Learn to Love Writing

September 2021: I became officially, unequivocally, a full-time professional writer. My rolling admin contract with the university I had been working at finally had an end date stamped onto it. That pretty much took the decision out of my hands. I would just let that day come and go, and when it came and went, I would be a full-time professional copywriter, because I literally had nothing else!

It was an exciting time, and I just hit the ground running. The first long-term campaign I was writing on was the only work I needed for quite some time. That was it, I was a full-time writer and it was paying my bills. I wasn't well-off by any stretch of the imagination, but I was getting by.

And I was an artist! Professional writer, can't really be more of an artist than that, can you? So I went with it and allowed myself to indulge in a smidge of pretension. I wanted some more creative outlets for my writing. I wanted to share my aaaartttt!!!!!!

Enter: Vocal. The Vocal challenges were perfect - here's a stimulus, go create. I would clock off a copy job, pour a glass of red wine, get my notebook, and scribble away some ideas.

Let it marinade, then scribble some more.

Type it up, submit it to the challenge, sit back then wait for the next challenge that sparked an idea that I just couldn't wait to put to virtual paper.

It was exciting. But I was complacent. That perfect campaign that took care of all my professional needs started to contract and contract. First, the fee per article dropped, then it became a plummeting fee per word, then the actual assignments themselves became more scarce. Then finally... poof. And other jobs went poof too. I could rant and rant about how it was likely down to companies enjoying a flirtation with AI-generated content to save a penny or two, but that's a diatribe for another day. And another challenge - I'll keep my eyes peeled for the 'bile-filled rant' challenge.

The point is, work got hard. And writing was work. So writing got hard. I was taking on jobs that were too much work for too little money just to try and keep above water. I don't pretend to think that I was in any way unique in all this. A lot of people in every line of work you can think of are in exactly that same boat. The same, rickety wooden boat that seems to be slowly letting on water.

For most of the last year, it feels like 90% of my writing time has been spent crafting cover letters or tweaking my resume. After a day of putting fingers to keyboard in search of just the chance to write something for someone, the last thing I wanted to do was look at a Vocal challenge and try to string together a few more comprehensible sentences.

The Vocal email updates went ignored. The account password was forgotten. That's unfortunately not hyperbole; in sitting down to write this, I was horrified to find that the last challenge I entered was 10 months ago. The only other piece I've put up on Vocal in that time was something I wrote for part of my portfolio submission for, you may have guessed it... a job application.

I am ashamed and disappointed in myself. I enjoy these challenges, I really do. So thank God for this challenge. This challenge was just the kick in the rear end I needed to remind myself of that. I will bet myself over the head with it if I have to - you do enjoy writing! That is why you have a Vocal membership in the first place!

Work is still hard, and it's always going to be at times. But I need to do more to keep that spark of joy in the act of writing alive.

This is my 2024 Vocal resolution - I want Vocal to be an outlet where writing can be my antidote from... writing. I will read those emails (I've already reset the account password...) and I will try to cobble something together for every challenge I can. I'll get excited for those evenings of red wince and scribbles again.

I want to use my time on Vocal in 2024 to fall in love with writing. It will be more play, and less work - lest Jack become a dull boy...

....hey, I said I want to love writing - I never said I wasn't a hack.