So, Like, What Shows Do You Watch?

I’ve been writing on Vocal for a year now, and my favorite thing about the platform is the freedom it grants you as a writer: you can write about pretty much anything you want. And sure, some more obscure or unpopular things will get less traction, but the point still stands: Vocal is a place where you are free to write about whatever interests you, and therefore about whatever makes you you.

I definitely took liberties with this. My brain goes about a mile a minute—obsessive and overthinking, yet still constantly flitting from one thing to the next. I’ve posted pretty much everything that ever crossed my mind to create on here, from poetry to crappy challenge prompts to more emotional and reflective pieces, and I very much relish the creative freedom I have to do so.

But my favorite thing to write (besides my in-progress first novel that will come out in God knows how many years), no matter how silly or immature it may sound, is anything about a piece of media that I consumed and had strong feelings about. When I finish a great book, I want to write about it. When I finish a terrible movie, I want to write about it. Writing is a reflexive reaction to strong emotions, and I think that’s a beautiful thing.

Media impacts us so much, maybe more than we’d like to admit. What we consume forms us, inspires us, creates us anew. And I think the art form of television and film specifically does this.

Literature is amazing, but it leaves a lot up to the imagination, and purposefully so. But when you engage with an excellent show, or with a terrible movie, or vice versa, you are experiencing a personalized depiction of someone’s creative idea brought to life right before your eyes, and you are feeling things about it so strongly—that’s an amazing thing.

Whether you want to create something like your favorite show with the same spark of magic, or avoid every mistake another artist made in your least favorite movie utterly and completely, that is significant for writers to reflect on. Art is meant to inspire, and especially good—and bad—media certainly does inspire. After all, the worst thing art can do is to bore.

Like my previous music-related challenge, I want to keep things super simple and fun and true to who I am, as well as true to the writing I most love to engage with: tell me about one of your favorite, or least favorite, TV shows or movies of all time and explain what it means to you.

How did it make you feel? How has it shaped you? How does it inspire your creative work today?

Summary and analysis are more than okay to include, as long as you provide your own personal opinions as well. It can be however long or short you want, and shows that are cartoons or anime or even series on YouTube are, of course, more than welcome.

There will be a first, second, and third place winner, and I’m open to all submissions until April 29th (I moved it back by one week!). Results should be out shortly after!

Sadly, I’m still not in a great position to give out any cash prizes, but I will be liking and commenting on 30 stories of the first place winner, 20 stories of the second place winner, and 10 stories of the third place winner, as well as subscribing to anyone if I am not already.

Thank you to everyone who’s ever read anything of mine on here—it means the world. And if you decide to participate, have fun! ;)

P.S. — make sure to leave your work in the comments on this post! ♥️