Resources
From tips and tricks to product updates and inspiration, explore our resources to learn how to grow as a Vocal creator.
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Full Moon Challenge Winners
Write a poem inspired by a crazy dream. In some ways, dreams are like poems. They often hide their meaning through imagery and allusion. It takes a keen eye to decipher both. And if you look at them too closely, you may not make out their meaning.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 2 days ago in Resources
Write Here, Write Now: The Reunion by Megan Anderson
Swipe left, swipe right- it’s a match. Settle in at a wine bar back table for a Tinder date that’s doomed from the start. Meg Anderson’s take on a classic revenge tale won’t end quite the way you might expect.
Write Here, Write Now: A Vocal PodcastPublished 3 days ago in Resources
Behind the Last Window Challenge Winners
Ah, dystopia. A playground for everything grim, hopeful and futuristic. For this Challenge, we asked you to start your dystopian stories with the following sentence:
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 9 days ago in Resources
So, How Do We Count Syllables?
In her story, Dear Vocal Judges/Fellow Poets, Creator Harmony Kent asks questions that we have been wrestling with ever since we launched Vocal. In reality, the very halls of linguistics have echoed with these same questions and attempts to quantify and measure all parts of the English language for a very long time. As often as we can, we like to defer to the experts on these issues, though even they, the keepers of the language, have conflicting views, and so do we.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 15 days ago in Resources
Blue Haiku Challenge Winners
We love haiku Challenges. Not just because poems are shorter and it's easier to give each work its proper due, though it's always a joy when we get to spend more time with each piece of writing. No, we love haiku Challenges because they push writers to their creative limits. How much can be said in so few words? How deep can one go, quickly?
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 23 days ago in Resources
Write Here, Write Now: The Rarest of Human Qualities (If Cultivated) Can Unlock Superhuman Potential by Andy Murphy
From Write Here, Write Now: A Vocal Podcast, The Rarest of Human Qualities (If Cultivated) Can Unlock Superhuman Potential by Andy Murphy.
Write Here, Write Now: A Vocal PodcastPublished about a month ago in Resources
Weekend Getaway Challenge Winners
Setting is everything. Think about it. Most stories are simply people... in a place. As writers, we think of a place and we put people there. Or, if we think of a person, a protagonist, we very quickly place them somewhere. It could be a dying star, a haunted summer camp or a cozy cabin. All you need to do is put a few characters in a setting and let your imagination go to work.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished about a month ago in Resources
Holiday Hijinks Challenge Winners
They happen every year at the exact same time. No matter how much you've changed, where you live, how you feel about Uncle Ned— like a big wheel, they always come back around. Holiday dinners. Those moments when everyone sits around the table, shares a few laughs and makes new memories. They are the perfect (or worst) time to take stock of the past, to think about the future, to ask your mom why she loves your sister more or your dad why he pushed you to play basketball when all you wanted was to play the flute.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished about a month ago in Resources
Write Here, Write Now: The Lonely Funeral Project by Gabrielle Benna
From Write Here, Write Now: A Vocal Podcast, The Lonely Funeral Project by Gabrielle Benna. Gabrielle Benna explores an unusual way to give meaning to the lives of those who die alone. After the reading, Benna and host Erica Wagner discuss how to search for the roots of optimism even during the most difficult periods of life.
Write Here, Write Now: A Vocal PodcastPublished 2 months ago in Resources
The Mystery Box Challenge Winners
It starts with a drone. Then, a box. Who sent the box? What’s inside? How does the arrival of this mystery box change the protagonist’s day, week, life?
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 2 months ago in Resources
Write Here, Write Now: I Swore I'd Never Get Married. Then I Had Ten Weddings. By Dane BH
From Write Here, Write Now: A Vocal Podcast, I Swore I'd Never Get Married. Then I Had Ten Weddings. by Dane BH. Dane BH’s essay takes listeners on an unconventional journey of love and community. An interview with Dane BH follows the reading of the essay. Listen in as host Erica Wagner and Dane BH delve into the craft of writing, and finding the style to match the emotion.
Write Here, Write Now: A Vocal PodcastPublished 2 months ago in Resources
The Aquarium Challenge Winners
We never have to look far for unexpected interpretations of our prompts, and this Challenge was no different. A simple sentence- "Write a story about an aquarium" - gave us a kaleidoscope of stories. There were aquaria in space, humans in aquaria, animals escaping their glass enclosures and others finding comfort within the glass. There was glass that cracked and glass that could not be broken, to say nothing of the characters’ hearts and emotions- fragile, intricate, hardened, broken. Some Creators lamented the aquarium while others celebrated its beauty.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 2 months ago in Resources
