Process

Storytelling: Where do Ideas Come From?
… but I don’t even know what a skunk smells like? How do you tap into your creativity? Where do ideas come from? Whatever stage we're at, we can often get into a pit of ‘stuckness’.
By Teresa Renton3 years ago in Writers
I have decided to write a memoir.
I never thought I would really write a book. I have dreamt of it time and time again but did not think it would ever happen. I thought the reality was that I would want to do it but I would never in a million years actually start it. After all, my perfectionism is out of hand. Eight years of therapy and I still have no grasp on it. If that much therapy is unable to help it, what will? Well, I received that answer today when checking my email. I asked a published author of an amazing book for some tips. (The book and author I am referring to is View from the Floor by Kate Berger, in case anyone is interested.)
By Rene Peters3 years ago in Writers
How to use AI responsibly
Are you shocked by the number of ChatGPT generated articles that are appearing on Vocal and other platforms? You know the ones I am talking about. Cliché-ridden turgid tosh with six or seven subtitles and a conclusion. You learn nothing reading it, it does nothing for the creator's reputation, and it's about as entertaining as watching paint dry.
By Raymond G. Taylor3 years ago in Writers
I Got A Top Story On Vocal
Introduction These are just some thoughts, observations, and musings about when I drop into other creator's stories and see they have only a few comments and hearts which implies not many reads.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 3 years ago in Writers
Becoming a writer
I can't remember the first piece I ever wrote. I expect it was a Christmas story involving elves and a lot of "And then"s to link my ideas. I expect I was at school and it was a task set. I really don't know.
By Rachel Deeming3 years ago in Writers
Losing My Vocal V-Plates
The first piece I wrote for Vocal was called The Squinch. Here it is: I'd come out of a long spell of not writing very much at all (don't ask how long), so I was very rusty. I knew it.
By L.C. Schäfer3 years ago in Writers
The G.O.A.T. of Football
In the quiet village of Soccerdale, nestled between rolling hills and lush meadows, lived a most unusual hero – Leo, the Goat of Football. While the world celebrated human football players as the "Greatest of All Time," in Soccerdale, the term took on a whole new meaning.
By Samuel Zigwai Timothy 3 years ago in Writers
The tale of the paramecium who lived happily ever after. Top Story - August 2023.
Early on in my childhood I decided I needed to study science so I could prove what I was thinking was true. I have always been curious to find answers with reasonable explanations. For example, it seemed reasonable that Moses was able to part the Red Sea because he was educated and knew about tides. I reasoned that Jesus turned water into wine by diluting it. I was always drawn to explain myths. That is not to say I do not believe in miracles. I have seen them happen. Within my realm of thought, it is not impossible to believe that a gut feeling is attuned to cosmic elements, and results in rare, unexplained serendipitous events.
By Katherine D. Graham3 years ago in Writers
10 Works Of Literature That Are *Technically* Fan Fiction
Fan fiction--the popularist fiction written by normal people (usually girls and women) and posted online/in a public forum--is frequently deemed trashy. Similar to salacious magazines a teenage boy hides under his bed, fan fiction readers are forced to hide their hobby and penchant for fan fiction. While the internet made the dissemination of fan fiction easier and more accessible, it is not uncommon to hear stories from parents and grandparents about a fan fiction that was passed around high school hallways chapter by chapter.
By Alisan Keesee3 years ago in Writers
The Power Of Poetry And Prose
Introduction I was out walking, as I usually do each day, and started thinking about whether it is better to write poetry or prose when creating something that may be fictional or observations on defined things like people, places, pets and more.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 3 years ago in Writers
Author Dreams
Waking up from bad dreams is difficult. It's a lot like waking up and peeling the mind away. It's like sleeping but never actually allowing the mind to rest. It's getting entangled in another world, another place, yet the mind only knows it as real. In my dreams last night there was thunder outside my bedroom door, lightening flashing purple, blue, and green. Ghosts awaited me an a twisting staircase. There was something more about land and people, but the dream is quickly fading. And, knowing it was an unpleasant dreams, far I can still taste the emotions it triggered, I say let it fade.
By Laura Lann3 years ago in Writers
A Funny Idea I had Recently
So I have read a fair few hundred books in my time, thousands, millions, every book written so I think I am the most valuable source of information on good and terrible books. No, I’m just kidding. But I do love to sit and read a book with a cup of coffee every now and then. So I have read loads of books and I have furtherly enjoyed some more than others. But that is how it goes for the general reader, you have your favourite genres, writers and tropes. For me…personally… It's a dystopian future book that has my heart, or a fantasy world where you need to go on a dangerous adventure to save the world, anything with magic that makes me so absorbed in the book I feel like the main character and if I’m feeling frisky you can’t go wrong with a spicy enemies to lovers romance trope.
By Terri Allen3 years ago in Writers