How Vocal Challenges Made Me a Better Writer

I made a “Fresh Start” by doing some “Good Deeds” and noting them diligently in a “Little Black Book”.

Confused? Well, “Fresh Start”, “Good Deeds” and “Little Black Book” are some of the amazing Vocal challenges in which I participated in the last two weeks. And I must say these challenges brought out the killer instincts within me making me a better writer in the process.

That said, when I joined Vocal around 2 weeks back, I had zero expectations from the platform. After all, prima facie, it just looks like one of many online platforms available today for writers to write their stuff and earn some money in the process. And similar to other platforms, Vocal pays its writers on a read basis. The more your writing is read, the more you are paid. Simple as that!

However, here is where the similarity ends. Vocal is different (or shall I say unique) from the other platforms by its offering of 'challenges'. Simply put, a challenge works like a cue or a theme based on which you need to craft a story. This is the ultimate test of your creativity as a writer because you need to unleash your storytelling skills within the confines of a restrained well-defined theme that you cannot cross.

And Vocal gives you endless challenges, each with its own conditions, themes, and of course big prizes. I participated in four different challenges in the last weeks and each participation not only improved my perspective as a writer but also gave me the chance to ‘forcefully’ push myself out of the comfort zone of writing.

Here are some ways in which Vocal challenges helped me to be a better writer.

I developed the habit of free writing

Free writing as the name suggests means exactly the same. You choose a topic and choose a time when you can write uninterrupted. Set an alarm to remind you, and sit down to write about whatever comes to your mind when the alarm goes off — no matter what.

In fact, this was precisely what the famous writer Isaac Asimov did when he was asked to write a short story extempore. Asimov appeared in a TV show in which his fellow panellists were John Hansen, a technical writer of space machinery and author David Woodbury.

During the show, David challenged Asimov to write a story of machinery and space. Asimov accepted the challenge and took exactly half an hour to complete the story just before the program ended.

And the result was Insert Knob A in Hole B, a short story of 350 words, describing the funny travails of two spacemen who had no clue how to operate space equipment sent to them.

Vocal challenges help you achieve the dream of free writing by giving you a structured theme and the story cues within which you can unleash your creativity.

Your world becomes the theme and the story cues create the framework that helps you to create your very own, original, well-crafted story. This not only helps you propagate your perspective as a writer but also gives you a fighting chance to be recognized for your work.

I learned constructive discomfort

Noted psychologist Vygotsky argued in 1978 that learning is most effective within the ‘zone of proximal development. ‘Proximal development is a space residing slightly beyond a learner’s current knowledge base and skills level, but still within the reach of the inquisitive learner wanted to learn something new.

In simple words, we are talking about discomfort here, constructive discomfort. And this is one of the core prerequisites to be creative in any field. After all, being creative requires doing something that has not been done before. If you are not willing to do something new, then it is hard to be creative.

That said, creativity in any field also requires knowledge. For example, if I need to write an article about the Vocal challenge “Blacks in business”, I need to research and find out the achievements of leading Black creators and entrepreneurs, their struggles, their victories, and finally their recognition for their stupendous work. Research is the bedrock for any good writing. Without proper and authenticated details, your piece of writings is just mere speculation.

In a nutshell, Vocal challenges not only help you gain knowledge in an area completely alien to you but also encourage you to add your own unique writer’s perspective to that field that you can share with the world with pride. Every challenge is an opportunity for you to delve into the constructive discomfort mode and create something new.

The more you are in discomfort, the more you would be better as a writer. Simple as that!

Lastly, I learned to be a disciplined writer

Many of us have the wrong view that the discipline of following standards and conventions stifles creativity. Nothing can be further than the truth. Unorganized creativity leads to chaos and chaos most often does not bring results.

In a 15-year work at NASA labs, Mcgarry and Pajerski reported that methods and tools that emphasize human discipline have been especially effective. Many highly creative people have been extremely disciplined. They work under the constraints of time, material, and cost and know how to optimally use them.

For example, when Michael Angelo designed the ceiling for the Sistine Chapel, he divided it into symmetrical collections of rectangles, circles, and squares. He designed it in three zones corresponding to three independent stages. Without this self-imposed discipline, the 300 human figures would have been a cacophony of chaos and confusion, rather than the coherent elements of an artistic masterpiece.

Coming to writing, you can be a disciplined writer by following the ‘Priority Principle ‘of the famous US psychologist Robert Boice.

The priority principle states that ‘Which can be delayed need not be. Decide which recurrent, daily activities you enjoy and make them contingent on doing a valued or delayed task first.’

In simple words, if you are not writing as much you intend to write, then you are not making writing a priority. And in order to make writing a priority, attach a contingent daily task as punishment, the day you do not write. Writing thus gains when you do so.

For example, you plan to write 2 hours every day without fail. And let us say you failed to keep up your commitment on Friday. Therefore, as a punishment, you forgo your favourite daily activity (say play tennis) on that day. This way writing gains and becomes a priority in your life.

Boice calls this approach as Contingency management or the Critical Ensurer.

And Vocal challenges help you to be disciplined and meet your writing commitment by giving something new and exciting for your brain cells to work on every day. The challenges not only eliminate the ‘punishment’ aspect of writing but also make it a fun activity that you relish doing every single hour.

Remember without discipline, you cannot be a good writer. Successful writers have established routines in place that channelize their creative energies and derive results out of them in the best possible way.

About the author-:

Mythili is a programmer by passion and a connoisseur of fine arts like painting, calligraphy, and pottery. She writes in the twilight between relationships, creativity, and human behavior.