My First Three Months on Vocal

I know my bio says that I joined in 2021, but I am actually celebrating being active on the site for the past three months. I thought I’d copy my friend, Krysha, and do a three month review. (She did a one month review over here…) I’ve been active here since August of this year (2025) and enjoying my time.

Initial Thoughts

Vocal is a lot, you guys. There’s a lot going on and a lot to read. I’m glad that Krysha had already been active on Vocal when I started using my account. She was able to guide me and give me pointers. I still find myself overwhelmed at times and that leads to me opening and not reading stories. I try really hard to read at least four things a day, but sometimes I just can’t.

The Feedback

Feedback is nice and fun to read, but I sometimes would like something deeper than just “this was good”. I find myself leaving similar feedback because the one time I left a suggestion on how to fix something, it was ignored.

I’d love to form a group of like-minded individuals that want more in depth feedback, but I’m not sure anyone else is looking for this. It doesn’t necessarily have to be on Vocal, but maybe a group of us could form a group where we read each other’s work and give suggestions.

Interaction (Discord Server?)

While I love the feedback I get on many of my stories, I’d love a bit more interaction with people. I’ve done sprints and other activities in other groups and would love to do these things with Vocal members. I feel like I’m not getting to know many people and would like more personalized interaction.

Krysha suggested a Discord server for the group which I think would be a great step forward. I understand there is one, but it’s not very active. Having one where we can compete in sprints, share ideas, or ask for help will help us all improve.

Top Stories

I’ve only had one Top Story so far, but I have hopes that I will get another one. I really enjoyed seeing my story in the grouping and felt honored. I’m not sure what made them pick that story, but I’m hopeful that another will be chosen soon.

Challenges

I absolutely love that Vocal has challenges. I mostly write short stories so having the poetry challenges to write each month means that I stretch myself and my writing. I’ve already written multiple types of poems that I’ve never even attempted before.

I do need to remember to watch the word count. I think I’ve missed it on a few, making me ineligible for the contest. I’ve been more careful with the last few entries and hope I’ll have a better showing. Even without winning, I find the contests a good time to try out different things. The only thing I wish is that I would get some feedback so I could improve, but I’ll keep entering them and stretching my writing muscles.

Future Challenges

I’ve managed to enter all but one of the contests in the last month. In order to help keep me on track for the contests, I made a spreadsheet detailing what they were, the prompt, what I need to write (poem, essay, short story), a link to the contest page, and what day they are due. I also keep track of when I submit them and color code which ones I’ve written or am working on. This means that I’ve only missed one contest since the fall round started. I think next time for the poems I will include a word count so I make sure that I meet them.

Vocal Goals

I really love that I can earn some money on Vocal. Although it’s not my primary motivation for being on Vocal, it’s a nice benefit. My main goal is to be a contributing member of the site. I am hoping that I will be able to keep up a posting schedule of at least two items a week, but I also know that I’ve applied to graduate school and I’m not sure what my workload will be once I start.

I do hope that I will be able to earn some money on Vocal. I’m also intending to use the site as a way to share insights into my work as a school librarian in addition to sharing short stories that are companions to novels that I am planning to write.

Multiple Part Stories

One thing I’ve noticed is that people like to read shorter stories. I’ve worked to split my stories up into shorter posts, but I don’t see many people reading beyond the first story. I’m not sure why that is or what to do to help people to read them. I already link between the stories. Does anyone have any suggestions?