It’s simple: write your own story and share it with other users on the site; this is how the likes of Diary ng Panget and She’s Dating the Gangster (now turned published books and box-office movies) first started on the popular site, Wattpad (Wattpad.com). Now with millions of users and thousands of stories posted every day, who knew that here is where this Filipino teen would get his big break? 

 

Mark Joseph Franciso, better known as his pen name Phoenixx28, was just a regular reader on Wattpad in 2017 when his tita encouraged him to download the app. 

 

“Hindi talaga ako nagsusulat before, basa lang. One day, I got the sudden urge to write my own story—Biglaan lang.” he said. 

 

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This seemingly spontaneous decision would eventually give rise to a major “Wattpad” career. At 2,000 followers and more than 33,000 reads on his account, the 18-year-old had become a bonafide published author when he got the chance to print and produce one of his stories titled “Spiking the Pain,” the first book of The Varsity Series.

 

Joseph describes the story like this: “May isang guy na obsessed with volleyball. During one of his games, may biglang dumating na isang babae claiming to be his girlfriend. After a while, they develop feelings for each other. Simple lang naman.”

 

Written in Taglish, the writing style is relatively uncomplicated and straightforward as well, much like how Joseph sounds—except he throws in the occasional jokes and snickers while talking.

 

He got the idea for “Spiking the Pain” last year when the #series became a trending niche on the site. Joseph, again with his spontaneousness, decided to hop along, and thus, “Spiking the Pain” was born accompanied by four others. He chose that his characters revolve around athletes, hence the title, The Varsity Series. He admits that this was just a random choice along with the plot and characters. It would usually take 2-4 hours to compose a single chapter, in which he would write “whatever comes to mind.”

 

Though it was never in his plan to get published, Joseph caught a glimpse of the opportunity when he saw online posts about a publishing company taking in manuscripts from independent writers. Encouraged, Joseph handed over his manuscript, and to his surprise, got immediately approved. At that time, he had already written three stories on Wattpad, but he said that “Spiking the Pain” was the most deserving to get published because it was written best among the three.  

 

After two months of editing and revising, the book was finally published. Since its release in March, Joseph has already sold over 100 copies. For the 18-year-old, it was already something to be incredibly proud of. The young author stays humble though, saying, “Sobrang fulfilling. Masayang makatapos ka ng libro, pero mas masayang mahawakan mo yung sarili mong libro.”

 

As for the future, Joseph has yet to write them. He postponed his studies this year after graduating high school and plans to work, but expressed his dreams of becoming an accountant someday. Joseph says that he will continue writing as it is something that he thoroughly enjoys. “Gusto ko talaga ‘yong mga types of activities na nagpapataba ng utak, maybe that’s one of the reasons kaya I got into writing,” he said. Joseph plans to publish The Varsity Series completely once finished.