glimpse of me and my life.

Just focus on your writing and don't be afraid to take risks. There would always be people na may masasabing hindi maganda pero we don't need to focus on that much sa totoo lang. Kasi at the end of the day, mayroon at mayroon pa rin namang mga taong susuporta at magmamahal sa mga gawa mo. Just keep on going!

Lana's List by fallenbabybubu

I like the fact na sa program, hindi mo mararamdaman na may division sa group. You would find friends sa program na never in your wildest dreams na inisip na magiging ka-close mo pala. Parang akala mo unreachable yung iba tapos pag nakausap mo, parang instant click pala agad kayo and you get to know more about these writers din through the activities na ginagawa for the program.

Not sure if these would count but including it here na lang din:

Guest Speaker - Crispin? Basilio? Where na you? Dito na me?: Isang ACLE Tungkol sa Panitikan ng Modernong Panahon (Organizaed by UP Educator's Circle for the Alternative Classroom Experience of the University of the Philippines Diliman)
Panelist - Panitikang Pantakas 1: Love Stories in the Time of COVID (Philippine Readers and Writers Festival 2020)

Checkout areyaysii's stories here on Wattpad for your next favorite read!