the (wattpad) books that shaped me
When I was 13, I wanted to be an author. I still have a USB (yeah, I'm new gen) full of stories from middle school, back before Google Drive stole and ate all my auto-saved documents on my school account.
You know when my writing improves the most? It's when I finish a Stephen King book. He's the only author I can tolerate at the moment. I tried reading another author recently, and the way we're led to believe the main character is this sexy, mysterious, 6'5", blue-eyed, blonde-haired, broken, middle-aged man who's sooo tall and sexy just makes me cringe. No hate to the 6'5", blue-eyed, blonde-haired, broken, middle-aged men. It's like the male version of a manic pixie dream girl character.
But then I remember the pure shit I used to read back on Wattpad. Dont let the high ratings fool you. My account was deleted after the data breach, but I remember some titles.
The Cellar by Natasha Preston - now a published story about a deranged man who kidnaps young women and keeps them in his basement. He renames them after flowers, and I think one of them ends up pregnant after developing Stockholm syndrome.
It's okay. I'd never read it again. This isn't even the most disturbing thing I read as a kid.
Family Comes First by Mason Fitzgibbon - a billionaire family who are all cannibals. The main guy is the oldest son or something, and he's obsessed with the main girl, who is a brunette (how different). She likes him until she finds out he eats people. I forget how they source the meat. I think the main girl was supposed to be the next dinner or something…?
I read that book in a week, and that's how I learned what "boner" meant. I suppose that's one of the more tame ways to find out.
And then there were the BTS fanfics. Maybe it was actually just a small handful. I feel weird reading about real people now. I'd rather read fanfic about fictional characters.
These books shaped me. thats all :)