Writing prompts | Flint & Steel

Sparks №23: Writing Prompt Challenge Update

A weekly newsletter from Flint & Steel

Hope everyone is doing well! I’ve been MIA for the last few days as I’ve been under the weather but am back again amongst the living again. Whew!

I’m spending the day getting caught on F&S submissions so I apologize for the publishing delay.

I’m loving all the hobby-themed submissions (I didn’t realize how many people collect(ed) postage stamps) and of course submissions for The Writing Prompt Challenge (update below).

I’m blown away by the prompt ideas and articles. Remember, you still have until February 2, 2022 by 8pm CST to submit your entry!

Are you participating in Winston’s latest Coffee House Challenge? I’m not sure I’ll have enough time to enter, but I do want to know if you have a Substack newsletter?

I’m in the process of setting my newsletter up (more info to follow) and want to subscribe to your newsletter so leave a link in the comments so I can check it out!

✨ Ellie, editor Flint & Steel

📣Update! Writing Prompt Challenge Contest 📣

Remember the deadline to submit to the Writing Prompt Challenge 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.

The latest submissions

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.”

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?

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?”

You can find the list of all the challenge 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.

Jennifer Pierce wrote, “‘Why did you bring me here?’ I asked the dark,” in “The Edge of the World.”

Adrienne Beaumont wrote, “Some people have a hobby and it lasts right through their lives. Are you one of those people? Or are you like me — you have a variety of hobbies that have changed over the years?” in “Hobbies — A Passion or an Addiction.”

I thought Adrienne’s prompt at the end of her article was a great spin on the hobby prompt.

and “I was so angry not because I got the sack — I hated that place — but because I was denied the opportunity to walk into his office and tell him he could stick his job up his arse,” in “Freewriting Friday-You’re Fired,” in response to the latest freewriting exercise.

Oh yes, I had a job like that too! URGH!

Ravyne Hawke wrote, “While I love being an editor, and it was once my dream job, my soul still screams out for expression. It is now time to honor my soul’s calling and focus on my hobbies,” in “Making Time for Hobbies.”

Make sure to check out Ravyne’s artwork!

Kaori Mitsui wrote, “Guess what, I built an app out of it for writers. It is called Writing Prompts & Tips. As the name says, it is simply to help you write for seven days or 15 days with writing prompts and tips,” in “Do You Have a Hobby (or Hobbies)?”in response to the hobby prompt.

Make sure to check out the Writing Prompt App Kaori has developed!

David Acaster wrote, “Years later, whilst on honeymoon in Jersey and Guernsey in the Channel Islands, my interest in both lighthouses and stamp collecting were resurrected,” in “Lighthouses on Postage Stamps,” in response to the hobby prompt.

Amy Rosie wrote, “This is one hobby from the past I really wish to pick up again,” in “Hobbies I Had as a Child,” in response to the hobby prompt.

Make sure to check out the hobbies Amy enjoyed as a child! (hint: one is postage stamps!)

E. Katherine Kottaras wrote, “With each prompt, I will post photographs of different words I’ve collected around town — I’m calling them Seed Words — to get you writing,” in “Writing Prompt: Seed Words #1.”

Make sure to go check out Katherine’s seed words. . .

and

“you seem to stare ahead but your gaze is downward with your pterodactyl neck your goose body,” in “To: The Heron in the Park Next to the River that is a Concrete Bed of Shorn Grass and Litter.”

Make sure to check out Katherine’s beautiful photography of herons as well!

Buse ermen wrote, “How frightening uncertainty can be for someone who is constantly trying to keep themselves in check” in “Journeying in the Seat of Uncertainty.”

Beverly Annette Little wrote, “From 2019 to 2020, the percentage of home births increased in 40 states. Increases ranged from 11% for Wisconsin to 68% for South Dakota,” in “Is the Pandemic to Blame for the Spike in US At-Home Births?”

Penny Grubb wrote, “But whether or not they thrive, I’m never sure what role I have had to play. I do what they seem to need and mostly they put up with it,” in “Green Fingers, Black Thumb, And What Are Surfaces For?”

✨ Welcome New Writers ✨

Bingz Huang — Winston — Stephanie Stephenson — Marilyn Flower — Kris Bedenian — Kathy K — Nick Stockton

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 who would you fire from your life, have you been fired, and have you written a rant post?

📣 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

⌚ Warren Patterson, with Globetrotters, posted their January prompt (found this newer pub through Anne Bonfert), “The Best Place I’ve Been.”

Diana C. is back with Know Thyself, Heal Thyself (woohoo!). The prompts for the week of January 24–28th (no deadlines for writing in response):

• Deuces are wild in the year 2022 so what two things would you like to see happen in 2022?
• Share a lesson from a beloved pet or fur friend you know.
• Share something you have said “enough” to or something you feel you need to say “enough” to. Soon.
• Share something you celebrate about yourself or something you should celebrate about yourself.

Marrisa W. , with Coffee Times, shared the latest book prompts:

• Your favourite greek retelling book
• Your favourite Greek god/hero

Trista Signe Ainsworth with Thank You Notes, shared the weekly prompt, about our beloved pets. What pets or animals are you grateful for in your life? Do you care for multiple pets or wild animals in your area?

Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她), with The Brain is a Noodle, shared her latest “#WritingPrompt: use a common craft technique to describe a life lesson (some examples of crafts if you’re having difficulty thinking of some include: crocheting, knitting, embroidery, painting, pottery, etc.!)”

Chelsea Marie, with The Storyteller’s Vault, shared writing prompts for poetry, fiction and nonfiction (article shares the links for each category).

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

. . . and our 144 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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