Maybe I Just Need To Stop Writing On Vocal

I have three stories awaiting approval on Vocal, one has been waiting more than a week despite several emails. It’s not controversial or anything , just about a rock band , The Grateful Dead, but they haven’t rejected or published it. Possibly by the time this is published it may be out there.

But to the point of this particular Vocal article or story or whatever you want to call it, I read most of my Vocal stories from what I see in the excellent Facebook groups that I will hopefully remember to list at the end of this piece.

I subscribe to a lot of people but actually prefer to use the Subscription Feed to pick and choose stories. This was particularly useful when Facebook went down (which I wrote about here) and is a great way to pick and choose your stories.

But I do prefer to read stories in my Facebook groups and then be able to directly interact.

That’s the point of this story , if I have to write I find it very difficult to fit in reading , but this morning I felt absolutely no pressure to write (two big for me stories and a short poem awaiting publication) so I put a Best of Philip Glass album on and listened and read quite a few Vocal stories , gave them my full attention, and benefitted for what I took in.

This is what we need to do , try to make time to enjoy reading and not see it as something we need to do , rather something we really want to do. Reading should be pleasurable , though certainly at school it was often drab and boring with such tomes as “Return of the Native'' by Thomas Hardy but we were given “The Hobbit” by JRR Tolkien which was the first book length book that I had enjoyed in school,

I suppose listening to music goes hand in hand with reading a book , if you are reading “Lord of the Rings” maybe the Howard Shore soundtracks should do , but any good classical piece could accompany that book. The thing is reading a novel or a story is just to take you into the world that the author has started for you.

Your mind has to complete the world for you to fully appreciate what you have been given , be it a short story or series on Vocal or some classic novel taken from your local library.

The thing is, a book or a story needs your attention. You shouldn’t be distracted thinking you really need to be writing that next installment or chapter, although you may obviously get ideas while you read. I usually do, and maybe that is a possible solution to some creators when they get writer's block.

The thing is I enjoy reading so much more when I can give it my full attention.

Since joining Vocal as well as my very small contribution I have discovered a treasure trove of reading material on a very wide range of subjects. When I first joined I thought “Challenge Money” , now it’s friends , love , and some great poetry , fiction , series and practical advice. The Vocal Creators Chronicle is an incredible unofficial but highly professional resource that I am always dropping into for entertainment and information, and in all honesty Vocal reading and interaction has become my reason for logging onto Facebook.

So every so often I need to stop writing and start reading. So I have chosen "Sit Down" by James because you should just sit down and read

My Favourite Vocal Groups

Vocal Social Society

The Vocal Creators Support Group

Vocal Cafe

Vocal Creators Social Media Support

Vocal Progressive Group For Writers And Readers

Vocal Media Creators Hub