Vocal: You get what you give

Life is busy and my time is not always my own, so the time I spend writing or reading others’ work, is very precious to me.

So not aspiration, but ‘hope’ is my goal.

I hope to enter as many challenges as I can on Vocal.

Do I hope to win? Of course, but there are a lot of creators out there with some amazing ideas. I am often humbled by what is out there and more so when I get feedback from someone who clearly has more talent than me.

I hope to read as many stories as I can to support creators I am subscribed to and encourage those who are new to this great creative platform. I feel guilty that I don’t read and comment enough, especially when my life gets busy, even more guilty than ghosting my own family on Facebook.

I have some very pressing issues that inhibit my time on Vocal. One is a project I started with my daughter. It has taken close to ten years to get to a stage where it is practical and that’s way too long, and I often wonder why my wife puts up with it. The project is a food truck, which we will run together. The other is a book I wrote that I keep fiddling with because I still think it’s weird that I wrote it. I have spoken about it before and had it edited, but as the great procrastinator that I am, I keep putting it aside. Throw in family and work, and my day is full.

One of the great things that keep me on Vocal are the challenges, because they have a word limit and a deadline. I am the worst kind of procrastinator. I don’t just start one thing and not finish that, I have many things started, or in the planning stages. I do things for people that they could probably do themselves. When I get an idea (not writing), I obsess over it and find the bits to make it a possibility, then start the process of construction, then stop and wonder why I started in the first place. That’s what happened with my novel. I really must finish that.

Vocal challenges give me focus.

Looking at my stats from 2021 compared to 2023, reminds me how badly, I misunderstood how this site works. I entered challenges, read other submissions, hearted, but I subscribed to no one. For the first 2 years and 15 stories, I had 20 reads in total and only a couple of comments.

That's on me.

Finally, I think it was ‘Mikey Dred’, Babs Iverson or Heather Hubler, who got me to join ‘Vocal Social Society’. This was my introduction to caring and sharing. That community helped me to become a better Vocal member. I felt grown up.

I look forward to the small interactions I have with likeminded creators that live thousands of kilometres from me or just a few hundred.

The downside is, that I have some really good stories that almost no one has read. Never mind.

This writing thing came to me a little late, so if I am to aspire to anything, it is to live long enough to really enjoy what I have come to love and to improve my writing. I am not prolific in my output, but when I get an idea or there is a prompt from a challenge that intrigues me, then I am usually pretty happy with what comes; or I don’t publish it (you’ll never know).

As for the mechanics of how Vocal works and makes decisions, I wouldn’t have a clue.

I remember my first top story. I woke up to a ping on my phone in the middle of the night from one of my subscribers, probably Mike (We get things a weird times down here). I was so happy, and I didn’t even win anything.

I kinda don’t want Vocal to get too big. I don’t make space for many people in my life and this community gives me a connection without too much drama. I feel guilty not commenting and reading enough now; what happens when it's so big, I lose the friends I've made.

That's me being selfish

In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy the ride, wherever it takes me.

Thanks for listening.