One Whole Year On Vocal

On January 23 2020, I released my first article. A year later I have submitted over 100 articles, and writing on this platform has proven to be a successful venture for my writing career to prosper.

2020 was the year that marked by many life-changing events, it was the year I started my mark as a writer. My book, Inglorious Ink was released on Amazon, and after two years of hard work, it was done. I was excited to go to book signings, and see where the my role as an author would take me. But, I also had to make the decision to see what other jobs I could have as writer for growth and have a stable financial income until that finance influx would come from the fictional stories I create.

I found Vocal when I was scrolling through Instagram, it kept popping up through my feed. Out of curiosity, I went onto the Instagram page and checked out what it was about to see if it was official. I saw that it was indeed an official, self-employed, safe, writing outlet that people used. I had it verified for me, and I decided to see what the actual website looked like on how people published their article work.

I remember the night before I did my first article. I went onto the website and I saw all the different categories of where you could write to. I looked at the categories that intrigued me and it made me feel good knowing that I could start anywhere I wanted to, and I looked at all the different pieces that people created and seeing how diverse it was. I read through a couple of articles that people published to get an idea on how to make something casual but prominent to be intrigued for someone to continue to read. But, I did feel a bit of apprehension; I felt small because I wasn’t sure if I could write something like these people could do. Because I was only a writer of fiction, and never really a writer for opinion pieces.

But, I knew in my gut that this was something I had to at least try, I opted to write something that would be easy and intriguing. I decided that my first article would be something that I’m familiar with and that’s making commentaries and recommendations to various TV shows and movies that I watch. My first article was, Maniac: The Sympathetic Sci-Fi

When I began writing the article about Maniac, I felt the knowledge pour out of me to elaborate on the thesis for the show. I never had the outlet to be able to creatively talk about what I find interesting. Within an hour I had my first article done, I submitted it, and I waited.

I was nervous to wonder if the article would even be considered to be published. Within several hours, my first article was out into the website to be viewed by others. I continued to test what I could commentate on a topic of my choice with several other pieces that pertained to music to recommend, various underrated movies, and analyzing various stories of graphic novels. It was a relief to know that I could make the topic, I could make my own deadlines, and I could grow myself as a writer. I thought I knew what my writing style was a writer, I continued to discover what I could do to creatively and eloquently discuss a topic.

In June 2020, I was surprised when I checked my emails to see I had several from Vocal. I received an email telling me that I had reached over one thousand reads, and I found that one of my articles got a staff pick, and a $10 tip. I started to get recognition for the work I did, that feeling of success was something that I hadn't had in quite some time.

My first $10 tip and staff pick was for LGBT songs that should be on you playlist for pride. I've never had recognition in that fashion before, that was the first time I could truly take pride in my work.

My first Instagram shout-out was for The Self Obsession with Psyche Imperfection. It was unexpected to see that this article made it all the way to be presented for others on the audience of Instagram to see.

The most successful I've had in my work in Vocal was in November with, My Experience Of Not Shaving For 27 Days. That took me by surprised to see a staff pick, a $10 tip, and Instagram spotlight.

This venture onto Vocal has been the most successful gamble I've ever done as a creator. I have been able to use Vocal to talk about topics I've been planning to talk about, but I never found how I could or where I could. It has changed my life to continue to work on myself as a writer and be rewarded. I can tell people I have a job where I create articles that people read. I've gotten comments where people have thanked me for writing on a topic that made their day.

If you've debated writing for Vocal or second-guessed continuing to write for vocal, after you are finished reading this article, I encourage you to keep going. It's more then just putting out pieces on the internet to make money off of. It's an experience to know that people will want to read what you create. You are going to be apart of the system that makes the mark and brings a unique voice to others that want to hear something innovated.

You are that innovator, and you will have that success by starting your stride for stories with Vocal.