A Transparent Look at Vocal Challenges and Top Stories
A look at how challenges work on Vocal and an invitation to help shape what comes next.
Almost three years ago, we shared a resource article that served as a place for people to suggest new challenge prompts. We thought it would be a good idea to refresh that thread, and take the opportunity to answer a few common questions about top stories, how challenges are judged and how submissions are reviewed.
Every Qualifying Submission Is Read
First and most importantly, every qualifying submission is read.
If a challenge is tied to a specific community, it's reviewed that way. For example, if we run a haiku challenge for the Poets Community, we are not evaluating pieces that were written for another community. Submissions are reviewed based on the rules, requirements, and intent of that specific prompt.
It may sound obvious, but it's worth stating clearly.
One thing to note is that you will not see a read on your submission reflected in your stats or wallet. That is because challenge entries are reviewed in a separate backend system, not through the standard reader-facing experience on Vocal. Even if no visible read appears on the story itself, qualifying submissions are still being reviewed there.
We also don't moderate challenge submissions before a challenge closes. That means people sometimes submit work that does not match the prompt, the community, the format, or the word count requirements. Those pieces may still appear in the challenge while it is open, but they are not considered during judging if they do not meet the criteria.
Judges Change, but the Standards Stay Consistent
We rotate judges regularly. That helps keep the process fresh and brings different editorial perspectives into the mix over time.
Even as judges change, the standards stay generally the same to keep the process consistent. We are not treating challenge submissions like school assignments with a hyper-detailed rubric. We are looking for pieces that clearly respond to the prompt, follow the challenge requirements, and feel intentional in the way they are written.
Challenge judging is also done blind. Judges review the work without seeing the writer’s identity attached to it, so the focus stays on the piece itself.
Across challenges, we are generally asking the same core questions. Does the piece actually respond to the prompt? Does it follow the structure or format required by the challenge? Does the writing feel controlled and purposeful? Does the piece feel complete within the form it has chosen?
And yes, word count matters. More than a few strong entries have fallen out of the running simply because they missed the stated range.
These guidelines help keep the process fair and consistent while still leaving room for editorial judgment.
Why We Don’t Publish the Full Process
Challenges work best when writers are focused on the prompt itself, not trying to reverse-engineer a scoring system. Publishing every detail would not really make the process better. It would mostly encourage people to write toward what they think we want, instead of writing the strongest possible response to the challenge.
What we can say is straightforward. Each qualifying submission is read. Judging is blind. Entries are reviewed within the same general framework, even as different judges rotate in over time.
How Top Stories Are Selected
Top Stories are selected by our curation team and as many of you are aware they are the primary way stories appear on the front page of Vocal. Every Top Story is chosen by a person, and sometimes we schedule them to go live later so they’re spaced out across the day or week.
There isn’t a strict formula behind these selections. We look for pieces that feel complete and interesting to read, we like to keep a mix of formats like poetry, fiction, and essays in rotation, and try not to feature the same creator more than once a week.
Over the past couple of years, the flood of AI-generated content and spam has made curation harder in some communities. As a result, a few of them have fallen a bit out of the Top Story rotation while we sort through the noise.
Challenge submissions often are selected as Top Stories, but that has no impact on whether or not the piece will place in the challenge. Sometimes a story just works as a great standalone read, even if it didn’t follow the prompt closely enough to qualify.
From time to time we also experiment with themed selections. For example, on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 2025 we scheduled a series of Top Stories featuring pieces that had placed in challenges over the previous few years. We might do it again this year, we’ll let you know.
We do pay attention to what our power users are engaging with, but Top Stories aren’t based on clicks alone. It’s just one signal the curation team considers.
Feel like we missed something that should have been Top Storied? Let us know in the latest 📢 Raise Your Voice Thread.
A New Place to Suggest Challenge Ideas
With that in mind, we’re opening a new thread for challenge suggestions. We’re getting ready to release more challenges at the end of the month and would love to hear what kinds of prompts you’d like to see.
If you have an idea for a challenge, consider things like:
A specific form A constraint or structural rule A theme that could lead to interesting interpretations Or just something that aligns with your writing goals in 2026
Your idea can be simple or a little unexpected. If you have a prompt in mind, drop it in the comments below.
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Comments (19)
I appreciate the recent transparency. I miss what Vocal used to be and really hope it can make a comeback. I remember when Vocal's insta would make reels from our stories- it was my first top story 8 years ago that got shared on Vocal's insta and I still have it saved on my phone. In terms of challenges, it would be cool to see something more challenging and niche. Some of the challenges seem kinda repetitive. But yeah, I'm interested in seeing what comes out. Honestly, I'd love to work with Vocal to help make it what it was and better.
This was genuinely helpful and clarifying. I appreciate the transparency here, especially around blind judging, backend review, and the reminder that qualifying details really do matter. It also helps to see Top Stories and challenge placement clearly separated, because I know many writers have wondered about that. Thank you for taking the time to explain the process and open the door again for challenge suggestions. That kind of communication builds trust.
Thanks for keeping us informed.
This was great information and was nice to understand better. Thank you for sharing it!
Well done on the transparency and engagement. It's very helpful for newer writers like me who love Vocal but weren't "here" when something launched. Vocal is amazing and has been instrumental in moving my writing forward in numerous ways.
Awesome :) Love the transparency here, and the intentionality you all put into this. I have prompts in mind :) I’d love to see more horror challenges. That’s what I most like to read, so I’m excited whenever the vocal team issues a horror related prompt. It means I can look forward to the writers I follow posting the kind of stuff I’m most here for! I would especially love to see a challenge for horror poems! I’d also love to see some specific sub genres of horror. Maybe folk horror challenges could be fun, prompts that invite us to reimagine a known piece of folklore, cultural story telling, urban legends, or cryptids. By psych horror and cosmic horror would probably prompt some great writing too. Anyway, that’s just what I’d like to see more of. I think the past couple rounds of challenges have been really engaging and fun, they’ve pushed me to write in new ways and about new things. So I’m excited to see what comes next, even if it’s nothing to do with horror, anything that pushes us writers out of our comfort zones is mad welcome! Also just a kudos on posting and reading the raise your voice threads :) I don’t check them out as often as I should but I’ve seen a couple times where ive recommend a great but under appreciated author or poem, and then later seen their story land a top story :) It doesn’t feel like coincidence. I really got the impression that you all read the recs in Raise your Voice and use our recs to further amplify some under-recognized authors and their works. That’s awesome. I have a few questions: 1. You said you “pay attention to what power users are engaging with” what on earth is a power user? 2. Is it bad etiquette to post authors notes in the story body, when submitting to a challenge? I often do, but that was before I knew y’all had the judges do blind reads. I love that you’re doing blind reads, but I just didn’t know that until today. I’d hate to have stuff I put in an authors note remove some of the blindfold so to speak. Would it be better practice to put authors notes in the comments so judged aren’t swayed by personal backstory? 3. Do y’all ever have guest judges or just guest sponsors who help up the pot for specific challenges? So far I’ve been trying to reinvest some of my tips/ challenge wins in fairly low paying unofficial writing challenges, just to circulate some of those winnings back into the community and support fellow writers but I was thinking if/ when I ever make any money off trad publishing it would be awesome to sponsor specific challenges, just to put some more significant money up for grabs and hopefully stoke other writers’ creativity :) Is that a thing?
Thanks for all the great info. It's nice to know that the judges rotate. And I also liked the info pertaining to qualifying pieces. It will help eliminate mistakes during submitting. Okay, a few challenge Ideas: 1) Write up a marketing campaign in the form of micro fiction. You are an inventor pitching a product that doesn't exist. The name of the product should be included in the title. The product should be anything but practical. Word limit 300. 2) First Contact Challenge. Write a fictional story about the circumstances surrounding alien abduction. The abductee narrates the story and goes through a regression therapy session to remember what happened to them during their detainment. This story would be all about that regression. The author can leave it open-ended or resolve their issues to move on with life. 3) Write a positive poem in the form of a mission statement. 4) Write a courtroom drama with an innocent man or woman on trial. What is the crime? How does the defense team (try to) prove their innocence? Is there a surprise witness that can crack the case? What does the jury decide? 5) Done to death challenge: write an annoying poem that uses idioms, tired tropes and overused familiar phrases to convey a message.
Love this post. It answered some internal questions I've had. I'll think on some recommendations for challenges, but happy to see you are looking for user feedback on this. The challenges lately have felt convoluted and/or repetitive.
I really like the idea that top stories are hand picked! Definitely feels so much more meaningful!
Thank you for the transparency! As a fairly long-time writer, I've wondered quite a bit about the processes for selecting these; I certainly understand not wanting to create and/or divulge a clear rubric for the reasons mentioned above, but do appreciate what clarity was provided here. In the realm of Challenge prompts, I would be really interested to see a prompt asking for an op-ed style essay. I love the abundance of fiction and poetry - both are very much my comfort zone - but I think this community would share some brilliant perspectives if prompted to 'argue in defense of an unpopular opinion,' or 'defend a case' of some sort.
Great info, thank you! I'd love to see a "short story in verse" challenge.
Thanks for the detailed clarification. Some of the comments here would be good to address publicly. I opened a ticket detailing how a link within challenge instructions shows different monetary winnings than declared on the front page of the challenge. $500 instead of $200.
Love shouldn't hurt. A prompt for Domestic Violence Awareness month in October.
This is great info. I really like that this is done without knowing the author's name. I'm new to vocal and the writing prompts here are fire.
I really liked the challenge we had where there was the added option to perform it. I am grateful I stumbled upon this platform five years ago. I have no good feedback for this post, just that I love the transparency.
Thank you for clarifying, I had an issue with a challenge not long ago. I sent in a ticket and still haven't heard anything back. Mine was submitted. I checked multiple times and then the day before the winners were read, mine was missing from the page suddenly. I still don't have an answer as to why... but I do know that it wasn't because it had an explicit title at least!
Okay, that helped... And my idea is...An Apology for...: This would be a humourous challenge where someone apologizes for a situation of their own making, and it becomes increasingly ridiculous as they proceed with it. Just a thought. And what if you want to remove something submitted to the wrong challenge? I had trouble with this and could not take down something on the wrong page.
Firstly, thank you for clarifying the judging process 🙏🙏. My question is: in relation to prompts, and Challenge entries that do not meet “prompt requirements,” how does a writer know if their submission doesn’t align with the prompt if it’s still showing as an entry on the specific Challenge page? Shouldn’t it be removed if it’s disqualified? Challenge idea: A fiction piece in the style of 80s slashers, designated for the Horror community 🖤🖤🖤🥹🥹🥹.
Thank you for this. I would love to see a sestina challenge at some point. I think the curation team does a fantastic job. Slogging through the sheer volume of posts is undoubtedly exhausting work in and of itself, especially with emotionally heavy pieces. I see that some creators don’t seem to read the prompts beyond the blurb on the page, missing the finer nuances embodied in the full prompts. I’ve been delighted that a good percentage of challenges are right up my alley. Sometimes I get snarky and defy challenges, but I don’t expect recognition for those (or the ones I write as comic relief for the team when the prompt generates a lot if emotionally heavy submissions). I’m pleased that I’ve received recognition, but it’s never an expectation of mine, nor do I view challenges from a communist point of view that “I pay for vocal+, so where are my rewards.” My formalist views offend some, as well as my strong feelings about when rhyme is and isn’t appropriate. Neutrality is not my goal, nor is universal popularity. I’m honestly glad to have a growing audience of serious readers, and without this platform, I wouldn’t have that. Thank you for all of your hard work. I appreciate it more than you know.