Personal files backup from Mac Air with Monterey OS

When you write Time Machine drive, can that be a USB C flash drive formatted for Time Machine? If that is the case I insert that TM drive then use a utility called Migration Assistant, not Time Machine, to select and copy to the flash drive you call Time Machine drive? I am guessing it not some special drive but a flash drive formatted by the Time Machine utility?

I plan to not use an external SSD or HDD for backups. Floppies, CD's, DVDs, and now flash drives have done okay for me. So, it is a drag and drop command to get a "manual," copy made. My hand has trouble with drag and drop, so I was hoping there were menu selections in the OS to select a file or folder, then select copy to, then select the destination. Maybe Time Machine works like that a bit by clicking on commands instead of drag and drop. From what I've read about Time Machine, it seemed to be an automated back up utility to be run with each use of the computer, and may even require an SSB with the capacity of the internal SSD. From your description maybe it could be used as an any time you like backup utilities that allows you select even just one file to send to a USB C port, not some automated back up system, or maybe it does both.

Thank you for the advice. My only MacIntosh was the first one on the market and it has been that long since I used one. I think I will get the file backup down. Now to find how, and what I need with the Mac Air M1 to restore/recover a copy of the OS. I think that may be done from a USB flash drive but maybe that takes an SSD drive too or it can be done over wifi/net connection.

So for a manual back up of a file to say like a 32 GB USB C drive I will need to use drag and drop to get that file copied to the drive? (thumb drive some call them)