My 2025 Writing Goals Part Three: The Great Vocal Experiment

Welcome to part three of my series on my writing goals for 2025! If you'd like to check out my other projects for this year, see part one and part two respectively.

In part three, we're exploring my work here on Vocal, including why I joined over three years ago, what I've done since then, and what I'll be doing in 2025 to continue my vision for my stories on this platform. Let's dive in!

I Started Writing on Vocal for a Reason

Everyone has their reasons for joining Vocal. For some of us, it's about finding a community, about getting feedback from our fellow writers, and building an audience of readers for our work.

For others, it's about having a platform. Maybe, like me, you don't have a dedicated website, or maybe you do, but you know you can find an even wider audience on a platform like this one.

For still others, Vocal is the place where you can be vulnerable. A place where you can be your authentic self and express your innermost thoughts without fear of being ridiculed or laughed at. You know, what social media should be.

I joined Vocal for all these reasons, but above all that, I joined Vocal because I wanted a place to experiment with my work.

A place where I could cross genres, build entirely new worlds, try strange formats, and grow as a writer.

I told myself that, on Vocal, anything goes. If I wanted to write that weird spicy monster story, I would (and I did). If I wanted to mix science fiction and fantasy like it was Lord of the Rings with lasers, I would (and I did).

For me, Vocal was a place where I could let my ideas run free. And what do you know? It worked!

Not only did I find a community of supportive and incredible writers, but I also received recognition for my work in the form of Top Story Awards and even a runner-up placement in a writing challenge!

This place felt safe, it felt right, it felt like the perfect home for my stories. It was, it is, and in 2025, it will continue to be that for me, but enough about the past. Let's talk about where my Vocal profile is heading in 2025.

The Experiment Continues!

Beyond trying out different genres and styles of writing, in 2025, I'm going to try and push the boundaries of what's possible on this platform, starting with a new style of choose your own adventure stories.

When I was kid, I loved reading R.L. Stein's Goosebumps books, but in particular, I absolutely devoured his series of choose your own adventure books, where you could make choices and reach any number of horrific endings based on your decisions.

At that point, I was already a huge gamer (and still am), but games had yet to advance to the point where they could offer malleable and flexible stories that morph themselves based on your inputs.

Now, I hear you saying "Bradley, how the heck are you going to give people choices when all you can do is put text and headers on the page?”

Great question.

In a perfect world, I would use anchor links to allow people to click their decisions and instantly warp to the appropriate part of the page (maybe we'll get an update for that some day?).

Without that capability in the Vocal editor, though, there's two things I need to do.

Number one is keep things simple. I can't have these stories going on in five or six directions with any number of endings. It would be a logistical nightmare for the reader.

Number two, I have to make the process simple and easy. No one wants to sit down to read a story and end up trying to solve a web puzzle (well maybe some people do, but not the vast majority).

So, with those two things in mind, I've been working on my first story using this style. It's called "The Highway at the End of the World," and it will be live on Vocal very soon!

It features a decision that takes the reader down two separate paths, with a secondary decision that leads them to one of four potential endings.

The instructions are clear, and both the paths and endings are clearly labeled to ensure the story flows in the way the readers wish.

Will it get more than five reads? I hope so, but even if it doesn't, then it will give way to my next experiment, one that's been ongoing for a few years now.

Let's talk about my Vocal-exclusive world known as D'veen.

A Tour of the Sci-fi & Fantasy Realm of D'veen

Another big experiment I'll be conducting in 2025 on Vocal is the continued pursuit of building a universe on Vocal that combines science fiction and fantasy (Lord of the Rings with Lasers if you recall from earlier).

To date, I've done a number of stories set in this realm, all of which are exclusively available on Vocal. Here's the links if you’re curious:

• The Sunken Citadel
• The Fall of Avondale
• Fate’s Witness
• The Tomb Where Marigolds Grow
• A Soul, Bound to Steel
• The Flames of Redemption

Each of these stories stand on their own, but if you read all of them, in any order, you'll find numerous connections and commonalities that give you a better picture of this strange place.

I plan to continue publishing standalone stories set in D'veen on Vocal in 2025, but I'm also planning to launch my first ever series on Vocal, which will follow a fallen warrior and an elf who believes to be the last of her kind, as they recruit like-minded fighters in an attempt to stop a world-ending threat.

It will be called "The Order of the Pawn," and I plan to publish new episodes monthly on Vocal. Between this series, and the standalone stories, my hope to build an entire world that exists on Vocal for my readers to enjoy.

Ambitious? Yes. Crazy? Probably. Worth it? Absolutely.

I'm Just Getting Started

These are just a couple examples of how I'll continue to push the boundaries of what's possible on Vocal in 2025, but you can expect even more wild and unique ideas as time goes on.

I look forward to another year on this amazing platform, and I'm eager to see what my fellow Vocal writers are working on as well.

Here's to the greatest community on the World Wide Web. I wish you all a safe and productive year!