365 Days of Vocal

Get ready to have your words savored. Imagine this: it's early morning, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee fills the air, the warm glow of candlelight dances across the living room walls. I'm nestled in my gold corduroy couch, wrapped in a soft fleece blanket and your words are captivating my attention.

In 2025, I am embarking on a challenge to read 30 new stories on Vocal every month, and you should too! This challenge is about more than just reading. This challenge is about supporting fellow writers, learning from each other and being inspired by the power of storytelling. So pour yourself a drink, and get cozy and know that your work may very well be read by a captive audience, who happens to be me!

If altruism isn't your motivation for supporting other writers, consider the personal benefits of reading! Reading is known to reduce stress and elevate mental health.

Reading can actually help develop cognitive skills. According to a study by the University of Cambridge adolescents who read twelve hours a week showed increased cognitive function and better coping skills than their peers. So diving into those 30 new stories every month won't just help us be better community members, it's also a chance for us to sharpen our minds and boost our overall well being.

Forget scrolling past the same old targeted ads on Tik Tok or Facebook. Instead, dive into the roulette wheel of content provided to us right here on Vocal! Even just taking a precursory glance at the latest stories posted there's everything from a guide to purchasing a new laptop… to someone's love affair with alcohol. By reading the newest submissions on Vocal, we’ll be exposed to a wide variety of genres and styles keeping our reading experiences fresh and exciting!

Why is it important to read as an author? While it can be argued that one doesn't have to read to become a good author… for I am sure there are exceptions. I know, however for myself my voice would not be the same had I not delved into other genres and authors at an early age. Would Gordon Ramsay be a world renowned chef without being exposed to foods from different cultures and regions? Even Andy Warhol, known for his pop art in the 70’s was inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper. By reading others' work, we allow ourselves to be influenced by each other's styles while also avoiding the pitfalls and mistakes we might share. In what ways do these authors use words to convey and support their story telling. Perhaps our own stories are marred by grammatical errors or run on sentences. When we can identify awkward structure or distracting mistakes we might be less likely to make them ourselves.

How authentic are the pieces we are reading? In a land saturated in a.i. content, how do our peers tackle storytelling and making relatable content. Should we not scour our favorite content creation site and find other writers like ourselves, being vulnerable, being human?

What better way to ensure our stories are consumed, then to consume them ourselves. In short, bring me your tired personal autobiographical sketches of your mundane lives. Give me your poorly constructed poems and Haikus. Your essays on political extremism that together, your huddled whispers may affect change in the upcoming year. This year, the year 2025, I will be reading at least 350 Vocal submissions and one of them could be yours! As a former teacher and student, I know how we set goals is just as important as the goal itself. I visited Positive psychology.com to make sure my goal has all the elements needed to make this year's creative project a success!

My goal was broken down by S.M.A.R.T strategy: Specific. My reading goal for this year is specifically tied to Vocal latest stories. The reason for this is I think it will give me a chance to read more authors, and give attention to more contributors that may just be getting started. Maybe you want to specifically read only top stories, or maybe you want to focus on your to be read list. Make this goal suited for your specific needs.

Measurable. This part seems easy at first glance. By ensuring I read one new submission per day I can be sure I am accomplishing my goal. I would also like to engage with the content by liking, commenting and subscribing to authors whose work I enjoy. By doing this I should be able create a feed of authors whose work I want to come back to time and time again.

Attainable. This goal is something I can easily accomplish within the scope of my day. Your goal might look different based on your needs and schedule, perhaps you only want to read eight stories a month? Remember to tailor this goal for you!

Realistic. While like a lot of people I care about my physical health and find myself making plans to work out more or eat better, abs remain an elusive dream for me. Setting aside a few minutes a day to read is a much more realistic goal for myself.

Time Bound. Last year I met my goal for finishing every shower with a cold rinse. Curious? My hair has never been better. That being said since I did that for a year consistently, I feel confident that I can do this for a year. If you're a little more hesitant maybe give yourself less time, make this a three month goal and reassess whether this habit is helping you or you need to modify it in some way? Lastly, be sure to have a personal goal associated with your reads, tied with your own writing. This year I've realized that I really do love writing short stories, as much as the novel I'm working on. In reality I've always loved short stories, especially those that were required reading in highschool.

I realized that some of my favorite author's from Shirley Jackson to Truman Capote wrote short stories. The Lottery, The Luck of Roaring Camp, and The Yellow Wallpaper are some of my favorite literary works of all time.

What made these stories so great? The attention to detail, the quick world building, the symbolism and deeper meanings behind the texts all made these great and important reads.

My hope with this challenge, honestly, is to read more works like these and find them on Vocal. I hope by presenting this challenge others will join me. I know we have new authors just as poignant as Poe, and I'm on a mission to find them! In doing so I hope to also turn that lens towards my own work in a mission to create my own important works of fiction that could be required readings in the future. Work that could be valuable to students one day trying to understand this particular time in history.