2024: A Paul's Oddity

Sorry Mr Bowie, Mr Kubrick and Mr. C. Clarke for that title.

With every new year, comes new opportunities,

It's fair to say 2023 was a bit of a rollercoaster for me. Emotionally, in terms of my relationship, my secular work and this hobby that has blossomed.

There was a lot of Top Stories and a lot of disapppointment. A lot of friends made.

There was then the challenge win, I feel I should mention that because I'm proud of it, but also because of that win, what I do next is shadowed by it.

My plans for 2024 do not revolve around Vocal...I wish I made enough from Vocal work and my ficiton/poetry to not have to do anything else, but that's not the case.

Outside of Vocal, my plans are to continue with content writing, as and where the work comes, build my etsy store (which relies on my Vocal output), there are also a few non-Vocal competitions I want to enter and more books I want to publish, but over all I want to try and get fitter, healthier and happier.

My plans for 2024 that involve Vocal are quite simple:

Win Another Challenge

I am happy with my win...really I am. I sometimes still pinch myself because it doesn't feel real. Vocal might not be the entire literary or poetry world, but it's our little community and to land the top spot still feels amazing.

However, with that, comes the great "was that just a fluke?" anxiety. It's possible...that is a reality I keep at the back of my mind. Locked away, of course, because I trust in my skills.

In order to successfully prove it wasn't a fluke, though, I need to win another challenge. Even placing somewhere in the mix would be at least a sign and reassurance.

How I go about that, is anybody's guess...just keep pushing, just keep writing.

Continue to Tighten My Output

I have so many plans and ideas that I have yet to put into action with regards my writing. Just a lot going on. But, overall, my aim with my creative output on Vocal is to just keep tightening my craft.

Continue stepping out of my comfort zone, continue pushing boundaries and continue having a lot of fun.

That's the key, really - fun.

Whether I am writing a sob-a-line weepy, a crap-your-pants horror or a stupid-af-self-imposed-poetry challenge involving just vowels, I always have fun with my writing.

It's powerful and there's responsibility attached to it - but, I need to be careful with what I write and how I word things so much in my content writing work that with my crude attempts at poetry and literature, I want to let loose.

I have learned over the last year to hit the publish now button way too freely. I often read about how people don't share some stuff they've written and I see where they are coming from. Somethings are just for us. However, whenever I write something, I know it will make it's way out. Even if I try to hold it back...unless I actually delete it (a rare occurence, but does happen) it claws at my brain, boring bloody holes and trying to escape until I let it free into the world.

That is why there is always such a steady selection of work from yours truly.

If I held back or worried about publishing things...I'd be in the same place I was a couple of years ago. Full of "I really should start working on some writing" and never doing anything about it.

So expect more of the same and more of the different from me.

Read More Of Your Work

As I have always recieved such warm encouragement and support within the community we have here on Vocal, I always try to give back as best I can. The trouble is, time. We all have that trouble, I guess. I am obviously very prolific and given the way my brain works, I doubt that will change, but I want to try and increase the amount I read. I want to find a balance between publishing my attempts at literary masterpieces with reading everyone else's amazing work.

Not only do I see it as a gift to be able to read the often truly remarkable work that is produced and published on this platform, I see it as inspiration too.

So...expect more refinement and more indulgence from me. Expect more comments and encouragement.

2024, we're coming for you!

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Thanks for reading!

Author's Notes: That was a lot harder to put into words than I thought it would be.