‘After’ Author Anna Todd Is a One Direction Fangirl Too! Inside Her Journey From Wattpad to the Big Screen (Exclusive)

Before there was the After book series and the subsequent films, Anna Todd was simply publishing her story chapter by chapter from her iPhone on Wattpad. What began as a One Direction fanfiction based on Harry Styles soon evolved into the bestselling story about Tessa Young and Hardin Scott. 

Todd, who didn’t know what would become of her creative endeavor, quickly became Wattpad’s biggest and most influential success. Her chapters accumulated over 1.5 billion reads on the platform and her story was one of the platform’s first global sensations. Now, with several movies and books under her belt, Todd is going on to produce more projects, including the upcoming House of Crowns show.

Woman’s World recently spoke with the author about her journey from Wattpad to the big screen, what she loves about fanfiction and her favorite One Direction members—because Anna Todd is a fangirl too. 

Woman’s World: The first thing you published was the Harry Styles fanfiction—why was he the subject?

Anna Todd: I genuinely don’t think I would have ever written if it wasn’t a Harry fanfiction, because I was reading so much of it. I was reading romance outside of Wattpad also, but I was already a fan. We didn’t really have a glimpse into their [One Direction’s] personalities, but there was something about him that was so charming and enchanting, and it scratched something in my brain, even though my character is the complete opposite of the real Harry.

WW: Was Harry your favorite member of One Direction?

Anna Todd: Harry [Styles] and Liam [Payne]. And then Zayn [Malik] was the most beautiful creature. 

WW: Had you been interested in writing before you started publishing chapters on Wattpad or was this just a hobby?

Anna Todd: It was just a hobby, but I also had no idea what I wanted to do either. My son was young and had a lot of medical conditions, so it was just a hobby and escapism from life…This was something that I did for myself for the first time in a long time. After writing that first chapter, I thought ‘That felt really good,’ and then I just kept doing it. 

WW: What is it that you like about fan fiction?

Anna Todd: I’m a zero or one hundred person when I love something—whether it’s a band, an actor, a TV show, a film, or another book series—when it’s over, I’m not ready for it to be over. I love Twilight, for example. I could read 1,000 different versions of those characters, and at the end, they’re always together. It’s the comfort of staying in a world that you already love. 

WW: Do you feel like writing fan fiction on Wattpad is a good place to get started if you want to be a writer?

Anna Todd: Definitely. It’s a good place to start. Realistically, it’s hard to be discovered on the internet, no matter what, but I also think going into a query situation, if you have 10,000 reads [on Wattpad], it gives you leverage. So I definitely think at least trying to build a community, you can learn about your own writing. 

WW: What books are you reading right now?

Anna Todd: I try to read [books] far away from what I’m writing at the moment, so I just finished Brain Damage by Freida McFadden. Cassandra Clare has a book called The Last King of Faerie and I read everything she writes. She’s my number one living author of all time. I love her. 

WW: Everyone always talks about After, but you’ve written several other books. Which of those would you love to see adapted into a series or film?

Anna Todd: We were brainstorming about Nothing More and Nothing Less, but after Liam Payne [died], I was like, I can’t do that. Not only for my own mental health and my own sadness, but just in general, it felt like crossing a line. The only thing I have that has not sold is The Spring Girls. I just love retellings. It’s a Little Women retelling, but it’s modern. I would like to see that one. 

WW: What’s your favorite trope to write about?

Anna Todd: I love enemies to lovers, but I definitely look at it a bit differently now. With After, for example, that was like hatred to lovers. I would still do [enemies to lovers], just a shorter period of enemies and it’s not as cutthroat. I do love rivals. One of my tropes in the House of Crowns series is rivals to lovers, which I like because then it’s competitive for a reason. Lately, I’ve also been playing a lot with classism and wealth, which isn’t that romantic and fun, but I love the trope of people coming from different worlds and falling in love despite that.