My Very Vocal Goals

First of all, oh, how I procrastinated for this one!

Yes, I’m going to be very honest and say straight away that I genuinely wanted to put this piece together, but was struck with fear and doubt over my abilities to make a good year for myself as a writer, and I’m going to say just why, as well as how I hope to change that!

First of all, I’m very aware of just hoe invisible I am. I’m aware that even thought I have a supportive group of friends and that some of my family members have been very encouraging, as well as a handful of kind readers here on the platform, my reach is pretty much null, so I haven’t really made any money in Vocal outside of a few generous tips and the one time I was able to cash out. So, my first goal is to figure out how to market myself better so that people actually want to read my work, and I’ve signed up for a digital marketing class, so hopefully I’ll be able to turn my situation around.

Secondly, because over the past couple of years I’ve had to take long periods off-writing, and often generally offline, due to health issues, I feel like I’ve really fallen behind! In the time I’ve taken to get back into writing, Vocal has changed drastically, so now I feel like I need to make a plan to catch up. One thing is for sure, I want to write at least an piece per month, and to join in as many challenges as possible, although I’d keep giving priority to those challenges which really call out to me. Right n ow I’m also working on the Abecedarian challenge, which I’m putting a lot of thought and effort into, and I hope people really like it. I just want to make the most of having a platform where I can explore all kinds of different styles and techniques. That being said, there are a few of my pieces that I’m not really that proud of, so I think I will also cull my collection a little bit, and make space for fresh pieces to flow through!

My third goal is to make my way through a “Writing Topics” list I put together, to cover topics from social issues to cinema and literary reviews to more fiction and poetry. I don’t think there is any specific plan for me to tackle it, but rather I will choose the topics depending on my mood, and prioritize if any topic fits into a challenge.

Now, in terms of how I wish to relate to other creators on Vocal, I’d love to join in with some of the prompts and collaborations that sometimes happen in Facebook groups, so first I have to get back into Facebook, as much as I’ve grown to loath the platform. It’ll be worthwhile, just to get over my social media fear (which has really taken over my life due to something I will explain below), but mainly because there are so many amazing creators who have really great ideas to play with and develop our writing skills.

I have been reading as many of the pieces of all the people I’m subscribed to as I can, mostly starting from the earliest to the latest (sometimes reading the new ones before going back to the one that I left off), and I love being able to talk to the creators by commenting on their stories and adding my insights as well as hearing them. I've tried reading at least a story or two even when I'm having health difficulties, as sometimes I'm dealing with chronic pain and I have to work from home, so reading Vocal pieces has become a nice break, although sometimes my right eye stops working very well, so I've had to take a few breaks over the last couple of years. I share their stories sometimes, but given that I have nearly 0 visibility, chances are that none of my shares might have given them any reads, unfortunately. Because I’m OCD, I have a notebook where I have everyone’s names and stories listed (about 5 stories per writer) and I keep crossing them out every time I read them and adding their names at the end of the lists with the new chunk of stories yet to read. For most, it’s a system that works really well, but some of the creators have thousands of stories, so I feel like I’ll never get to read all of theirs! I will very well give it my best go, because what I have read of them so far is undeniably good and I want to read more! I will add links to all the creators I’m subscribed to so that anyone reding this can check their work out as well.

Last but not least, I wish to create pieces of the quality desired to finally win challenges and to make Top Story or Creators We're Loving more often. I have a lot of difficulty engaging on platforms, so I hope my content becomes better to be deemed as fit for those categories and prizes.

Regarding my difficulty engaging, as well as the reason I keep hiding away from social media, it has to do with how incredibly invisible I am on those platforms. Honestly, I really have no idea how I’m going to manage my first goal, as I’m very aware that I put my writing aside to focus on my acting and modelling career and that sunk like a stone, so my confidence is at an all-time low. Seriously, I have a Vocal article about my experiences of being a bodyart model called “The Naked Canvas”, with the cover picture being me on the catwalk painted in my artist’s design, and every time I share it, it only gets one or two reads at most, even though my supportive friends and family members sometimes share it too, praising my words and the artwork inside (note that these are the people who read it the first time around). To be very direct, not even the word “naked”, and the fact that there is a naked woman in the cover picture (regardless of whether people realise it’s me or not), make people want to click on it an look at what the article could be like, even though it fully encompasses the items that the algorithm deems most promotable! But hey, at least I think my other goals are attainable, so I’ll just keep reading and writing and writing some more! I hope that my move to Bristol might also help with whatever is left from my acting and modelling career, so there might be updates on that in he weeks coming (fingers crossed!). Here’s the link to the bodyart article, in case anyone wants to check it out:

Thank you for reading my Vocal goals – a tip, a comment, your insights or a share would be most appreciated!

And here are all the wonderful creators I follow!

Starting with my beloved huswife: Stevie Stephen Cole

An then, in alphabetical order:

Ashley McGee, Britt Blomster, Cathy Holmes, Crysta Coburn, Dharrsheena Raja Segarran, Ella Dorman, Frankie Martinelli, Hillery D. Keefer, Jaded Savior Blog, Jessica Freeborn, Josephine Mason, Julie Lacksonen, KryptaKitty, Lonzo Ward, Mariann Carroll, Melissa Ingoldsby, Mike Singleton, Misty Rae, Oneg In The Arctic, Paul Douglas, Paul Stewart, Pauline Fountain, Rick Henry Christopher, Roy Stevens, Sam H Arnold, Steven Christopher McKnight, Veronica Colidron