Draft
Just Another Monstrous Woman . Runner-Up in Not Quite There Yet Challenge. Top Story - June 2026.
I started this short story a year ago. For a different challenge. And was inspired by the story of Medea. And there really wasn’t anything wrong with it, I really loved writing it until I started to second guess myself. I’ve included what I had written below, as well as my thoughts about why it never fully got finished.
By Lane Burns3 months ago in Critique
Selene
Perhaps it was a dream, she thought. Perhaps if she pinched herself, she would wake up. But she didn't want to wake up. She wanted to stay in this dream world where the sores in her mouth and throat didn't hurt. Where she didn’t have to suck on ice chips to drink water. Sarah wanted this world where the sun didn’t burn her and her hair blew in the wind.
By Analesia Giammusso3 months ago in Critique
My Vocal Drafts Folder
Looking through my drafts on Vocal is always an interesting process. I've been on this site for a good few years now, and I'm glad to say that the ratio between finished and unfinished stories is pretty good. With that said, there are still plenty of unfinished stories in my draft folder.
By Natasja Rose3 months ago in Critique
The Dream Dasher/The Writer's Commandments
I started writing this novel the weekend after my 20th Birthday. My twin had passed away 3 months earlier, and I had laughed for the first time since the day before, when Mum, on the phone to a family friend who had a history of accidentally spilling secrets, accidentally blurted out the destination of my birthday trip.
By Natasja Rose3 months ago in Critique
Masie Adams. Content Warning.
I never wanted to come back to Garden City. Everyone here hates me because I won't play by their stupid rules. As luck would have it, when I went to the Pig to pick up some essentials, I had the misfortune of picking the same shopping day as Betty Blanchard Johnson. You'd think being a Blanchard was an accomplishment, that it requires a special skill set to be a Blanchard even though there's more Blanchards in these parts than there are Pinckneys in Charleston.
By Harper Lewis 4 months ago in Critique
Acoustic Dead Zone
The Draft: "The Echo Cabinet" The setting is an isolated maritime salvage yard on a jagged, rain-slicked stretch of the Scottish coast known as The Needle. The protagonist is James, a sixty-year-old widower who spends his days dismantling the rotting timber and rusted iron hulls of old fishing trawlers. He lives alone in a cottage built from the ballast stones of forgotten ships.
By Mara Edwards4 months ago in Critique
Camp VHS: The Story That Never Was. Honorable Mention in Not Quite There Yet Challenge. Content Warning.
Not quite there, sigh. For the Stay a While Challenge , I wanted to craft a two-part story set in an isolated Iowa Summer Camp. The 3,000-word limit didn't allow for the necessary world-building, contextual character development, and savvy twist in the final act, so I sought to split Camp VHS's complete story into two separate submissions.
By Edward Swafford4 months ago in Critique
A Tale Unfinished
This challenge is a bit different than the others I have entered. If I am able to bring some organization to my often chaotic thoughts, I hope this article will help not only me, but other amateur writers out there who have the same struggles. There has to be more than me, right?
By Elizabeth Diehl4 months ago in Critique
Goodnight, Sweet Prince . Content Warning.
Susan pulled her car, loaded down with all of her worldly belongings, into Trey's driveway behind his car. As she approached the house, she noticed a line of ants marching over the walkway, not having the sense to go around the crack that every third or fourth ant fell into. There was a dead bird under the dogwood tree, and the ants were working hard, taking treasure back to their queen.
By Harper Lewis 4 months ago in Critique
