Newsletter from Flint & Steel
Sparks №37: Tell Me a Camping Story
A roundup of Flint & Steel articles and writing prompts across Medium-land
“Wherever you camp in the world, the campfire will be one of the things that sticks in your memory the most!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
Sorry for the newsletter delay! I had planned to publish this newsletter earlier, but a lovely stomach bug/flu took hold and didn’t want to let go for a few days. URGH! So now I’m scrambling to get caught up on everything but such is life.
Happy June everyone! Summer is nearly upon us in the Northern Hemisphere, officially beginning June 21st. And June marks National Camping Month.
As a lifelong Minnesotan, I’ve always enjoyed the idea of camping since our state is filled with lakes and awesome camping sites. Alas, I grew up in the city. As the daughter of a single mother, vacations were slim and camping gear expensive. I was jealous of the friends that escaped the harsh summer days to the “lake” or “up north.” These mystical places I rarely set my eyes on.
I was fortunate for a few years when I was little to have an aunt and uncle who lived on a lake about an hour outside of the city. I don’t have many memories of that time, mostly photos documenting the stories. They taught me to swim (my mother was scared of the water) and to fish. But then they moved to Florida. Sadly, I lost the swimming and fishing skills.
Ironically, in my 20s I ended up moving “up north” to live with my then-boyfriend (who became my then-husband and then ex-husband, but that’s a whole different story! LOL) who lived in a rustic (AKA run-down) cabin on a small lake. My city friends couldn’t believe Ellie, the city girl, was living in the woods. I don’t miss the relationship, but I sure do miss the peace and quiet. Oh do I ever!
We do get to escape to the woods, here and there, to my (now) in-laws cabin about three hours in Wisconsin. The biggest perk?! The limited wi-fi. It is one of the few times we truly can’t be connected to the world and that is a blessing.
The favorite part of the summer is building bonfires in the backyard in the evenings, surrounded by a pile of s’more supplies. Okay, half the time I buy the supplies, they are eaten by the gremlins that live in my home (I’m one of them!).
But this leads me to the prompt for today!
So I want you to tell me a camping story! (Or even a ghost story.) This could be a photo essay of your love of camping (or your dislike), a ghost story you like to tell around the campfire, a camping trip gone bad, a short story or flash fiction piece centered around a camping trip. Write whatever comes to mind when you think of the word “camping.”
I hope everyone has an inspiring week (and stomach bug free) ahead!
✨ Ellie, editor Flint & Steel
🎉 Featured Writer 🎉
We are celebrating Terry Barr this newsletter!
“I know that ache in my body is the recurrence of my arthritis; I know that ache in my soul is the failure to write for a few days, maybe even one day. It’s so curious to me: for years I didn’t understand what writing could do for my mood, my psyche, and even though I understand now how important a daily writing ritual is, I fool myself into believing that skipping a day won’t matter.”
Find out what books Terry is currently reading and his guilty pleasures….
🎉 Will you be the next featured writer?
Read over the guidelines to find out more about being featured.
✨Your Articles ✨
As always, take time to support your F & S writers! Stop by their articles and share your thoughts, claps and highlights.
Those marked with a✨next to their name mean it is an Editor’s Pick!
View all the Editor’s Selections
Your Summer Focus Articles
In my latest article, I wrote,
“By finding your focus for the day, the month or a season, it gives us purpose for our time, allowing you to find your boundaries, where you draw the line and say “no, not today.” It gives me the grace I need to say those words and not feel the guilt I do saying “no” to anything or anyone.”
I’m asking you to write about where you will focus your energy this summer.
Marilyn Flower wrote,
“Daily blogging’s how I process my life as I live it, and even get a few shekels for so doing. While the novel feels more like work, even though it’s a labor of love and I’m smitten, Medium feels like play. And I deserve to play, before or at least after working.”
Love the way Marilyn describes how writing on Medium factors into her daily writing. At times I battle with what to write and where because my desires float all around. Writing here on Medium is like having recess outside on a sunny day, good ol’ play time.
Your Poetry
Jennifer Pierce wrote,
“I hear chores calling but I cannot tolerate their noisy clamor instead I focus on birds clattering happily while distant windchimes transport me back in time when on other sleepy Sundays newspapers were unfurled and refolded”
Ravyne Hawke wrote,
“With closer inspection, I make out a form Weaker than yours, fallen to the ground In a language I do not know, you bellow commands How are you so patient with me?”
Response to the snapshot freewriting prompt
Kaori Mitsui wrote,
“She picked up the newspaper on the way and came close to the stairs. She hummed some music for a few seconds.”
The Collection of Flint & Steel Articles
✨ Welcome To Our Newest Writers ✨
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, the focus is the stories that stem from snapshots.
📣 Around Medium: Calls for Submissions, Writing Prompts, and Challenges 📣
Check out the previous newsletter for more writing prompts and challenges.
And all our newsletters for even more writing inspiration
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!
📣New Pub Alert!
Justiss Goode announced Exposure publication, your Medium home for fiction writers and readers.
⌚ Anne Bonfert, with Globetrotters, posted the June challenge, “What does water do to you?”
⌚ Barb Dalton 🇺🇦, with Nursing Notes, posted their June writing challenge to share your birthing stories.
⌚ Drashti Shroff, with New Writers Welcome, shared their June writing challenge: “Share everything about your writing space.”
Trista Signe Ainsworth, with Thank You Notes, shared their latest theme of “Your Self-Love Journey. Do you have a story of appreciation for yourself? Who are you becoming? How can you love yourself more?”
Marilyn Flower, with Middle-Pause, posted their latest prompt asking, “What makes you laugh; What makes you cry? Do you do one more often than the other?”
Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她), with The Brain is a Noodle, shared their latest #WritingPrompt: is writing internally rewarding for you? how so?
Liberty Forrest, Author, with Hope, Healing and Humour, posted their latest theme, “How do you feel about mornings? Are you a chipper morning person? Or a night owl who loves them only at the end of a great night, like I do? Do you see see each day as a fresh start? Do you use them as such? How can this “daily fresh start” improve or change your life?
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, 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 weekly on Monday.
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, 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!, M Cher, CARMEN F MICSA, Annette Liron, Sam Finlayson, Ian Hanson, LM, Elizabeth Kasujja, Sandi Parsons, Veronica Haunani Fitzhugh, BichoDoMato, Jules Starley, Jordan Richardson, Angie Mangino, Obinna Uruakpa, Shanice Lawton, Barbara Radisavljevic, Gaurav Jain, Terry Barr, Christine Graves, Randy Runtsch, Susan Alison, Indra Raj Pathak, Ash Moonlight, Jesse M Hawthorne, Denise Darby, Laura Jevtich, Eira Braun-Labossiere 🌻,
. . . and our 216 followers! 💖
About the Writer
Ellie is a freelance writer and editor from Minnesota. She is writing her first novel, a psychological suspense novel, while finishing her MFA at SNHU.
Need writing inspiration? Check out Sparks, Ellie’s newsletter filled with Medium writing prompts to spark your creativity.
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✍ Written by Ellie Jacobson, @2022 all rights reserved.
