Just One Victory

The title of this is taken from the closing song on Todd Rundgren’s “A Wizard / A True Star” (he was the effective musical muscle beyond Meatloaf’s “Bat Out Of Hell” ) see I can thread music into every story I write on Vocal.

We all need a “Just One Victory” moment to start or restart our creative journey.

I was not sure whether this would be a poem or just an advice article, but it is really just some observational advice on my part, and this is coming directly from my head after chatting and seeing people having issues with creating or doing something in their everyday life.

Many people, myself included, think that some of their writing deserves a Top Story on Vocal, and may get a little upset when they are nor recognised, especially if they see other stories that they believe should maybe not be there.

If I thought Vocal was the only opinion of my work that mattered I would have given up long ago, although I have only been on the platform six months. I have been blogging on Seven Days In for fifteen years and had over half a million visits but very little feedback , but I feel it allows me to talk , and say what I want and every so often someone will read it.

I learned to be satisfied with that until I joined Vocal, or rather joined some Vocal Facebook groups.

I have received so much love and encouragement that I can easily write something like this and know it will actually be read and appreciated, by my Vocal friends and Family.

So to the point.

Very often the fact we feel unappreciated leads us to believe that we are not actually good at what we do. I am staying with creativity for this and while I would like to give examples where people have succeeded under duress what I am going to do is dot this article with Vocal Top Stories that I will not comment on , but they are examples of success, sometimes after a while of no apparent recognition.

If you produce a piece of writing and share it with our Vocal Groups you will usually get a complimentary comment and that is a victory. I now get many but I didn’t used to. Just One Victory , in any form can give you confidence by making you feel appreciated , loved and wanted.

To get that you have to believe in yourself enough to share your work, and I talk with many friends who feel their writing is not very good. I tell them I feel the same way about mine , and they point out that I am read and loved by lots of people in the groups , and I say if I didn’t share then no one would be able to read me.

Some of my writing has been pilloried by some not nice people but they seem to have disappeared because lots of people like my writing.

My “Just One Victory” moment came when Call Me Les sent me a one dollar tip. I thought “Someone likes my work , I might be able to do this”.

But a comment in the Vocal groups can be a Victory too and there have been many times when comments have affected me positively.

I drop dollar tips especially with new or unsure creators and that is because of what Les did for me.

Since joining Vocal these are my big victories.

• 6479 Reads
• 201 Subscribers
• $38.73 earned from reads
• $61 from 16 Tips
• 1 Top Story - Lady of the Water
• 8 Awesome Stories
• $208.94 withdrawn from Vocal
• $95 earned from the Vocal Ambassadors program (though payout is tardy to say the least)

So Just One Victory can really set you on your way but you need to put yourself out there . If you are not sure speak to someone in the groups and here are a few that I am active in . These are worth joining , without them I would not be where I am today.

My Favourite Vocal Groups

• Vocal Social Society
• Vocal Writers Sharing Community
• The Vocal Creators Support Group
• Vocal Cafe
• Vocal Creators Social Media Support
• Vocal Progressive Group For Writers And Readers
• Vocal Media Creators Hub