Screw Vocal Etiquette

I recently read a top vocal story by an author I love. This author puts work that tops itself every time and has at least two top stories a month; I love her voice and her writing. However, I have some thoughts on one of her articles, and that's how you know it's excellent writing; it inspired me to write something myself. So if she happens to read this, I want her to know that I admire her almost religiously.

As for Vocal etiquette, screw Vocal etiquette. I have loved being on Vocal, or at least I loved Vocal the second time. I was on Vocal a couple of years ago and put out ten pages of writing and expected people to fawn at my feet. I was distraught not to receive more reads and likes. Therefore, I quit. Then not to mention, I was a nurse during covid, so I didn't give my writing much more thought. This brings me to now; I have been engaging and writing daily. I have found that on Vocal, you get what you put in. I even joined the Vocal Discord, which was a learning curve. (I accidentally nominated myself for the top story because I didn't read the rules, luckily, someone kindly pointed it out, and I was able to rectify that situation quickly.)

From what I can tell, most people pay to be on Vocal+, for that extra money per read, for the other perks. I paid to be on Vocal+ to keep myself accountable to me. I needed to buy into the community to make sure I engaged more. This brings me to something hard to do, comment. I read quite a few of the stories and articles on the latest stories page, and sometimes, I have difficulty thinking of a good comment, or sometimes I worry that the comment I want to leave would be too "simple." Leaving a comment is an effort to let the person know, "Hey, I read this, and I liked it."

I get thrilled with that pop-up that says you have a comment. Even the comments that tell me, "I liked this; please check out my story." Why do I like these self-serving comments? Because I love a person who is happy to show me their work. Yes, it's a bit transactional, but we can only pretend that some relationships aren't transactional. This exchange is more like school kids showing their parents their artwork, "Hey, look what I made, I am proud of it, and I want to share it with someone." Would I leave a comment like that? Probably not. I am not that bold, though I wish I were.

How amazing is it that we get to be a part of a community that can all be proud of the things we create, and we are excited to show each other those things we create? I read something written by a dude in Glasglow the other day. I was amazed by the power of the internet and how wonderful it is to connect to people. We are all here connecting across the world.

So please, comment, and be excited to show me what you created. If all you want to comment is, "I read this, and I liked it," I would be more than happy to receive that comment. If you read my work and don't like it, I would like to hear it. I love a good shit post; they say you haven't made it until you have haters. I don't know who said it, but someone sure did.

I have been the type of person who wrote and thought that every thought I had was pure gold. I have been humbled and realized we are all just screaming into a void, trying to be heard. I hear you, I see you. Keep writing, or don't. Live life intentionally, on your terms. And for crying out loud, screw Vocal etiquette.