Advice
100 Top Stories and Other Accidents
On March 9th, an entry I published for the "Everyone Is Acting Normally" Challenge, Silken Chains, was awarded a Top Story. I was delighted. For various reasons. It is one of my best-written stories, and it helped me achieve another Vocal milestone.
By Paul Stewartabout 10 hours ago in Writers
Your Partner Doesn't Understand Your Writing Life. That's Okay.
My partner has never read 1 Lovelock Drive. Not because he doesn't care, but because I asked him not to. The book draws from personal experience and the thought of him reading certain scenes, knowing which emotional truths came from our life and which were invented, felt like standing naked in the kitchen during breakfast.
By Ellen Francesa day ago in Writers
5 Very Important Lessons Learned About Writing
Writing and Publishing On Platforms If you're here, you're writing and publishing on a platform. No matter your reasoning for being here, something about the site attracted you and you suffer from the writer's bug. You need to get things out of you that are jumbling up your mind, whether they're stories you imagined, your life story, commentary on today's many social issues, or you are just sharing your favorite recipes. One way or another, you caught the bug and can't shake it!
By Jason Ray Morton 3 days ago in Writers
I Chose Self-Publishing Because 70% Royalties Sounded Better. Then 70% Of Zero Changed My Mind.
I have a self-published book, and it was a flop. Only sold 10 copies type of flop. But I didn't choose self-publishing after careful consideration of both paths. I chose it because it seemed obviously better, and I didn't want to interrogate that assumption.
By Ellen Frances3 days ago in Writers
From Starting Five Years Ago To Now, This Is How I Look At Vocal
Do you all remember when you started using Vocal? It was the new and shiny toy you needed at that perfect moment in time. You needed Vocal, and it needed you! Vocal sometimes doesn't feel like it needs you, but without the writers, the users of the platform, there was never going to be the launch pad that Vocal became for some. Some, made their biggest moves and became authors. Others threw in the towel and walked away, never to be seen or heard form again, because they couldn't see what was possible.
By Jason Ray Morton 4 days ago in Writers
Writing To Succeed. Top Story - March 2026.
If you want to find something that will help readers find your writing, possibly expand your audience, and maybe even get you noticed for other things, then you’re not alone. But how can you get it done in a world full of want-to-be writers? Look less at what you’re writing now, and more at what other writers have used to boost their views and reads.
By Jason Ray Morton 5 days ago in Writers
Writing for the attention span
I've just started to write a story. Not this one. A fiction. I am often contemplating now why I write on Vocal: do I have a message? Sometimes. Is it for the joy? Always. Is it for engagement? Maybe, depending on what form that engagement takes.
By Rachel Deeming6 days ago in Writers
Turning the Ephemeral into the Concrete
Some experiences feel real while they are happening and unreal almost immediately afterward. A conversation that sparks clarity, a realization that reframes a problem, a moment where scattered thoughts suddenly align. In the moment, there is a sense that something solid has been grasped. But without capture, that solidity dissolves. What remains is a faint impression, detached from the reasoning that made it meaningful. The experience was real, but it left no durable trace.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast6 days ago in Writers
Is Self‑Publishing on Amazon KDP Worth It? . AI-Generated.
Self‑publishing has transformed the publishing landscape, and Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) remains the most powerful platform for authors who want creative control, global reach, and the ability to publish on their own terms. Whether you’re releasing your first book or expanding an existing catalog, KDP offers a streamlined path from manuscript to marketplace.
By Kristen Barenthaler6 days ago in Writers
