Writing prompts

Sparks №22: What Are Your Distractions, I Mean, Hobbies?

A weekly newsletter from Flint & Steel

“Distractions are magical. Especially the kinds you call hobbies. They take your mind off all the inescapable toxicity and make you feel like there’s so much more to life than just paying credit card installments before due dates.” ― Anindita Das, What The Pandemic Learned From Me

Last week I kept the writing prompt light with the topic of houseplants. I want to continue in that same vein this week. Let’s talk (or write) about hobbies, or distractions, as some would say.

January is National Hobby Month. It seems fitting, as I start thinking about starting a new hobby in January. I think it’s because of living in a tundra of Minnesota when the sun rarely makes an appearance. I need distractions to get me to spring when I return to being outdoors more (sorry I’m not a winter outdoorsy kinda person).

Writing and reading are my passions, but my brain needs other interests. Normally I would say going for long walks and taking photos is my hobby, but as I mentioned above, I don’t like doing that in the winter months.

Prior to the internet and cell phones, I used to cross-stitch. It kept my hands busy and was a nice gift to give to family and friends. “Oh, you made this Ellie?!”

My mom introduced me to latch hooking back in the late 1970s. I wish I had a picture of the rug she made (she hung it up on the wall of her office instead of using it as a rug). It was a sunset scene in ombre shades of yellow and orange.

About six years ago, I purchased a Christmas tree skirt latch hook kit, thinking I would work on it during these dreary winter days. Each year, I would drag it out and complete a row.

The thing is, I really enjoy working on it, but a guilty conscience always pulled me away (“you have other things you should be going”).

Well, no more of that thinking!

What I love about it is I put my phone away for hours while working on it in the evening. It keeps my hands busy (I have a hard time just sitting still unless I’m writing or reading) and gives my overactive brain a rest before heading to bed.

So my question for you is . . .

Writing prompt: Do you have a hobby (or hobbies)? What are they? What hobbies did you have as a child? Did a family member or friend have an unusual hobby? Is there a hobby you’ve always wanted to do but is too expensive? Or do you think hobbies are a waste of time? Why?

I look forward to hearing about your thoughts on the word hobby.

✨ Ellie, editor Flint & Steel

📣Update! Writing Prompt Challenge Contest

Remember the deadline to submit and have the article be published is February 2, 2022, at 8 pm CST.

Also, feel free to write in response to the prompts and submit them to F&S. This is a great way to get some new ideas for your Medium articles.

You can find the list of the entries here:

Your Articles

Thank you to everyone who submitted articles this past week! We had a lot of pieces by new F&S writers, which is great, so make sure to stop by each other’s articles to give some clap/highlight/comment love.

Sandra B wrote, “The number one thing that I found that will cause plants to suffer or die is overwatering,” in her article “Houseplants Can Brighten Your Winter Home” in response to the houseplant prompt.

E. Katherine Kottaras wrote, “And during all that waiting — Did we sleep through the days that mattered?” in her prose poem “How I Write With My Whole Body.”

Jennifer Pierce wrote, “I soaked you up like cake meets coffee,” in her poem, “Tuesdays in Michigan.”

Barb Dalton wrote, ”Despite my first fracture happening half a century ago, I can remember it like it was yesterday. My dear brain has managed to park the whole event into an easily-opened vault“ in “Broken Memories,” in response to Adrienne Beaumont’s broken bones prompt.

and wrote “My relationship with houseplants has been less than stellar. In fact, I confessed to being a murderer last year” in “My Family Has Expanded” in response to my “black or green thumb?” prompt.

Dennett wrote, “And, my gardening therapy led to the creation of my Weeds & Wildflowers publication here on Medium” in “My Chartreuse Thumb” in response to my “black or green thumb?” prompt.

Sorina Raluca Băbău wrote, “It feels a bit scary to open up in front of so many people’s screens, but I shall do it nonetheless because I feel like this is the right thing to do in “How I Would Like to be Remembered” in response to the Freewriting Friday “How Will You Leave Your Mark” prompt.

Charlie Cole wrote, “No one had loved me; they had loved the lies. Now that is all gone, the only thing left is me,” in “True North,” in response to the latest freewriting friday exercise.

Kaori Mitsui wrote, “Each leaf has several holes. I think the name is adorable, “Swiss Cheese Plant,” in “Houseplants.”

✨ Welcome New Writers ✨

Chelsea Marie — Charlie Cole — Katie Michaelson — Sandra B — Buse ermen — E. Katherine Kottaras

Calls for Submissions

I welcome writers to share their own freewriting exercises, writing prompts, and writing contest alerts here at Flint and Steel. You can write short-form or long-form posts.

You can find submission guidelines on our Be a Writer page.

Freewriting Friday

In the latest Freewriting Friday post, I asked you about rebuilding yourself in three separate prompts.

Around Medium: Calls for Submissions, Writing Prompts, and Challenges

Check out last week’s newsletter for more writing prompts and challenges.

Tips

As always, review each publication’s guidelines for their prompts. Many prompts do not have a set deadline.

Make sure when you are responding to a prompt, you credit where your inspiration came from, like a link to the prompt article.

Many of these prompts could fall under nonfiction, poetry, and fiction so don’t limit yourself. There is no right or wrong. Use these prompts as a springboard to your writing.

⌚ = time-sensitive writing prompt!

⌚ Ellie Jacobson wrote about the Writing Prompt Challenge at Flint & Steel

Anne Bonfert post a new photo challenge, shadows, in “Sometimes Sharp and clear, Sometimes Completely Hidden-Your Shadow.”

Marrisa W. , with Coffee Times, the latest book prompts: A book that you wish you can turn back time to read for the first time again, your favourite dystopian time travel book, and abook that has the theme of life and time, in “Turn Back Time.”

Pierce McIntyre, with Plethora of Pop, posted a fun prompt in “Writing Prompts: What Songs and Movies Define You?

Medium Creators announced the winter Creator Workshops. I highly recommend these workshops to give yourself some devoted writing time to develop those ideas simmering under the surface. And if you can’t make it, they do record them as well.

Trista Signe Ainsworth with Thank You Notes, shared the weekly prompt, about food. “What food do you love to cook or bake? What dishes are your favorites? What food memories do you have from your family or friends?”

Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她), with The Brain is a Noodle, shared her latest prompt, 1 Degrees Celsius / 33.8 Degrees Fahrenheit / 274.15 Kelvin in “Rationalize With Me — Do I Deserve Another Pair of Shoes?” (the answer is always yes).

Chelsea Marie, with The Storyteller’s Vault, wrote some excellent nonfiction writing prompts, “Writers You Should Be Following,” “Taking a Social Media-Free Mental Health Day,” and “The Most Interesting Thing I’ve Heard This Week.”

Subscribe to the Sparks Newsletter

If you would like to subscribe to the Sparks newsletter, visit the newsletter page. You can also find past newsletters for more writing inspiration.

— Ellie Jacobson, editor

📣 Attention Medium publication editors 📣

Have a writing prompt, challenge, or a call for submission you want included in an upcoming Sparks Newsletter? Feel free to leave a comment in the Latest Newsletter (link found on main page at Fleet & Steel), email me at [email protected], or tag me in your prompt article and I’ll include the info in the next newsletter. Newsletters go out on Monday or Tuesdays.

Please include a link to the article that summarizes the prompt/challenge/call for submission and if there is a deadline. I will link to the article and to your publication in the newsletter. I also tweet the newsletter throughout the week for added exposure.

💖 Thank you to all the Flint & Steel writers 💖

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, Sam Branstner, 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

. . . and our 134 followers! 💖

✍ 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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