Go Big or Go Home

Last year was an amazing ride for me on Vocal. I went from mostly silent to publishing almost 36k words here (not counting all the crap writing that didn't make it)! Twenty-four stories, seven of which made top story, one that made runner up for one of the challenges, and one that made it to the final round for Vocal's annual writing awards. I feel so blessed. It's hard to put into words the euphoria one feels when seeing something they've worked hard on being enjoyed and at times praised by people who don't owe you a thing.

A lot of my Vocal achievements are owed to some of the really cool writers I've met on this platform. People like Dharrsheena who are not only great writers but are willing to leave positive feedback and comments. People like L.C. that want to read, that seek out other good authors and recommend their stories. People like Judy and Mackenzie who encourage collaborations between writers or come up with challenges of their own to hone your skills on. I've read solid fiction, poetry, critiques, heart wrenching true stories, how-to's and how-do-you-do's, blogs, and even recipes. This site is bursting with amazing talents. Just knowing that some of these writers also enjoy my work feels like an incredible achievement to me.

I also self-published my first full novel, over 94k words to Amazon's Kindle Vella and Wattpad. Though I took it down from both sites after a few months, that novel will always be special to me. With it I was able to experience many things that first time novelists do, such as paying to have it edited, writing a query letter and paying someone to go over it. Finding beta readers and marketing, building social media pages and even my own website. I submitted around 50 queries to agents and so far I've tallied about 30 rejection letters.

But that doesn't discourage me. Someday I'll experience the thrill of being published too.

Writing on vocal has taught me to appreciate the writing process for what it is: A learning curve. For me, it's been a fun experience. In the past, my writing stayed within the genre lines of horror and dark fantasies, but last year, I wrote a few poems and haikus, dabbled in comedy and mystery, pushed myself to step outside my comfort zone. I am a better writer now than I was in 2023. I will continue to get better. I'm actually enjoying a lot of what I write!

This year, I want to do more. I'd like to dabble a bit in romance and tragedy, sharpen my skills in poetry, learn to write lyrics for songs. I want to have at least 12 top stories, 3 runner ups and win a challenge. I'd like to grow my fan base. I want to push myself to write more, at least a little every day. Vocal challenges are great for encouraging that. I'm working on a new novel, and I'd like to have that finished before autumn this year.

Last, but far from least, I'd like to continue to be supportive of the fantastic writers here. To that end, I'm committing to reading at least 15 Vocal stories per week. Everytime I see a new, wonderful story, it motivates me to write more too. I already try to leave supportive comments, but let me know if you'd like more. I'd be more than happy to provide constructive feedback if asked, and I promise I'm never rude or insensitive. I want to see you succeed as much as I want to succeed. Vocal is nothing if not a community of writers helping other writers!