The Lost Art of Writing

Writing Defined

When a writer completes a sentence, even in the simplest of settings, they’re sharing a sliver of themselves – something they didn’t just string together, but carefully constructed from start to finish. A writer using words is like a musician tuning their instrument; language becomes the chord on which we writers callus our fingers.

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember – Vocal is my latest venture. Writers have their individual methods of communication, but storytellers are unique in how they share things. Good writers develop a consistent voice, employ a system, and keep a strong vocabulary. Communication is craft for the writer, not just means to an end.

The fundamental difference that sets writing apart is the isolation of the work. All art forms are confining in some way, but writers are the true hermits of expression. Actors have rehearsals, musicians jam at practice, and illustrators can show works in progress for instant gratification; there is something to show for it all! An unfinished piece of writing, however, has no appeal. We understand the lack of curiosity. Composing a piece of decent writing is hard – reading it is even harder.

Isolation aside, writers live in a time where the written word is all but trivialized. Technology requires reading and writing, and so reformats them into chore-like activities. Social media, web browsing, gaming – all networks of people writing to each other all the time. The Information Age devalues the idea of writing by demanding it.

Writing Achieved

Regardless, we writers persevere! Writer’s block, and the various trapdoors around it, are all overcome. We rally and rebuke the demoralization until the writing is complete. Alas, this doesn’t always conjure the interest we believe it deserves. That failure to captivate is a creative guillotine, and really does kill the urge to write for many people.

The reality is people are reading every second of the day. It’s how we get the news, or an email, texts, status updates, recipes, Netflix subtitles, takeout menus – our eyes are bombarded every moment they’re open. This dilutes the act to the point of autopilot, and explains why reading focus is so hard to maintain. Reading with intent becomes an alien task.

The dilution directly translates to the publishing world. What the mainstream chooses to read is how editors make their selections; lately, a rehashed first-person installment of some revisioned adventure series with romantic undertones. The demand is for stories that can’t stand on their own, but rather series and sagas.

High interest in book series brought on the slow death of the novel. Its heartbeat is consistent only with the most tiresome efforts from the most committed writers. Many fiction writers today are incapable of writing a standalone work, as fortune and fame come by way of longer contracts.

The short story isn’t far behind the novel, propped up against the wall of its own grave. Since writers, even the amateurs, find so much success with book series, standalone writing is obsolete. A novel is already difficult to compose, being lengthy as well as limited, and only having one book to start and finish the narrative.

Short stories have even less room. There isn’t space for flashbacks and heavy description. There’s a fixed beginning and a fixed ending, and not a whole lot of wiggle room. This makes a short story perhaps the hardest thing to write in all of fiction. I’ve been on a mission to tighten every sentence since realizing this.

The Vocal Effect

That’s when I discovered Vocal! I’ve written for a multitude of platforms throughout my career, but Vocal is the first to really hook my interest.

I’m a fiction writer at heart, so I joined Vocal the moment I read about their short story challenges. This is the exact kind of exercise I’m looking for to improve my craft – and I can win money, too?! In just two months I secured a runner up award in the New Worlds challenge. Vocal and their challenges motivate me to write every day.

Each challenge offers a unique perspective on content and writing style. I approach the prompts with a specific skill set in mind that I’d like to improve. Vocal does a great job sifting through the submissions and presenting some truly remarkable pieces of writing.

Some creators get discouraged when they don’t win, but I see many Vocal writers submitting every month – some of them for years. Writers with awards and literary careers, competing right here with us!

What I’m saying is that for as fun as these challenges are, they’re also difficult. I wasn’t kidding when I said writing a short, meaningful piece is one of the hardest things a person can do. This is the time when sticking to your strengths is a requirement; write what you know, and make every word count. The one time I followed my own advice is the time I received an award (and $50!)

I see every loss as encouragement to keep going. Vocal is always going to have another challenge around the corner, all I have to do is be prepared to write it. These challenges serve as consistent reminders to always stay sharp.

Takeaways

Like all the writers before us, there is a system we adhere to. The rules are different, but the requirements are generally the same: write as well as you can. The days of sending a short story through the post to a local magazine might be over (for some), yet we find other avenues!

Vocal allows for writers to not only build, but showcase an online portfolio. This is hugely important for any upcoming writer. This means that our stories are self published in a way, and should be saved for only our best writing. Polish everything before posting.

We must also choose challenges that cater to us. I do not submit to every contest that comes up – sometimes the deadlines conflict with one another. I avoid a challenge most often because the content is unfamiliar, and sometimes because the prompt is oversaturated (like the dragon fantasy prompt). I prefer to save my creative focus for a challenge I know I have a story for, instead of submitting just for the sake of submitting.

Since the challenges have a ceiling of 3,000 words, we have to really write with purpose. There isn't room for dead-end exposition, flat characters, or voiceless dialogue. The story must be colorful and immediately engaging for the reader – I save the world building for my novel projects.

This is an opportunity to write something fresh and unpredictable, but familiar, too. The sheer volume of submissions should encourage us to write something different, or put a spin on a classic trope. There are many avenues to explore, and I hope one of them leads you to a grand prize.

Good luck, and keep writing!