Win-win: Vocal is a home gym for writers!

When I joined VOCAL in June 2021, I brought with me more than a few expectations: I would win big with the very first Challenge I entered (nope). My writing would splash down into an ocean of content, never to surface or be read or acknowledged (again, nope); I would be plagiarised worldwide (oh, the vanity!); I would never have ideas to write about (wrong). Bubbling underneath these dominant expectations were a host of other concerns around writing platforms, investment of time and money, and online communities. So given all this, it was a delight to experience the reality of being acknowledged, read, rewarded in small ways, being part of a positive community, and learning from other, talented, writers who do win big. But what I was totally unprepared for was the biggest, and most unexpected, benefit that was to come my way.

I’ve been writing on and off for many years. I’ve penned everything from press releases to get politicians out of the poop to a libretto for a large-scale opera project. And I have had the odd tight deadline. But nothing like the two writing projects the Universe conjured up for me during the past four months: two projects I believe really benefitted from my regular Vocal writing 'workouts'.

The first project was an open invitation to writers living in Sussex, UK, to take part in an extraordinary challenge: to come together and write a novel in 24 hours. The project was the brainchild of Joe Bunn, the Bard of Worthing https://www.facebook.com/bardofworthing/ and supported by SWAG (Sunny Worthing Art Group).

Around 50 writers applied to be part of this project. I was one of the lucky twenty-four who were chosen.

On 2nd October, the selected writers gathered at Colonnade House, an arts venue in Worthing, West Sussex, and after two hours of enthusiastic discussion, agreed the structure and jumping off point for the novel. The structure was that of hub and spoke, with the ‘hub’ being the event or inciting incident, and the spokes being the writers' chapters. Writers then had until 12 noon the next day to complete and send in their response to the ‘hub’ event, inspired by a paving stone in the local area which is engraved with the following lines of poetry:

In Search of True Pleasure,

How Vainly We Roam,

To Hold It For Life,

We Must Find It At Home.

Who wrote these lines, and how they came to be on the paving stone, no-one knows, but they made for an enigmatic prompt!

I wrote my 3,287 word chapter in three shifts: 4pm – 7pm, 9pm – midnight, 4am – 7am!

The first ten minutes were spent staring at the screen with a head full of whirling nonsense. This was followed by a false start and a glass of Irish whiskey before, out of the blue, the voice of the protagonist – a very elderly lady of genteel origins - came to me (how does that happen to us when we write!?!) and I was away, writing an M.R. James style mystery chapter in the first person.

It was amazing to see the idea unfold on the screen - almost like automatic writing. And when I finished it (completely shattered and ready for my bed) I was well pleased to see only ONE typo (there's always one).

The completed novel of over 60,000 is now at the editing stage and has found a publisher! And maybe even better, sales from the final book will go toward supporting Turning Tides, a homeless charity in the local area.

Another win-win!

The second writing challenge the Universe delivered arrived in my inbox on Thursday 30th August. The invitation? To write a 600-word short story or 40-line poem for an anthology on global warming that would be presented to world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November ’21 (COP26). The deadline? Apply by Saturday 1st September. Then submit completed work by following Thursday!

600 words!?! Did that have a familiar ring?

Without doubt, writing a 600-word short story in response to a prompt, with a speedy turnaround, was made so much easier after taking part in the Vocal+ Summer Fiction series. (I managed six stories, four of which I believed were good enough for submission). I completed my short story - The Tour Guide - and it was a delight to see it in the final anthology!

This little book packed full of passion for the planet, in prose and poetry, will be on its way to the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow from next week (COP 26). (Huge 'well done' to editors Mac Dunlop and Megan Chapman.) If you would like to support this tiny drop in the ocean of hope for the future, please visit Rubicund (https://www.rubicund.co.uk/product/26-voices-for-change-a-cornish-anthology) and get your copy for £6 (in bookshops for £10 when the first print run sells out).

As writers, we are often advised to write every day. I’ve never had that self-discipline! But without doubt, Vocal+ prompts and challenges have provided enormous motivation over the past few months, and I am building my creative writing muscle and stamina.

So, like the title says, a kind of home gym for writers.