Wattpad | Pen Shy

I created an account on Wattpad because, like how I found Mibba after Quizilla, I found a story I really enjoyed that I had been searching for on that site. I had hopes it would bring me back some of my creative writing juice mojo but now I'm just a bit pen shy about publishing under my real name instead of my pen name. Which is ridiculous I guess, because I've always had in the back of my mind plans of publishing prior to this.

I guess I still just have this silly, adolescent fear that I'll publish it and someone who I know is going to read it. Which would sound like an okay idea, right? Well, my past history of people whom I know reading my stories hasn't been the best. In middle school I accidentally left my notebook in math class and a boy found it, and turned it in to the guidance counselor. It was a story about a teenager feeling sad and alone in an alcoholic household. That was a fun experience.

Then like I had posted a few weeks ago, my boyfriend found my writing. He incessantly picks on me anyways, and I don't want him to read my stuff and make fun of me for it. I put it off like I have a thick skin but sometimes my writing is a soft spot. My father read some of my writing before and got butthurt because it was about him and the resulting argument was horrific.

Honestly, if I want the people in my life to read my work, I usually hand it over to them. Those have been success stories. I can't just believe people are so immature.

Has this happened to anyone else?