Vocal Curation Team
Bio
Collaborative, conscious, and committed to content. We're rounding up the best that the Vocal network has to offer.
Stories (140/0)
Dancing with Distraction Challenge Winners
Acrostics are one of the first writing exercises we do as children and are often forgotten soon after. Maybe it's their apparent simplicity that leaves them behind as writers scour the landscape for an interesting form in which to put their thoughts. But (I'm sure you can guess what's coming), we think acrostics are wonderful vessels for writing because of their restriction. And, as with all Challenge prompts that promote limitation, we, the judges, are always looking for those Creators who embrace the prompt rather than work around it.
By Vocal Curation Team10 months ago in Resources
Word Hunt Challenge Winners
This Challenge reaffirmed two core tenets at Vocal. The first is that we love working with Creators in coming up with Challenges and the second is that the simplest of prompts- use three words found in a puzzle - will yield spectacular results.
By Vocal Curation Team10 months ago in Resources
Melodic Milestone Playlist Challenge Winners
We were so excited to see this idea presented in our Shape The Future of Vocal Challenges series. We had been kicking the idea of writing about music and playlists around for a while but couldn't think up the right structure for a Challenge. With your help, we got the push we needed to come up with the right formula. Part story, part playlist, this contest was meant to give voice to what so many of us possess- those deeply rooted songs that shaped us and continue to shape us, the ones that give sound to our fondest memories and the tunes that we turn to when we need musical solace.
By Vocal Curation Team10 months ago in Resources
Microfiction Magic Challenge Winners
Call it flash, micro, or any other tiny phrase. However you view it, writing as much with as few words as possible is (at least to us, for this Challenge) the gold standard of creative fiction. What makes Challenges (and challenges) like these so enjoyable to read and participate in is the same thing that makes all fiction enjoyable: making every word count. Once a story becomes waterlogged with extra emotion, extra words, extra extra, our interest flags and we tend to stop reading.
By Vocal Curation Team11 months ago in Resources
Unexpected Uncovering Challenge Winners
This Challenge inspired some incredibly inventive unexpected uncoverings! And we know this is no simple feat as it's never easy to destabilize a relationship in a fresh and new way. From serious illnesses to serial killers on the weekends to silly little traits that grow to become impossible to ignore, we never knew there were so many ways to be surprised by a partner.
By Vocal Curation Team11 months ago in Resources
Sensational Challenge Winners
At Vocal, we're always going on and on about the freedoms of limitation and how walls and decisions and editing make great art. But sometimes you just need to let your creative hair down, throw some paint at the wall. This was one of our more open prompts, free for interpretation, few limits, just give us a poem, a sense of the senses.
By Vocal Curation Team11 months ago in Resources
Polish Your Prose: Vocal's Writing Tips Crib Sheet
At Vocal, we’re keen to help you succeed in your work—not just in Challenges, but throughout all of your writing across the site. To that end, we’ve put together a few notes on the fundamentals of punctuation, dialogue, and grammar. Really, it’s about getting a handle on those fiddly bits of language and mysterious laws of prose (and, let’s face it, we could all use the occasional reminder). Of course, the rules of grammar are only a beginning, and most of all we want you to develop your own unique and exciting voice; but if you’re ever in doubt about errant commas or pesky apostrophes, we hope it can be of help. Happy writing!
By Vocal Curation Team11 months ago in Resources
Sky's The Limit Challenge Winners
Who knew so many things could fly? From birds to planes, vampires to blimps, spaceships to souls, we read an incredible array of flight-themed stories. One common aspect of many submissions was to use time in flight for thought. Scorned lovers worked out their feelings, evil doers schemed, children dreamed. There's something about planes specifically that leave us feeling liminal. Can't do much up there at 35,000 feet so may as well work out what's been on our mind. We loved this take on the prompt because it was so true to reality. But we always love a lot about our Creators' submissions, from your fresh protagonists and deep life lessons to the (somehow) new ways you come up with to describe a sunset.
By Vocal Curation Team12 months ago in Resources
Tautogram Challenge Winners
Write a poem where every word starts with the same letter. Seems simple enough. After all, a poem can be... anything. How hard can it be? Well, we tried and, turns out, it's really hard! Sure, stringing some words together that begin with the same letter is easy, but creating a poetic energy, a story, a feeling, that's hard, really hard.
By Vocal Curation Team12 months ago in Resources
Broken Mirror Challenge Winners
What makes a mirror so primed for horror? What is it about looking at ourselves that is so discomfiting? As humans, we contain so much beneath the surface and yet we are made to contain it all, pretty much always. And so, we have our faces, our bodies, what we present to the world, but that's just the surface, that's not really what's going on. All of the real stuff, the thoughts, the desires, the lies, the truths, they need to be let out, actively, brought up to our mouths, spoken, shown off. We need to bring our insides out.
By Vocal Curation Teamabout a year ago in Resources