Flint & Steel

Announcing the Writing Prompt Challenge Winner

Thank you to all the writers who submitted their work!

Thank you so much to all the writers who submitted their ideas and words for Flint & Steel’s first writing challenge. It truly loved each writer’s submission, which in turn inspired me.

I’ll be writing posts in responses (and tagging you and your article) in the upcoming months. I welcome all writers to do the same.

Flint & Steel is your home to spark your writing, when you need an idea or two to get the word flowing.

It is my goal to continue hosting these writing challenges with cash prizes every three months, so watch for the next one announced in March (different theme).

I’m using my Ko-fi page for tips to be used for these cash prizes and to hopefully pay writers at my Running with Sparklers community in the future!

Without further ado . . .

🎉 The winner of the $50 cash prize for the Writing Prompt Challenge is pockett dessert 🎉

with her submission, “Flying High: An Exhilarating Ride in a Beautiful Hot-Air Balloon.”

Pockett’s submission is simply stunning.

Her prompt is, “What is your best exciting flying adventure? She describes the journey with her amazing photos and equally captivating words detailing the experience along the way.

One of my favorite lines,

“Hard to believe a thousand feet in the air we could hear, crystal clear, a conversation between a framer and his son. Oops, so sorry!!” — Pockett Dessert

💖Runner-ups 💖

Marilyn Flower, wrote “Inventing my own cliches is like trying to make origami out of a silly slice of salami,” in “To Cliche or Not Cliche is Not the Question.”

Write about cliches using cliches.

Or

Write a story using as many cliches as you possibly can.

Or

Some creative mixup, mashup, thumbs up, buttercup combo of the two.

And Marilyn did just that in her piece, filled with her inventiveness throughout.

One of my favorite lines, “Time to get while the getting was good. You know what they say, when it rains, it pours. So with wiggling kitty bodies cattywampus all over the floor, each kid had his or her pick of the litter. Box. And a cat, too.”

— Marilyn Flower

Karen Schwartz wrote, “Would we first travel our yellow brick road to find answers about how to navigate ourselves in a land without fear?” in “If Spiders Were Friends, Could We All Get Along?”

I loved Karen’s take on fear. What would our lives be without fear? The peacefulness but also the other side of that question.

“However, in the absence of fear comes unconcern, and thus lies the danger of finding ourselves apathetic. There is no guarantee that we would come together to conquer life’s vices in a world without fear. Instead, we might go in the other direction, becoming selfish.” — Karen Schwartz

Kris Bedenian wrote, “We must find ways to fit those things with meaning into our lives, moving that time machine forward in the right direction with our passions and hobbies,” in “What Does Time Mean to You?”

Are you struggling to make time meaningful in your life? Like you’re living in a reactive state instead of talking charge of time.

Read Kris’ inspiring words to focus on what time means to you, right now at this point in your life.

I’m not saying to micromanage our time like a control freak; I’m saying use our talent to learn and use whatever is necessary to live authentically within while being present at any moment in time.

— Kris Bedenian

🎉 The Submissions 🎉

Kaori Mitsui wrote, “Where She Finds Her Cooking Recipes,” with her prompt “Where do you find your (good) cooking recipes?

and “What kind of pet(s) do you want to have, and why?”

Kaori Mitsui wrote, “In the morning, I have oats & an egg as my main thing. In the afternoon, I ask myself, “fish or meat?” With some vegetables and main carbs, in the evening, I usually have the opposite one that I did not choose in the afternoon,” in “Food I like to Eat in the Morning, Afternoon, And Evening.”

Adrienne Beaumont wrote, “So I never expected to ever break a bone, but when I was renovating my third house, the unexpected happened in “ Writing Prompt-Have You Ever Broken a Bone?”

Winston wrote, “Nevertheless, my resolution for 2022 is to be a better me, one that requires me to put in my best at work without compromising my time for the family and my passion for writing,” for his new year resolution prompt in “My New Year Resolution.”

Katie Michaelson wrote, “What do you do when your story goes all wrong? Misses the intended audience? Doesn’t get read? Do readers ever miss your message?” in “My Friends Lectured Me about Safety After I wrote a Story on Facebook That Made Them Angry.”

Susan Poole wrote, “If you had to describe your work in progress with just one word, what would it be and why?” for her prompt challenge entry in “If One Word Could Speak Volumes, What Would It Be?

Mulan wrote, “If someone asked me whether I love nature, I would say, yes, of course. But one day when I walked with a friend in downtown Vancouver, I started to question myself,” in “Do You Love Nature?”

Asking, “what do you think about nature? Have you been scared by nature?”

Buse ermen wrote, “Talking to someone was terrifying for Marnie because Marnie thought her voice was too bad for anyone to hear, and she always spoke in a low voice so as not to hear her own voice,” in “My Little Main Character: Marnie.”

Divina Grey wrote, “I dug deep for this one, guys; like twenty-three-years-ago deep” for her writing prompt challenge submission, asking “Is there a ‘ripe’ age for marriage?”

AliciaMarie Belchak | Master Life, Build Dreams wrote, “I would love to go back to my 25-year-old newly-wed self and stop myself from going into panic mode after mom died and I lost my job (practically the same week)” in “Don’t Panic: My Life’s One Regret.”

Sorina Raluca Băbău wrote, “Now, why do I say that these things can lead one to the next level of their life? Well, that’s because all that creative energy I have been suppressing all those years is now finally allowed to manifest into the material world,” in “What Did You Enjoy Doing as a Child?”

Prashansa Chandekar wrote, “I have always wondered where ideas come from. Are they living entities that move through time and space? Do they have minds of their own that decide where they want to set up their tents? Or, do they already live in our heads and show up at the suitable chemical configurations of the brain,” in “The Journey of an Idea.”

Flint & Steel Writers

If you would like to be a writer for F&S, please read over the submission guidelines!

Sahil Patel, Shirley Jones Luke, Samantha Jensen, MA, MAEd, Trista Signe Ainsworth, MIGHTY MISCELLANY, L Burton, Heathere CW, Kaori Mitsui, Penelope Mayfield, Pierce McIntyre, Pene Hodge, Yean Foong (M.Ed.), Elin Melaas, Sarah Minnis, Mindy Morgan Avitia, JM Heatherly, Nikki, Andria Kennedy, pockett dessert, Dennett, Diana Lotti, Ronald C. Flores-Gunkle, Mulan, Amanda Laughtland, Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles, Penny Grubb, Sorina Raluca Babau, Prashansa Chandekar, Will Hull, Ravyne Hawke, Jane Grows Garden Rooms (Jane Frost), Mimi Bordeaux, Adrienne Beaumont, Karen Schwartz, Divina Grey, Sangeetha Shankar, Ellen Andaya, Barb Dalton, Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她), Beverly Annette Little, Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她), Beverly Annette Little, Aabye-Gayle F., AliciaMarie Belchak | Master Life, Build Dreams, Danielle Hestand, Rick Allen, Jennifer Pierce, Tamil — Amy Rosie — Jennifer McDougall — Susan Poole — Adrienne Parkhurst — Chelsea Marie — Charlie Cole — Katie Michaelson — Sandra B — Buse ermen — E. Katherine Kottaras — Bingz Huang — Winston — Stephanie Stephenson — Marilyn Flower — Kris Bedenian — Kathy K — Nick Stockton — VerityAlways — Makena Darya — Umme Salma — Călina Mureșan — Anne Bonfert — Jennifer Dunne — K-kun Writes!

✍ Written by Ellie Jacobson, @2022 all rights reserved.

✨ I’m a freelance writer and editor from Minnesota, writing my first novel, a psychological suspense novel. Are you a writer? Check out Sparks, my newsletter filled with writing prompts to spark your creativity.

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