Enter 2025: The Year of Change

Hello 2025! With a new year comes new projects. Or for us writers: projects (yes, you cannot go without the “s”). Reflecting on 2024, I am looking ahead this year and considering what projects I need to accomplish. As a writer, the first major project I want to accomplish is writing a novel. The second project is prepare for my departure from the place I have called home for the past three decades.

Project 1: Answer the Flaming Call

The calling to become a writer first appeared inside me during my high school years. I often spent my lunch and recess breaks in my high school’s computer lab, hacking every minute away at the keys, putting prose together. Ignoring the rumbling in my stomach for a plot idea brewing in my head. Post-secondary I had planned to become a writer by attending course needed to make the career dream a reality. Unfortunately, I was told writing would not lead to a financially stable career, shaking me up enough to abandon such ridiculousness for a steady paycheck. I changed my career plans for education instead. Many years later, the calling is no longer a whisper, but a shouting command. Blaring at me to follow my heart and my passion.

Truthfully, the dream to emerge as a successful writer continued to burn inside me. I would use my busy teacher’s life to control the flame whenever it ignited. I maintained a small kindling throughout my teaching career. Blogging was enough to feed the kindling and prevent it from growing out of control. My muse would occasionally appear to feed the kindling more, in efforts to build a creative flame, but I would shoo it away. Thus annoying my muse year after year until I entered my first writing competition. My muse snuck in tiny drops of lighter fluid over the kindling, which created a small, candle-size flame of creativity. I wrote a short love story involving a ghost. When the story placed 13th in its genre, the small flame erupted into a bonfire, full of creative ideas. Since that day, I continued to enter writing competitions, my muse shoveling coal into the creative furnace of story ideas. Burning with the desire to evolve, I continued to enter competitions. Enjoying the challenge and feedback from published authors. Presently, the firing furnace of creativity melted away doubts about becoming a writer. Confidence builds with each word I strike on a document. My muse rests on my shoulder every day, constantly whispering the next line, the next paragraph, the next chapters. 2025, I will finish my first draft of my first novel and begin finding a publisher to work with.

Yes, I still plan on entering writing competitions. For those interested, see below for links to some of my favorite ones and join me! In addition to competitions, I plan to submit my short stories to literary journals. Currently, my stock of short stories rests in my cyber-storage, begging to be read and shared with the world. After a slight bit of polishing, they will find their home in a literary journal.

Project 2: Time to Fly

My second project is preparation for departure from the place that is legally my home. This project leads to a major life change for me. Thirty years ago, I moved to a tropical location to prove my adulthood to the world. Spending years in a foreign country, I wanted to move to an area which allowed me to continue my studies in the language. Reality had other plans, and I learned the grass is not always greener on the other side. Several days after landing in paradise, hunger became my best friend and the struggle of finding a job landed heavily on my shoulders. I fought for my survival with no family or friends to support me in these darkest hours. Obviously, I survived. A job opportunity found its way to my doorstep and since that day I worked to improve my quality of life as best as I could within the confinements of my area.

This year, the winds of change blow in my direction, encouraging me to spread my wings and soar to a new location in the country. A place where opportunity for me, as a writer, exists. To prepare for the long flight to the land of liberation, I need to shed the feathers of my past. As I examine the contents of the nest I constructed for thirty years, many memories have accumulated. There are various fragments of who I was as a person woven within each stick of my nest. Emotional fragments that were never meant to leave my side. It is the weight from my past, anchoring me to a location where my happiness slowly depletes the longer I stay. Like the phoenix, I have been reborn from the burning ashes of my past and yearn to fly free towards a future that awaits me. I need to begin with casting the anchors that bind me to my legal residence.

Last, the financial harness that keeps me from flying away needs to be cut. Similar to many Americans, the harness of student debt grips my leg tightly, preventing me from escaping my current location. Of course, it is possible to move with debt. Many people prove the possibility daily. However, by paying it off, I can cut this unnecessary burden and make moving easier. Fortunately, it has reached a four-digit number and my current cash flow shall grant me the financial key to my freedom this year. The sheer thought of making the final payoff in itself is a cause for celebration.

2025 is the year of change for me. I am at the point where I have the confidence to follow my heart and pursue a passionate career in writing. It is a year where I bid my old self farewell, slowly. Though it is without challenges, I am determined to manifest it. I encourage all readers to follow my example and chase after your goals and dream. Spread your wings and soar through this year to accomplish what you set for yourself, just as I have set for me. We can do this!

Writing Competitions

I always encourage my Vocal members to enter in as many writing challenges here on Vocal. It is definitely fun writing and publishing on vocal. Many of my readers often visit and read my content (even those who are not members). However, for those looking for other challenges, here are some links to writing competitions:

Writing Battle

Writing Battle hosts many competitions throughout the year. Feedback is provided by peers, and occasionally there is feedback from published authors as well:

https://writingbattle.com/

NYC Midnight

This is the first competition I entered. It is pricey, but you receive feedback from several authors. I believe that is worth the price, if you are looking to evolve your writing.

https://www.nycmidnight.com/

Writer’s Playground

What I love about this competition is it provides you with several choices before you start your first draft. The other two, there is no choice. They provide you with a prompt on the genre, a character, and an object and must write within those constraints. With Writer’s Playground, they provide you a choice on the genre and the character. However, every writer must incorporate the same object.

https://www.writersplaygroundllc.com/

Have you entered any of them? Share your experience with them in the comments below. I would love to hear from you.