Lessons Learned After Landing 50 Stories on Vocal

My maiden flight took off from a small village near the very noble, always faithful, and invincible Porto city back in November 2020. On that foggy winter morning, at the mighty shores of the Atlantic, I first gave food to thought and allowed my restless mind to sail across the jetstream of Vocal's skies.

I lost visual contact with the ground at take-off and immediately felt the adrenaline rush crossing through my veins. My heart was pumping hard as my mind became overwhelmed by altitude wooziness.

Vocalborn

The Atlantic and the sky above shared the same dreamy nebulae, and I was flying on instruments because of the thick haze. There wasn't a single soul in sight; it was just me and the abyss of my imagination.

I earned my Vocal creator wings, and there I was, both hands struggling with the speed of thought as my dual jet-engines roared towards higher plains in a frenzy of inspiration.

My mind was achieving singularity; I was the master of creation as my fingers flickered across the keyboard like swallows on a breezy morning.

In the harshest of winters, suddenly, it felt like springtime had arrived as I joined a swallows' flock leading me away from the mist until I could feel the warm light of the sun on the horizon.

Fearless wings

Weeks passed, spring was about, and I was flying back to the middle of the Atlantic to visit Corvo, the smallest island in the Azores, a stroke of green in the vastness of the ocean's azure. Blue skies above, indigo waves below.

I was a fearless writer with more than forty flights under my belt. Hence I said farewell to the swallows as they flocked along the shoreline and joined the seagulls flying low above the waves towards that beacon of hope standing proud where once the Atlantians ruled supreme.

I never saw it coming, but my first milestone was just around the corner. I flew three missions that day, and without noticing it, I closed in on the objective.

Last Sunday, I embarked on a new chapter of my Vocal journey that took me to the Los Angeles Convention Center. After a smooth fly-by, while returning home, I had an unsuspecting feeling of mission accomplished.

The following morning, after I got into my flying suit, I walked to the hangar and saw the golden lettering on my "Vocalcraft" fuselage:

I couldn't believe it; hence I rushed to check my logbook, and there it was, I had completed 50 Vocal missions, and the Overwatch team back at the Vocal Traffic Control Tower awarded me that prize. Again, I felt my heart pounding, overwhelmed with joy, as I couldn't have made it without their unconditional support and gallantry.

Lessons learned

I recalled every mission looking for meaningful lessons to share with this league of extraordinary creators, in hindsight. The following flight-plan sums up my findings so far.

Master your craft

I've barely started walking the opening mile; hence there's a long hard road ahead. Nevertheless, I realize that to succeed on Vocal, we need to own our craft and write each story thoughtfully to resonate with the reader like clockwork. Therefore I polish my stories like a goldsmith in the subtle art of modeling thoughts into words.

Write a meaningful story:

To earn my wings, I had to be honest with myself, think outside the box, and abandon my comfort zone; I embraced my inner-self, defeating the overwhelming reluctance to unveil my deepest feelings. I realized how the utmost mind-blowing experiences come from our core. Only then, I started writing with all my heart!

This insight was a game-changer. Thus, I have already decided on the route to follow here on Vocal. Even if it means walking a rocky path, I plan to become a better craftsman of words and always focus on conveying meaningful stories to my readers.

Final Thoughts

The journey on Vocal made me realize the alchemy of earworms and the "cyclic-redundancy" factor. Vocal empowered my will to say "not today" to procrastination so that I could write without fear and edit without mercy.

• Make sure your story relates to personal experience, knowledge, or skills;
• Strive to highlight what the reader can gain from your insight;
• Look for ways to apply your writing to real-world scenarios;
• Never lose track of your conceptual cornerstone while moving along the story arc.

We are Vocal creators; hence we carry in our hearts the everlasting spark of Seshat, the writing goddess and scribe of the gods. I've explained here how the brain works with the same wattage of a smartphone charger. Thus, if you believe in yourself, success is just around the corner. You've got the power!

"The human brain is the most elaborate simple structure in the known universe. The utmost perfect yet imperfect cognitive force we have encountered." By the author, in Vocal.

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Thanks for reading this article. Please feel free to come back at any time and pick up another thread from my Vocal book of content by clicking HERE. Small tips and big hearts are highly appreciated. Till next time, cheers.

-Rui