So You Didn't Win the Little Black Book Challenge

I'm going to take a moment to untangle myself from this blanket and write a shout-out to my posse, the writers who did not win Vocal's Little Black Book Challenge. Sure the down payment on a house will have to wait, but there's gotta be something good that comes out of this, right? Something more than the 87 cents I made off the views for my story. When we signed up to Vocal, we joined a community, so we don't have to go through this alone. Let's lick our wounds together.

First off, a big congratulations to the winners. These stories were thoughtful, well-written, and surprisingly ones I hadn't seen before. I was especially excited to see that grand prize winner Jess Sambuco was a newbie like me, winning the $20,000 prize with her first-ever Vocal submission. How cool is that? My fantasy is that she is as down on her luck as most of the characters in our stories and the prize money is life-changing. It would be fun to hear from her and I'm dying to figure out if she's a Nikola Tesla fan, as her story reminded me and my wife of his quirky obsession with the number three.

A Higher Purpose

I would have never found Vocal or The Little Blackbook Challenge if it weren't for their relentless marketing on Facebook. I usually scroll on by, but this ad caught my eye. $20,000 was enough to motivate me to take a chance and try my hand at fiction. I was really proud of the result and I told myself that if I won it was a sign that I was meant to write and that I should put in the effort to build an audience.

So now what? It's a great time to really consider my motivation. The sign from the universe was not given, but I had such so much fun writing that I'm not sure I need the sign. The recovering perfectionist in me is actually somewhat relieved I didn't win. There's nothing to live up to, just enjoy the process and write about the things I'm passionate about. Write for the sake of writing, the rest is all bonus.

Up My Game

Of course, this doesn't mean that I don't want to improve. I learned a few things over the last week. The easiest improvement was learning how to create links and use bold. I wasn't sure how to do that until I double-clicked on a word and I found an array of options I didn't know existed.

I also realized that when it comes to writing online, short paragraphs reign supreme. When you're reading an article on your phone (which most people do), long paragraphs get really tiring.

Building a Base

I like how the contest winners are picked by a panel of judges. This structure gives writers who are new to the platform a real chance at winning and being discovered. But having a fan base can really come in handy because ties are broken by the number of reads and the difference between a grand prize at $20,000 and second prize at $5,000 is a big one.

When I first joined Vocal I was frustrated by the inability to follow people because I found some really great writers that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to find again. I noticed that some people add links to their Instagram at the bottom of their stories in italics, which is a practice I intend to use from now on.

Onward and Upward

I had a great time reading the stories all of you published last week and I hope you keep writing. I plan to unearth some poetry from the past to share with fresh eyes and maybe give the next challenge a whirl, just for fun.

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