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Write about someone who still practices a skill that used to be necessary but has long since been replaced by technology.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

“The Hobbyists ” by Jessie Andrews

Submitted to Contest #78

The Hobbyists Bill was an adventurous young man. He was what one would call a hobbyist. He lived on the edge of a small town in Nowhere, Texas. Bill was always chasing his next big dream. You know, the one that would make him rich, the one that would show everyone he was successful.Bill’s first big adventure was a paper route. He was just a small young boy still in school. Bill just knew the paper route would make him a lot of money. But to a boy in school, what was a lot of money?Bill only made twenty dollars a week and had to ride his...

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“The Joy Of Simple Pleasures” by Elliot Taylor

Submitted to Contest #78

Oh, if only one could make a hobby of idleness!If reclining by oneself, binge-watching the latest Netflix series and slowly merging to become one with the sofa, was a hobby, I would truly be an artisan.When it comes to timing dashes to the kitchen with ad breaks, I’m a pro. I’ve perfected the art of cramming as many episodes into our waking hours - I watched the entirety of Breaking Bad over a long Bank Holiday weekend. I smelled like a builder’s crotch by the end, but it was a fine series, some of Bryan Cranston’s best work.I’ve even found ...

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“Idle Torque” by Bernard Shapiro

Submitted to Contest #78

Tom was a boiler stoker in a sweaty, tobacco stained room for forty years with big dreams. He'd always wanted to build things in his spare time, but girls, the Great War, marriage, kids and all that comes of these things had kept him from his quietly modest romances. So it was with a snatching smile that he took his retirement silver tray from the company and instantly pawned it off for a portable welder from a bloke down a dusty old farm road. A long time at the company lunch breaks he'd bathed in the shadows of scaffolding, t...

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“Bored Again” by Connor Andrei

Submitted to Contest #78

“I’m bored again,” They announced into the empty void where they lived. It wasn’t just a room that happened to be so empty that it was practically a void. A room with matte black walls so one couldn’t tell if they were walls or just the endless darkness. It wasn’t a metaphor or hyperbole. It was actually a void, where They lived. “They” of course, wasn’t their actual name, but we may as well capitalize it because They didn’t have a name. They was just — well — there. Maybe. It’s all rather confusing, to be honest, and neither you nor I hav...

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“So, I Stopped” by Faceless Writer

Submitted to Contest #78

Writing is never easy. At least for someone like me. I have been trying to find what really is my goal. What is it really that I want? Which hobby should I keep, or should I say, which hobby would keep me? Let me start from the beginning. Age 3, year 2002. Mom’s been teaching me to sing. She was a church choir member and she want us, including my older sister to be like her. I did not understand back then, why do we have to sing? She said it is to use our “talent” to praise the Lord. At the age of 4, I started attending pre-school at a cath...

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“An unassuming pet shop” by S. Lothcraft

Submitted to Contest #78

It was slowly getting to evening, a chilly autumn evening with the smell of recent rain that cleared the sky entirely. The cars raced by, strangers drifted past, as I slowly walked, trying to feel the moment and the sensation of being outside in the fresh air for the first time in a long while. Although I had a mask on, I disregarded the discomfort – the necessity of wearing it came first. I have been living by myself for the last few months, something I had always wanted. At least I thought so. I wondered about that a lot. ...

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“Terribly Jinxed” by Daniel Adeniyi

Submitted to Contest #78

His morning breath warmed the pillow, and he changed the subject in his mind. The unusual noise of a never ending music playing from the next room, coupled with the loud chatting of grown men on national issues, children gathering together in glee to play around. It was not a day for second-guessing or regrets,it was a day for doing.Downstairs, he could hear the return of a long-lost sound: mum making breakfast. Banging wooden cupboards (rump-thump!), rattling containers of tin and glass (ding-ring!), shufﬂing an...

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“Blurry Moments” by Sey M

Submitted to Contest #78

She held the ribbon tool in her hand. A thin film of sweat formed on her creased forehead. The spinning pot had a noticeable wobble, but she didn’t let it dictate how she trimmed. She kept a firm, steady hand on the grooves and shaped it as she desired. The churned out clay looked like ribbons of chocolate. Her tongue occasionally caressed her lower lip. She’s so absorbed, I thought, as my mouth formed a sly grin. If only she paid more interest in her other spontaneous pursuits, she would have layers of personality that I would love to exp...

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“The Hobbyist's Graveyard” by Faith Loewe

Submitted to Contest #78

All things considered, the home of Angela Patterson was a very fine one, save for the middle bedroom. She took some pride in keeping the little bungalow tidy and kept up, almost never missing her designated Tuesday Night Cleaning which involved an elaborate routine of vacuuming, wet mopping, stacking and restacking books on shelves, and scrubbing down surfaces with as much aggression and bleach as she could endure without passing out. The middle bedroom, though, remained untouched during these Tuesday rituals. She’d come to privately refer...

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“Music vs Books” by Hinc Sharma

Submitted to Contest #78

"When I rhyme the things; I feel like a king" "I am invincible; I can do anything." These are the words I spoke day and night, what can one except from a music lover. The winter approached earlier as predicted. I was walking through crooked lane, as usual singing a song and vibing to it. Actually I was going to my friend house, he had brought a new gaming console. And every kid loves to play games. I knocked at the door he opened it like a flash or thunder as if he had been waiting for me at the door. I quickly made comfortable myse...

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“Another Lockdown Stash” by Josie Gilbert

Submitted to Contest #78

Sarah was engrossed in her latest detective novel when the doorbell rang. Startled, she dropped the book and hurried across the hallway to the front door. She opened it in time to see a figure retreating briskly down her driveway but she could not tell if it was a man or a woman. Looking down at her feet she noticed a large grey plastic bag, no doubt containing her most recent online purchase. “Thank you,” she yelled to the figure, who acknowledged her by waving an arm. “Lockdown restrictions,” Sarah thought. “They aren’t even allowed to wa...

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“Unfocus” by Threese Belivett

Submitted to Contest #78

What are you doing? Why don’t you pick one and stick to it? You’re friend Irene is frustrated because you didn’t attend the practice for shuffle and contemporary collaboration dance. Did you forget it again? Because obviously, you are. And what are you doing right now? Oh, you’re learning vector illustration. Is that why you sign-up for a free 7 day course of graphic illustration design class? Really? Are you having fun making a collage with those colorful images? Right. You look eager with your new hobby. May I ask how many days you’re ...

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“The boring life of Brian” by Sasan Sedighi

Submitted to Contest #78

The boring life of BrianAs a long-life habit, though it was Saturday, Brian woke up at five. It was still dark, and the room cold. Brian stayed in bed and reluctantly reviewed his dreary life. There wasn’t a single thing in his entire life to make him proud. He was fifty years old, married once, which last for only two years, with no offspring. Since then, he had lived alone for the last fifteen years. Brian worked as an accountant in an import and export company for the last half a century. It was his first job and was going to be his last....

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“Busybody ” by Shantal Shirley

Submitted to Contest #78

I don't know what brought it on, she just suddenly suggested it. We were watching tv, our favourite tv show. We were following the life of our favourite character, a secretary at day, a cold, hard thief by night. It was the latest season, the first episode of many to come. The previous season had ended with the character being placed under house arrest after being caught by her love interest who turned out to be a detective working on her case. This season began with her being bored out of her mind, she decided she needed something t...

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“T.B.D” by Adiah Leverette

Submitted to Contest #78

Ashley Barns, 10th gradeHave you ever had that one friend who was indecisive, picky, and confused? The one that was always busy but not because they needed to but because they had the urge the need to be moving all the time doing lots of different things miserable doing so? I have and because of it, the friendship I had with my best friend Kathy was almost destroyed. Hi, My name is Ashley Barns I am in the 10th grade and when I was in the 9th grade my best friend Kathy was so busy picking up and dropping school clubs and neighborhood hobbies...

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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.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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