Shining Brighter

2024 marks my fourth year of writing on Vocal, and it’s crazy to see how far I’ve come since I started.

I happened to join Vocal in February 2020, right as the pandemic was starting. And in hindsight, it couldn’t have worked out better. Writing on Vocal gave me a much-needed creative outlet, and something to do while I was stuck at home.

And in the time I’ve been writing, I’ve grown more as a creator than I ever could’ve envisioned.

Well, life, as it often does, got crazy for a while and I ended up taking a long hiatus from writing, but I started again in August 2023. And even though I only spent 5 months out of the year writing, I still came out of it with some major successes. I reached 30,000 reads, I wrote a whole slew of haiku and senryu poems, and I earned my first Top Story with my piece, The 3 Pillars Of Haunted House Etiquette:

I’m honestly thrilled with myself. And it makes me confident that I can not only build on the success I had in 2023, but also exceed it.

So these are the writing goals I’m setting for myself for 2024:

1.) Reach 50,000 reads

2.) Publish at least one story per month

As far as looking to hit 50,000 reads, shooting for a number that high feels daunting. But with the way I bombard my social media feeds and the Vocal Author Facebook Groups with my writing, I tend to get plenty of reads from friends, family, and other creators (which I’m incredibly grateful for!). And publishing at least one new story a month will definitely help me hit that goal.

3.) Write more original stories

While some of my best stories came out of challenge prompts, I’m aiming to write more stories stemming from my own ideas.

Most of the stories I’ve written were for specific challenges. And when I first started writing, it definitely helped to have regular challenges because it gave me somewhere to start, and it taught me how to come up with ideas to write about.

So now I’m challenging myself to write more original stories, both about things I enjoy and about some of my own personal experiences.

I’ll definitely be sharing more food stories, especially gluten free recipes (I’ve got several works in progress already!).

But one thing I’d love to write more about is music.

Right now I have some works in progress and some ideas for future pieces that include artist recommendations, and song and album reviews.

In the past, I haven’t shared that many music-related stories because my taste in music involves genres like metal, classical, and independent singer-songwriters, which most people aren’t that into. So it’s hard for me to get much interest in any stories I write about my favorite music.

But I’d love to write more of them because I love to talk about all the music I enjoy and want to share it with people more often.

And I figure, you never know when someone who doesn’t normally like certain genres of music might end up loving it.

4.) Write more poems and short fiction stories

I’m primarily a creative nonfiction writer, so that’s what I tend to stick to.

Poetry and fiction are things that I only write when I feel called to. But I really enjoy writing them when a good idea comes along.

This is one way challenges really help me.

My poem, The Gray, and my short story, The Time Capsule, are some of my best pieces to date. And they were both written because previous challenges helped give me the ideas for them in the first place.

As I said before, writing stories for challenges has helped me be able to come up with my own ideas. And although I’m not yet at the point where I feel confident enough to come up with an original poem or short fiction story, I’d like to get there eventually. But in the meantime, writing more poems and short stories just for challenges is going to tremendously help me get to that point.

5.) Earn more Top Stories

6.) Win some challenges

Earning my first Top Story was one of my biggest accomplishments of 2023. It was the first time I had a piece of my writing be celebrated, and it was nice to finally experience that.

Now I’m eager to continue that success with more Top Stories and some challenge wins.

Challenges are a big part of why I write on Vocal, and I’ve lost track of how many I’ve entered. You would think I’d have won a few of them by now, but somehow I’ve never placed in a single challenge. To say I’m disappointed by that is an understatement.

It’s hard to not be, though. It’s discouraging to get repeatedly passed over after you worked so hard. When it happens so many times, you really start to doubt yourself and your abilities. You can’t help but wonder if people genuinely think that your work is bad or not worth being celebrated.

But that leads to another goal of mine for 2024: No matter what happens, and no matter what anyone else thinks, don’t stop creating, and don’t stop being authentic.

Even though part of being an artist is dealing with other people's opinions of your work, I’ve learned that those opinions are not a reflection of me or my work, and to not let those opinions stop me from doing what I love.

Even if one person rejects you, others will always embrace you wholeheartedly. So create without inhibitions, be unapologetically authentic, and pay no mind to any naysayers. And I encourage you all, Vocal Creators and others alike, to keep this bit of advice in the back of your mind.

Here’s to a new year full of stories, lessons, laughs, and creativity!

Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed this story, I’d appreciate it so much if you shared it and left a heart, a tip, and a pledge!