Advice
Good Men Are Hard To Find, So Relax And Let Them Find You
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise —Have a place in your writer's notebook where you play around with titles, making a list of your favorites. Or read through a story looking for a title to emerge from the story itself - a phrase, an image, etc.The ObjectiveTo sharpen your instincts for a good title and to understand how titles can lead you to stories.
By Denise E Lindquist11 months ago in Writers
Why I Stopped Trying to be Productive at 6AM
I used to pressure myself, nonstop, to wake up at 6 AM because every "successful" person online said that's what grown adults do. According to the adults online, if you weren't up before sunrise, writing in your journal, and drinking a green smoothie, your life was basically a failure waiting to happen. I believed what the adults online said. I became miserable, not understanding why waking up early didn't transform me into a hyper glowing version of myself.
By Jasmine Platson11 months ago in Writers
2025: The Final Countdown
Go ahead. Hum that song if you want to. Greetings, Vocal readers. 2026 will be here before you know it. For now, we're eager to finish 2025 on a high note. It has been a long year, especially for me as a writer on Vocal. Us writers have been busy writing and publishing our stories to reach our audiences. As I approach 400 stories on Vocal, I look back and am proud of how far I've come since joining this platform in 2018. The bigger question is this: Will I be able to reach the special milestone of 500 stories written and published around this time next year? It's a huge longshot, but it's not impossible either. In the almost eight years that I've been a writer on Vocal, I have yet to win a challenge. However, these writing challenges motivate me to use them as an incentive to strive even harder. That's one of the goals that I'm trying to pursue in 2026. I've received a few honors in the past, which is always very appreciative.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 11 months ago in Writers
The Most Overlooked Safety Upgrade for Any Vehicle
Ask any driver what the most important safety features on a vehicle are, and you’ll hear the same answers: strong brakes, decent tyres, maybe even airbags or stability control. While all of these matter, none of them address the single most common reason accidents happen in the first place.
By Magnum Vehicle Solutions11 months ago in Writers
This Was My Best Fucking Piece (And It Still Lost)
There’s a particular kind of heartbreak that only writers know— the moment you hit “submit,” whisper a shaky prayer to the literary gods, and then, days or weeks later, open an email that starts with the word “Unfortunately.”
By Alexander Mind11 months ago in Writers
How Homeowners Can Understand Their Electrical Limits Before Adding New Appliances. AI-Generated.
Many homeowners upgrade their homes with new appliances, EV chargers, heat pumps, or kitchen equipment. These additions increase electrical demand, and not every home has enough capacity to support them.
By Jasmin Rupvatiya11 months ago in Writers
I Googled My Pen Name And Book Title
It was a Google driven by utter frustration. Why was I frustrated- and how did that lead to a Google of myself? My audiobook. It passed Quality control. It was approved on https://voices.inaudio.com. It has been distributed to 31 platforms. I had announced my release date as December 17th. I wanted to put it on pre-order. Completely forgot it can take up to 30 days or more before your stuff is actually published on these platforms.
By Hope Martin11 months ago in Writers
The Silent Audience: What Writers Don’t Talk About Enough
Let’s be honest—most of us write for people who never tell us if they read a single line. You go for hours to days trying to perfect your little piece of poetry, but when the time comes for you to release it to the world and hit "publish," you're enveloped in silence—the kind that's loud enough to deafen (literally). That part hurts. If I could search for more pain-filled words, I'd have done so and filled a whole paragraph with them. And honestly, that's something so discouraging that it makes you want to go back into your shell and stay there forever. In this angle, I speak mostly for myself. You get that anticipation, that elation you have while working on a beautiful piece, and finally congratulate yourself with a pat on your back, becoming a watchman for yourself—only for you to check in, ranging from hours to days, with two or three reads, worst case zero. Or when you maybe post a story on an app—let's use TikTok—and you see about a hundred-plus views with just two likes, that's one of the things I dread. That moment wants to make you go through all that you've done and try to find out what the problem is. You begin to ask yourself a lot of questions, things like "Am I not good enough?" "Did I not leave a catchy hook in the end?" So many questions just keep coming and going without a break interval.
By Gift Abotsi 11 months ago in Writers
Considering The Situation III
Introduction This is partially inspired by the first verse of "The Fat Lady Of Limbourg" from "Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy" by Brian Eno. I think the album cover is a perfect image for the "Considering The Situation" concept.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred - EBA11 months ago in Writers
