The Vocal Effect
How And Why I Moved From Seven Days In To Vocal

Introduction
I am not sure what brought this into my mind apart from the fact that I have just posted my 2,500th piece on my blog Seven Days In
and am in two minds about keeping the URL. In fifteen years I have had over 800,000 visits but probably made about a hundred dollars from it (almost everyone pays in dollars) but in twenty one months on Vocal I have paid them over two hudred dollars for the privilege and been given over a thousand dollars directly from Vocal and over a hundred dollars in tips from my readers so it is obvious which is the more lucrative path for me even though it provides me with the odd nice treat.
So What Happened?
I've written about this before, but in a nutshell I had decided to stop writing as much on Seven Days In, but then got tempted by Vocal's lucrative challenges (I can resist anthing but temptation as you well know) and thought I had a chance. I soon found out that I was not good enough.
I still started posting articles and found some Facebook Vocal Groups and had to sadly leave quite a few of them for various reasons, but stayed with a few. I can't really deal with too many groups and get very easily overwhelmed by so many things, but then one day I saw that I had a couple of one-dollar tips. That was the most important event in my time on Vocal. Two of my stories were tipped by my friend Les and that made me think that someone actually appreciated what I was doing and had shown what they actually thought of me.
A dollar is not very much to give but is an absolute treasure to receive as a Vocal tip. I do try to tip new Vocal Creators because of the effect that it had on me.
The thing I liked about Vocal was that there were minimum word limits (one hundred for poetry and six hundred for everything else) and stories were moderated to ensure good quality for readers of the articles.
Although when I came onto Vocal I was looking at reducing my output, since joining my output has rocketed. Maybe this is because of my age and wondering how much time I have left (hopefully more than thirty-five years afet discussions with one of my cancer surgeons) but I do enjoy putting words down on almost any subject, especially me, as I am an expert on that subject.
Since joining Vocal I have shared over 1,070 stories, which is almost fifty a month, close to two a day. I reckon that is close to a thousand words a day which is what Mark Twain apparently did, meaning I might have two-thirds of a million words on Vocal.
This story is another example of me being able to pick up on the most flimsy of concepts and then go on with it to produce something that I can publish.
Where To Now?
My thousandth Vocal story is now seventy posts in the past but I have linked it to the end of this post if you do want to read it, but that was then, this is now.
I am still moving forward, and my stories and subjects are varied which may be an issue for some people.
I seriously do not expect anyone to read every story of mine, no one has that much time, but hopefully, you will subscribe and drop by every now and then to see where I am up to.
I hope this has given you a little more insight into what makes me tick and keeps me going
Thank you for reading, it really is appreciated.
The music I have chosen is "That Was Then, But This Is Now" by ABC sounding almost like Roxy Music.
About the Creator
Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred
A Weaver of Tales and Poetry
Join & Share In VSS
Creationati
Call Me Les ♥ Gina ♥ Heather ♥ Caroline ♥
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Compelling and original writing
Creative use of language & vocab
Easy to read and follow
Well-structured & engaging content
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
Expert insights and opinions
Arguments were carefully researched and presented
Eye opening
Niche topic & fresh perspectives
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
Masterful proofreading
Zero grammar & spelling mistakes
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme


Comments (6)
These are new details I never knew about your process. You are truly the most productive writer I've met! I appreciate and admire your talent.
As always, interesting. Two stories a day - kudos!!
It's so nice to know that just a small tip goes a long way. I really enjoy your writing especially your fiction and dark poetry. Always keep writing!
I sometimes have to turn my mind completely off in order to refocus and get some writing done. Seems like your Ideas for stories articles and poems has a never-ending flow. Which is a talent in itself. Congrats on all the Milestones you've achieved.
I can't believe you produce so much content. It's mind boggling!
50 stories a month!!! WOW! I have managed just over 50 in 2 years (inc haiku!!) You are positively prolific! 🙌