Thank you Vocal: You're Amazing.

There are some days when I wake up, and like many, I say to myself, "Writing on Vocal is a waste of time." Recently I have been checking my stats more closely, and while some of my stories are slow to get reads and earn from, they are creeping up a bit better.

I write mostly because I love writing, and I don't often focus on the income that I get from it. Of course, like many writers, I like to see the money coming in too, but the enjoyment and challenges that I get from writing far outweigh that. I like the surprise of watching my reads grow, and I love the anticipation of surprise when a story grows in reads unexpectedly.

Expecting the unexpected is what makes writing fun. It is exciting when you put a story out there and wait for what feels like forever to see the reads coming in.

I have been writing my own stories and reading your own amazing stories on here for many years. At times I have wanted to give up, however some of the amazing creators stories I read, soon quash that! I read quite a bit on here, and the stories that I read come from almost all communities within Vocal.

I woke up this morning, to see an article that I wrote a few years back hit the $8.00 mark. It has over 1,493 views on it. I didn't realize until I viewed it, just how many creators and readers love the same music as me. I didn't notice this straight away, because I check my stats randomly rather than regularly because I find that checking my stats too much can make me feel bad about my writing.

When you check your stats too often and you have very few views. It can feel soul-destroying, and it can cause you to think that your writing is worse than it really is.

We must remember that readers on platforms are very diverse. As readers, we all like different things. If you have an article that does not appear to be getting many reads; leave it a month or so, then check back later because people can surprise you and anybody at any one time can start reading it.

Don't feel too bad about not getting many hearts either. This particular story only has one heart on it, though that is nothing to worry about because the sheer number of views that are showing, tell me that people are reading it and enjoying it. These views did not come overnight, they took some time.

It is always a nice surprise to find that people are enjoying what you write, even if that is just one person.

I created this particular article because I have a huge passion for music, singing and dancing. Where ever you find music, lights, and karaoke, that is often where you'll find me. I wanted to find others who had similar tastes to mine in music. because I like a wide range of songs.

My friends tell me that they often get frustrated with my playlists on Spotify because I often mix and match songs. I do have some by the same artist in there, but I enjoy creating diverse playlists from all genres in order to reflect my taste, and I always listen to a mixture of different music.

I have never been, and will never be, a person who will stick with one type of music.

One day you'll find I'm listening to dance, other days it might be techno, R n B, Soul, Rock, Pop, Classical, Metal, Blues, Reggae and country. Some days I'll be listening to modern-day music, and others it will be the 40's, 50's, 60's, and more.

I want to thank all the wonderful creators out there, and staff here on Vocal, for giving me the confidence to stick with my dream.

I also want to add a special thought in memory of a dear, kind, and caring online friend who I miss on a regular basis, Tom Bradbury because without him, I wouldn't have found the strength to have continued with my writing, especially when my mental health problems were affecting me.

I will leave you with the link to the article I wrote on music talked about in this article, and also, the creator spotlight that Vocal created in memory of Tom because that is important to myself and many creators here, and I'd like creators who never heard of Tom to discover his special talents that we all miss. I for one, miss seeing Tom here and I miss chatting about writing with him too.

These links are as follows:

Thankyou Vocal. You are all amazing.