Sharing The Spotlight

I have been trying to do my part as far as interacting with other creators here on Vocal. In the past, I've written a few reviews of certain works. This time, I wanted to try and take some time to share pieces that didn't have any hearts or comments on them (at the time I found them anyways).

Some of the best pieces I've come across seem to be hidden among a flood of AI generated stories or multiple haikus. I'm not saying other human creators work shouldn't be acknowledged by any means. I am only saying sometimes, a piece someone has seemed to put quite a bit of effort into gets overshadowed by an influx of multiple pieces from the same person. Specifically, I notice this happening with AI creators.

I know it’s easy to drop a prompt into ChatGPT and instantly get a full story you can copy and paste. But there’s something deeply meaningful about the work created by people who pour a piece of themselves into their writing. I don’t always have the time I wish I had to sit and read everyone’s work, but this morning, I’m intentionally setting aside a few hours to do just that.

I’ll be exploring each community, reading through submissions, and choosing one story from each that truly resonated with me. I’ll share those selections here in hopes of giving other creators the recognition they deserve. Even a small spotlight can go a long way. I realize there are a TON of communities and I don't want to overwhelm anyone, So I plan on breaking this up into a sort of series. I think I will do the first 12 communities to start and continue on with another piece on another day.

In order of how each community appears, here are some of the pieces I have found and enjoyed. If you have some time, maybe have a read and go share a heart and comment for these creators!

01

1.) Clarke Blake- The Reality of Teen Social Media Pressure and How Parents Can Help

Clarkes piece about children and social media addiction is honest and well researched. Worth a read, especially if you have kids.

Art

2.) Ahmed Hamed- The Magical Paintbrush

This creator has only one story, but it's a beautiful one and worthy of sharing.

Beat-

3.) Adam Quinn- Most Awkward Album Covers

Hilarious! I always find it funny how celebrities can get away with things us normal folks can't. The honest commentary and the insane album covers actually made me laugh out loud because WHO told them these were good ideas??

Blush-

4.) Sara Wilson- Stop Letting Beauty Influencers Waste Your Money

*Insert shameless plug here* This article took me over a year to research and write because I was tired of beauty influencers and their bullshit. I promise you, it's worth a read if you use makeup. I'm sharing because it needs to be said that more expensive does not equate to better performance. I tell you this as someone who doesn't get paid for any products you buy.

BookClub-

5.) Ted Ryan- Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined - Book Review

I absolutely despised everything about this book. I can't even think of one positive thing to say. But since I love Twilight so much, I chose this review because Ted was able to give this book a better review than me.

Chapters-

6.) Sai Marie Johnson- The Vessel - A Halloween Flash Fictio

A very nice little sci-fi micro fiction just in time for Halloween. I don't want to say too much and give anything away, but I thought this was a marvelous read.

Cleats-

7.) Kayla Bloom- For the Love of the Game

This category was particularly challenging for me as I know exactly zero things about sports (Unless it's quidditch) but I did stumble across Kayla's story. It is 8 years old and had zero hearts or comments. It's a cute little YA piece and I enjoyed it. Kayla is also a Vocal founding member.. which I didn't even know was a thing until coming across her story. I learned something today.

Confessions-

8.) Toni Cooper- Too Young to Handle!

Toni IS in fact very lucky this experience happened in the 90's and not today, otherwise we WOULD in fact be seeing this go viral on social media. hilariously embarrassing story with zero reads or hearts. Let's change that!

Criminal-

9.) Wade Wainio- Darlie Routier: Innocent or Guilty?

This as a compelling piece and worth a read.

Critique

10.) Sarah Glass- ACOTAR

Ok so, this is actually so short but not wrong. I heard about this series from multiple people in a reading group I joined and decided to give it a shot. I was a bit underwhelmed to be honest. I didn't hate the series. Book two was amazing in my opinion... but the amount of hype it got? I think that actually made me expect too much. I don't agree with Tamlin being wrongly villainized though. He was a butt. BUT I do give some grace because I kinda feel halfway through it, Sarah J Maas decided he wasn't Feyres love interest and MADE him into a villain deliberately. So.. I don't know. I'm on the fence. Still team Rhysand though. But I'm a sucker for a bad boy...

Earth

11.) Nostalgia.radio- Save Ralph & The Awareness of Animal Testing

An informative piece about animal testing. Comments aren't allowed on this particular story, but the information within is still worth a read, a heart, and a share. We ALL should care about the animals and the Earth. We all live here. We all should be doing out part.

Education

12.) Mickealla Stenulson- Holiday Handprints

This is an 8 year old story, but I chose it because of how sweet it is. Also, it's close to Halloween and maybe this can be some inspiration for other parents like it was for me. I will be making some holiday handprints with my own babies today!

I hope you have enjoyed these as much as I have. I will put out another story with the other communities within time. Let's support each other!

-Sara 💕