I've always loved stories since I was a kid. Bago ako matulog, parati akong kinikwentuhan ng kung sino mang nagpapatulog sa akin. Fast forward to highschool, my English teachers often praise me for our essay assignments, it made me happy. I started writing poetry then, dahil mahilig ako sa metaphors, pati song lyrics, tapos I discovered Wattpad and Diary ng Pangit of Miss Denny was the last push I needed to start writing a story of my own. I found it more fun than writing poetries and lyrics, and so here I am writing stories up until now. I just love anything related to stories, so I guess it really was the root of it all.

When I was in fourth year highschool, habang super free kami kasi nagpapractice na lang ng graduation, may kumalat na softcopies ng isang story from Wattpad sa room namin. Printed pa 'yon, pinrint no'ng isang lower year student, tapos hiniram no'ng isa kong classmate. I liked the story and wanted to read more so I asked about the source, and boom, it led me to discovering Wattpad.

My current story na on-going pa rin which is What Love Is. Bukod sa ilang taon na pinagsamahan namin, dito sa story kong 'to mo makikita how much I have improved as a writer and also as a person. Dito ko rin somewhat nahanap ang sarili ko at maging ang aking writing voice. I say 'somewhat' kasi I believe I am still in the process of searching. I believe na hindi pa ito 'yung totoong ako at totoong boses ko. I'm most proud of this story among my other works, pero it's nowhere near what I'd call my 'masterpiece'. It's just that out of all the stories I have written so far, this is the most 'decent'. Lol

Favorite experience ko parati tuwing makakatanggap ako ng long comments from readers, tapos sobrang may sense at damang-dama ko yung pagmamahal sa story. I may not remember the details of each dahil na rin sa rami, but the feeling lingers and stays. 

That I write them for me. All of them. Parating reading experience ko ang priority ko sa bawat sinusulat kong story. Parating ako yung iniimagine kong magbabasa no'ng gawa ko. Ang parati kong tanong 'magugustuhan ko ba 'to?' 'Is this something I'll read?' 'Will I find this interesting?' Every story I've written are stories I've written to impress the reader me.

Try not to get discouraged kung wala o iilan lang ang nagbabasa ng story mo. Everyone starts that way. You should be your first fan, first reader. Dapat nag-eenjoy ka muna sa sinusulat mo bago mo hingin na mag-enjoy do'n ang iba. Enjoy what you're doing and believe me, those who will enjoy what you enjoy will find you eventually.

Love Is Dead by TheCatWhoDoesntMeow. Super fav up until this day huhu.

The star icon beside my username? Hehe. Bukod do'n, siguro yung sense of belongingness na hindi makuha ng writer self ko even among my closest circle of friends. I often feel alienated when I talk to others about writing. It's nice to be a part of a program kung saan there's lots of people who are the same kind, with the same passion I have for stories and writing.

Checkout Yam-Yam28's stories here on Wattpad for your next favorite read!