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Top Stories
Find new, handpicked stories you’ll love, updated daily.
Harbinger of Despair
Who was he but just a man? To feel the weight of the world on his shoulders, he was no Atlas. Yet his bowed stance and tender neck suggested otherwise. It came to him in a dream: the absent stoking of an everlasting flame. A gnarled finger pointed towards an inevitable end, a sign that couldn't be ignorantly shaded; recurrence made sure of it. He didn't remember how long it had been going on; time didn't matter at this point. He just knew it was long enough to be petrified to fall asleep.
By James U. Rizziabout 16 hours ago in Fiction
The Friendship Recession: Why Adults Are Struggling To Build Close Relationships
This is a universal phenomenon that is affecting both individual and collective psyches. Humans thrive on companionship. The pandemic is solely to blame, however that particular far from auspicious time is not really to blame. The no-friends-trend-turned-friendship-recession, bringing forth the loneliness epidemic was a thing before 2020.
By Justine Crowleya day ago in Psyche
Babbling Dixie
The short form of tomorrow is never the whole story. Abbreviations mean nothing when we are born to die and we all are aren't we? Being spoken for before birth is something we're not supposed to remember like some kind of karma after effect. Still here we are spending our lives looking for each other.
By Canuck Scriber Lisa Lachapelle2 days ago in Fiction
Challenges
Enter themed storytelling contests to put your creativity to the test.
Something 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 Prize2 days leftSay It Plainly
Write a poem that states its central concern directly without metaphor, indirection, or symbolic substitution.
$200 Grand Prize9 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 Prize14 days left
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Resources
Discover tips, guides, updates, and spotlights from our team.
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 Team6 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 Team7 days ago in Resources
📢 Raise Your Voice Thread: 03/05/2026
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 Vocal13 days ago in Resources
A More Human Vocal
When we launched Vocal nearly a decade ago, the world was a very different place. LLMs did not exist, and stories were created one at a time by people sitting down to write, revise, and share something personal. Many of our assumptions about publishing, trust, and participation were built for a world where effort and output were inseparable.
By Justin @ Vocal13 days ago in Resources
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