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Top Stories
Find new, handpicked stories you’ll love, updated daily.
A Destination Needs A Dreamer
Gatlin heard the violin every evening on the commute back from work. Wending between warm rushing bodies on the subway, eyes forward, bag clasped protectively at her side, she drank it in at the same time as she didn't slow. It was probably the best part of her day. The shivering strains crescendoed and collapsed, tugging at something in her core. She'd never seen the violinist, but whoever he was, he was clearly a master, clearly professionally trained. The music always seemed to be coming from somewhere further down the track, around a bend, just out of eyeshot. She'd come to think fancifully that it was something only she could hear. She’d come to think of it as her future, calling.
By Raistlin Allenabout 22 hours ago in Fiction
Challenges
Enter themed storytelling contests to put your creativity to the test.
Say It Plainly
Write a poem that states its central concern directly without metaphor, indirection, or symbolic substitution.
$200 Grand Prize6 days leftThe Rule Everyone Knows
Write a story centered on an unspoken rule that everyone in the story understands and follows, allowing the rule to emerge through behavior.
$200 Grand Prize11 days leftSomething Is Beginning, I Think
Write a story that opens at the edge of a beginning that feels uncertain, partial, or reluctant and avoid resolution.
$200 Grand PrizeClosed
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Resources
Discover tips, guides, updates, and spotlights from our team.
📢 Raise Your Voice Thread: 03/19/2026
Our “Raise Your Voice Threads” are hosted most alternating Thursdays at 12PM ET to offer creators more avenues to uncover exceptional stories on Vocal. As we are continuously searching for fresh creators and inspiring stories, this thread provides an opportunity to exchange and discuss the stories that have moved and motivated us on Vocal.
By Raise Your Voice by Vocal2 days ago in Resources
Everyone Is Acting Normally Challenge Winners
In the Everyone Is Acting Normally challenge, something is clearly wrong, but no one stops to name it. Across the shortlist, that wrongness appears as resurrections, surveillance, disappearance, and denial, each treated as part of daily life.
By Vocal Curation Team3 days ago in Resources
A Transparent Look at Vocal Challenges and Top Stories
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.
By Vocal Curation Team9 days ago in Resources
A System That Isn’t Working Challenge Winners
Systems promise order. They organize behavior, distribute opportunity, and suggest that if everyone follows the rules, things will work. The entries in A System That Isn’t Working look closely at what happens when that promise begins to slip.
By Vocal Curation Team10 days ago in Resources
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