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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#78: Keeping Busy

I’ve noticed that hobbies often get overlooked in fiction. Unless it plays a major role in the plot, many main characters don’t even get a hobby — supporting characters, even less often. Yet hobbies are an important part of many people’s lives, especially in lockdown. They’re the things we bond with our friends over, the pastimes that refresh our spirits over the weekend, and the activities that give us some of our greatest joy.

So this week, hobbies are going to take center stage. From mainstream to obscure, let’s analyze our character’s most interesting quirks and explore the many things they can obsess over!

This week's prompts

Start your story with one character trying to convince another to take up their favorite hobby.

Fluff – 177 stories

Write about someone who keeps an unusual animal as a pet.

Teens – 178 stories

Write about someone who still practices a skill that used to be necessary but has long since been replaced by technology.

Fiction – 133 stories

Set your story at a convention for a hobby most people have never heard of.

Fluff – 70 stories

Write about someone who keeps picking up different hobbies but never manages to stick with them.

Character – 176 stories

Stories

“A Slingshot and a Tradition” by C King

Submitted to Contest #78

“Ouch!” Amara pulled her hand back after sticking her finger on a piece of jagged metal. Scraps weren’t kind but she knew them well. The walls groaned as a gust of wind pushed against the shack. A draft rolled across the floorboard and through the holes in her boots. She sucked on her finger for a second then let out a deep breath. She gave her lantern a twist and kept working. Slowly she wrapped a strip of sturdy cloth around the handle. Where it split up into a ‘U’ she carefully made a couple notches in the tips. She knotted both...

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“IN THE YEAR 2177.” by Dolapo Omoleme

Submitted to Contest #78

The year was 2177. The East Wall that separated the country into two parts had just been demolished by the new government, allowing inter-mingling, for the first time in seventy-seven years, between those who had enhanced their minds and bodies, and those who had chosen to keep all the human vulnerabilities and limitations that the new generation had developed a deep-seated intolerance for. It was a dawn of a new age. People on both sides of the wall were able to explore previously forbidden regions of the country, meet people who sharply ...

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“"Say cheese"” by Alexandros Glegles

Submitted to Contest #78

The world’s identity had taken a shift for the more productive and advanced era. Every need and old habit from the old times had been undermined by technology. People stopped writing letters, and instead started simply learning the complications of texting their partner. Manual work was swapped as well, and factories took over the need of providing the goods for society. Every corner of the world was brimming full of these changes, but there are those in secret corners that have retained certain customs. Grandpa Anders was one of tho...

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“The Swordsman” by Jordan Uddin

Submitted to Contest #78

Everett made his way to the training room, scowling at the people in the hallway; holding their guns like they were pots of gold. When he got to the room, it was cold and empty. Out of the corner of his eye, Everett saw a new blade placed gently against the wall. He walked over to it, green shoes tapping on the polished wood floor. Everett picked it up, and rolled the blade over on his arm. It was a long spear, maybe three feet? Four? The smell of fresh leather made a home in his nose. It smelt of old shaving cream and macarons. Not ideal, b...

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“In Letters” by Vincent Cruz

Submitted to Contest #78

My least favorite question to be asked is, “what do you do for work?” It's almost as cringe worthy as bringing up the weather. “Why do you care?” I ask, my veins pumping with hot blood and surging with hatred. “So we can pretend that what I do for a living is interesting?” I shouldn't be so angry, after all, these people are only trying to get to know me. I’ve certainly been guilty of asking the question myself and there have been countless opportunities to which I have seized the moment to comment on the hovering cumulon...

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“Bring Back the TPCC 2021” by Instructions Unclear

Submitted to Contest #78

The date was January 18, 2021. Every year on January 21st, Ashley would go to the Toilet Paper Collecting Convention. From ancient toilet paper to toilet paper made of gold, and even toilet paper fresh from the factory, you would always find somebody with toilet paper you were interested in. People from all over the world would go to this convention, but less than 200 people would attend. Most people just wouldn’t understand the art of collecting toilet paper. Ashley collected toilet paper for fun. Unfortunately for her, the Toilet Paper Col...

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“Desdemona ” by Yousuf Rizvi

Submitted to Contest #78

The local multi-millionaire named Mr. Curtis Landgreen approached the seventeenth semi-annual "Clashing of the Candies" competitively, coming to defend his seven-peat, which very well scared half the usual attendees away. It wasn't until the tenth installment that Mr. Landgreen got invested in the entire process, but once he did, no one could beat him, resulting in the ending of multiple highly respected competitors' runs. He arrived on the scene in a custom-made velvet tailored suit, a pair of navy blue pants that further signified his weal...

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“Fun on the rocks” by وداد أكرم

Submitted to Contest #78

As Lisa sipping her last cup of tea , mark her father prepare ، toaccompany her to the rock-skiing conference that will be held for the first time in the country .Lisa has always liked Western hobbies but she chose this hobby because it is full of adventure, passion and love as well ."Are you ready, Lisa, the conference has only a few minutes left. " Mark, Lisa's father ."yes dad, the conference bubble according to the guide is in the same hotel as our stay ."Lisa ." I actually don't want to miss any Information about her, I don'...

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“Meetup” by Patience Young

Submitted to Contest #78

Meetup Joan found herself scanning the Meetups again, looking for another group to join. How many had she joined now? Oh, she’d lost count. Let’s see, there was the hiking group, before it was too cold, and the crochet group. Joan got tired of sitting there listening to that other woman talking about her nine children non-stop! Although there was a man tatting that came to those meetings. He was interesting. She has forgotten all the ones she quit going to over the years. Women over a certain age, singles, card games - the list went on ...

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“The Jack of all Trades” by Adam Hughes

Submitted to Contest #78

Daniel lifted his Queen and dropped it with satisfaction on b7, noting down ‘++’, otherwise known as checkmate. Daniel breathed a sigh of relief that the game was finally over. What would be his final match seemed to go on for eternity but he could now, finally, pack away the chess pieces. He scooped them into his hands and into the chessboard which also formed as a case. He really thought that chess would be his thing, a hobby that he could finally stick with. But once again, he became bored of the repetition. Instead, his chess set ...

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“Choices” by Neermita Bhattacharya

Submitted to Contest #78

“It’s too hard and it’s- just not right for me.”“What will you do then?” the redhead asked, taking a bite from her lunch tray. “My uncle gave me his old guitar, I'll try it out.”She sighed. “You can’t keep changing like this.”“But... lawn tennis is too hard, and I really do think that excelling in the guitar is in the bag for me!”She sighed again and placed her fork down. “Yeah, you know what? You're right. You should keep searching for the right hobby. When you find the one that you truly love, you won’t walk away from it.”Her friend g...

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“Lint” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #78

It is an innocuous…don’t really know what to call it. It reminds me of having your soul cleaned by a professional. Your sins are pulled from you by the mere mention of the word salvation. Father Maytag and Mother Westinghouse, delve into the spirit of who you are, and spin the inevitable shedding of life’s lessons into the collection basket for easy disposal. But that is not the reason I chose lint as something to collect. My first inclination was to use it to stuff pillows with, like the new version of My Pillow, which i...

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“A Full Life” by Theresa Williams

Submitted to Contest #78

Stella used her spare key to enter the small dark and cluttered apartment. When she would come to visit, she would always tell Natalie she needed a bigger place. More room to move around. Natalie would always say, “I’m only one person despite the many voices in my head and this is all the room we need,” and she would always laugh out loud with her big brown eyes glowing with such happiness. Natalie loved when Stella came to visit. It gave her the opportunity to share her new adventure or hobby if you could call it that. Natalie moved from on...

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“Broke Back Buck” by Lynn Smith

Submitted to Contest #78

She did what? You’re kidding right?Nope. I’m not kidding.Yes but who spends that much on something like that? Um? Her? Her.Her being my mother. It also makes so much sense today.It wasn’t long ago and we were riding horses and checking on pig pens. We always had a great time out there in the country visiting. The kids would anticipate our arrival simply because they never knew what kind of new animal Grandma would have in the house or running around on the acreage out in the middle of no where. We walked inside once to a kitch...

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“Cass vs. the Insurmountable” by Chelsea Berry

Submitted to Contest #78

The knock is confident. Three raps at the door. She’s early and I’ve just had to rush to get Monty, my big Golden Retriever Newfoundland mix, into his crate, tucked safely and quietly in my bedroom. He loves strangers, but he loves them a little too much. Everyone’s his New Best Friend! I run to the door, and yank it open just as she’s about to knock again. “Hi! Mallory? Cass! How are you doing?” blasts me right in the face. “Hi. Good…” “It’s so dreary out,” she cuts me off. “It’s definitely a good day to stay inside ...

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$50

Prize money

735

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 29, 2021 EST

Won by Christina Marie 🏆

Title: Life's Leftovers

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

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