Write a story about someone returning to their craft after a long hiatus.

Posted in Narrative on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 185 stories

“Starting Over” by Barbara Eustace

Submitted to Contest #46

The cursor blinked lazily on the white screen in front of me. Come on, I told myself, put something down. Anything. It had been a long time since I’d written, 1990 to be exact. Pregnant with my first child, I’d been doing creative writing as a hobby in my spare time. Now my sons were grown men, time was my own, and the white page beckoned. On nearing my retirement my mother had encouraged me to start writing again. I’d always read and enjoyed writing essays for school, at least up to junior level. High school di...

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“Symphysodon ” by Naomi Roberson

Submitted to Contest #46

You stare at the canvas blankly, the paintbrush dangling in your skilled fingers. You roll your eyes as you resituate yourself upon the backless, wooden stool. What happened to you? There was a time when you had a massive reservoir of ideas you wanted to express, landscapes you wanted to recreate, moments you wanted to capture on canvas. Your room used to be covered in your artwork from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. And then you made the worst mistake you could ever make; you graduated college as an art major.&nbsp...

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“Eternally” by Jaden Garcia

Submitted to Contest #46

Nothing lasts forever, but for her, life seemed to be an eternal loop. Ruth shivered, pulling her wrap closer around her tired shoulders. She had made herself move out onto the rickety wooden porch to watch the sunrise, but was quickly regretting it. The beauty found in the sky could often soothe her loneliness, if just for the brief periods of time that it lasted. But it was Pennsylvania, where you could experience every season throughout the course of a single day. Ruth had seen a long life, and she knew well wha...

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“The Dollmaker” by R. E. Dressler

Submitted to Contest #46

Nothing is more satisfying than rekindling an old craft that was once your calling years ago. In my case, decades ago. There’s no single reason as to why I fell off the bandwagon with my most beloved hobby. It happens to the best of us, I suppose. Famous writers, for example, many times become plagued with the notorious “writers block”, which forces them out of their passion until it is reignited by some form of inspiration once again. That is the best analogy for me to describe how I felt about my hobby. I was in a funk, if you may. Simply ...

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“My Recurring Interlude” by Emma Kelleher

Submitted to Contest #46

You know that feeling, when you binge watch a show and in the middle of its lengthy seasons, you stop. Not in a ‘I’m done with you’ sort of way, but just a pause. A pause that excuses your boredom, and you keep telling yourself, ‘you’ll get back to it.’ And now, I finally am. No, not to a Netflix thriller, but my book. A book that has been hiding in my laptop files for years. I open my laptop, scrolling through the many documents I have kept saved. I have started many stories, but there was never a hope to finish them, or even dent int...

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“Glorius Chills” by Esther Andrews

Submitted to Contest #46

Beth didn’t understand why the other kids in her class always groaned on Friday mornings when it was time for their weekly spelling quiz. Especially if the quizzes had fun words in them, like the time their teacher had all rhyming words in the quiz – words like hairy, fairy, bury and marry. Beth giggled as the teacher called them out and carefully spelled each word correctly. And why on earth did the other kids not like writing essays or poems about their summer vacation? It was awesome to think about all the fun things she had done ...

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“Clotted Blood” by Stephanie Gull

Submitted to Contest #46

If being a writer was like being an alcoholic then Bri was fourteen years sober. In those fourteen years, Bri had gone from the aspiring writer archetype to an actual adult living in the real world. She thought she had managed to cure the addictive feeling of words pouring out of her head in the blindingly white screen of a document or the barren, empty canyon of a journal. She thought she had destroyed the frivolous ambitions of living in New York City in a one-room apartment, awake by herself at 4 am, a wine glass in one hand and a cheap c...

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“The bleeding manuscript” by A.J Blink

Submitted to Contest #46

Damnable manuscripts, they should know all the reasons to remain unnoticed and yet, they spar with all the effrontery only afforded a royal dogma. Why they would try to flaunt their angles unexpectedly, I am fretful to consider, and yet, just now, one of them is saving me, once again, after such a long time. Before now, I refused to retract my indifference. They're mine after all and sadly, I've seen their ruinous hands.But not today.Today, I'll allow for a fair share of perseverance needed to unseat my fears for good. It's the least I can d...

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“Demanding Art” by Karin Morley

Submitted to Contest #46

Pick up the pen. Do it. I swear to God...good. Now stop thinking about the neighbors, stop thinking about traffic or weather or bills. Stop. I didn’t say do it, I said stop. Those kids running around upstairs are not that loud. Artillery is loud, little feet are not loud. Would you call yourself ‘focused’? No? Well, no, this is not the time to put yourself down, acting like life isn’t temporary. Stop. Stop, damnit. God, y’now, once you get started, there really is just no stopping you. Fine, go ahead, think whatever you want. *** I was gn...

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“WRITING THE HEMMING WAY” by Scott Smock

Submitted to Contest #46

Sinclair Hemming, world renowned author and famous authority on the Wisslerites, had been away from his writing desk for 7 long years, having married a Wisslerite woman by the name of Autumn Miller. The marriage had been strong from the start and now, with three kids and one dog running around, he was ready to tackle his dream project; an epic romance set during the immediate aftermath of the Climate Wars. So, one bright morning, he sat down at his classic Boring electric typewriter and began to type, words flowing like inky water onto the s...

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“One Year Later” by James Shortridge

Submitted to Contest #46

Henry Jameson took a deep breath and hesitated for a brief moment, before finally turning the knob and opening the door. The room beyond smelled of old paper and stale cigarettes, as though no time had passed at all since he’d last been in here. The book-laden shelves were dust-free, and glittering sunlight beamed through the slats of the window blinds. Their shadows were cast on a second, more barren shelf reserved for special pieces of his collection. Henry stepped into the room, and glanced around while nearly choking on the sense of dre...

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“Lost Art” by Jessica Bell

Submitted to Contest #46

As depressing as it sounds, it has been 6 months since I last picked up a paint brush. After the fire, I lost everything. My studio, my child and my everything. My husband and I barely made it, escaping with severe burns to different parts of our bodies. It was chocked up to an electrical fire and the fire for some stupid reason, started in my son’s room. He was only 6 and we had to bury him with whatever we had left. The loss was too much to bear and my husband practically abandoned me, with him diving in...

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“Documents” by D. Alfonso

Submitted to Contest #46

It was a Saturday afternoon when I found myself scrolling through my Word document history. That’s what I was doing instead of actually writing. Gosh, I had had that account for years, so it wasn’t a surprise that I found a few documents that I had long since forgotten. Most of them had really chessy titles. Curiosity getting the better of me, I clicked on the one titled “Through Space and Time”. It couldn’t be too bad, right? “Time travel,” I muttered, wincing at my own...

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“The Pen” by Sadie Black

Submitted to Contest #46

When she was much much younger, Ava used to hike. The bravado of youth sent her hiking alone more often than not, and wanderlust had her travelling to remote, barely explored points on the map. She knew that hiking solo on an unfamiliar trail was doubly unwise, but the lure of birdsong a crisp sunny morning was irresistible. With a pack on her back and shoes tied tightly, Ava set off on the most important hike of her life. The overgrown game trail led her down deep ravines and up steep rock faces. When she bent to catch her breath, s...

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“Clem's Cast” by Denise Brown

Submitted to Contest #46

“He didn’t even switch the computer on”, grumbled Agatha. “I’m getting really fed up with this, I just want to give him a damn good shake!” Aggie grandstanded, hands firmly on hips. She stood in front of the compilation of children’s books which took pride of place on the middle shelf of the bookcase, the books chronologically arranged in order of publication date. Twenty-four published books in total. She was rightfully proud of the role that she played in these stories but only Clem could bring her to life on the page. Agatha, ...

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Write a story about someone returning to their craft after a long hiatus.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 185 stories

“Starting Over” by Barbara Eustace

“Symphysodon ” by Naomi Roberson

“Eternally” by Jaden Garcia

“The Dollmaker” by R. E. Dressler

“My Recurring Interlude” by Emma Kelleher

“Glorius Chills” by Esther Andrews

“Clotted Blood” by Stephanie Gull

“The bleeding manuscript” by A.J Blink

“Demanding Art” by Karin Morley

“WRITING THE HEMMING WAY” by Scott Smock

“One Year Later” by James Shortridge

“Lost Art” by Jessica Bell

“Documents” by D. Alfonso

“The Pen” by Sadie Black

“Clem's Cast” by Denise Brown

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about someone experiencing a lightbulb moment of writing inspiration.

Write a story that takes place in a writer's circle.

Write a story about an author who has just published a book.

Write a story about someone who has just finished writing their first story/book.

Contest #46

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

618

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: