Creative Nonfiction in The Ink Well Prompt #44
Welcome to The Ink Well's weekly creative nonfiction contest!
In this post, we'll announce the winners from last week's contest and provide the prompt for the coming week.
Before You Write Your Creative Nonfiction Post...
We ask that you read our Creative Nonfiction Tips post to learn about the creative nonfiction genre and review our guidelines.
Important notes:
- Creative nonfiction stories are based on your real-life experiences.
- We are looking for real short stories! Not advice columns, reports on crime or corruption in your city, observations on nature, recipes, religion, politics, or any other nonfiction content. Just real-life short stories.
- Ideal story length is between 750 and 1500 words, but your story must be at least 350 words, at a minimum to be curated.
- Please focus on quality content. Read and edit for errors! Use a grammar checker before you post your story.
- We expect everyone who posts in The Ink Well to read and comment on at least two other stories for each one published.
- Do not post stories featuring physical abuse, graphic violence, erotica or NSFW content.
Last Week's Creative Nonfiction Winners
Thank you to all who participated in last week's prompt Feast
Last week's participants
Honorable Mentions of the Week
@edystringz | The feast that left my friend shattered
The humiliation and heartbreak were beyond words, and all eyes were on us as I rushed over to pull her back. I regretted inviting her to an event that broke her and her world apart. |
@borderline.babe | The Day the Magic Ended
As I lift up my fork to begin diving into my slice of chocolate cake, a commotion from the kitchen suddenly disturbs the peace. It starts off quietly, then escalates in tone and volume. From the kitchen doorway I can see shadows, aside from the frailing arms that make an abrupt appearance every now and then. I can identify a few words of the argument between the two women, one of whom is my deaf aunt Kathy who has a very distinguishing voice, until her words begin to turn into screams. |
@timix648 | The Feast of Friendship
As we walked round the hall participating in the programme and discussing too, Timothy continued to untangle the once hidden layers of feasting to me. While walking round the hall, we noticed a table embellished with nice veggies all with unique flavors, and we decided to check it out. "These veggies were transported from the far ends of the earth," he clarified. "They remind us of the worldwide links we share, the interwovenness of societies, as well as tastes." |
@joycealarapon | Induction ceremony
Deep down within me, I knew the make over session was not taking too long but I had to hurry the make-up artist because time wasn’t really on my side anymore. The induction was supposed to start by 9am and at 8:40 am, I was still under brushes and colors to paint my face. |
Third Place: Wins 2 Hive
Our third place winner is @diikaan, with the story:
The Funeral Feast
That was up until my dad passed and the realities of our tradition beamed its bright lights in our direction. My mom was wrecked, my sister was distraught and my elder was caught up in a web where the cobs were traditional rituals and practices that his youthful brain could barely comprehend. It seemed as if everyone wanted their own bite of the corpse.
Second Place: Wins 3 Hive
Our second place winner is @egboncass, with the story:
THE FEAST AND THE COURT JESTER
Source Own
The day finally arrived and I was doing everything in my power to calm my nerves, I had spent the week leading up to the event fighting with everyone from the stylist she sent who kept proposing atrocious outfits to the choreographer who couldn’t seem to understand that I was only given a few minutes as a courtesy to her and I would rather spend that time showing off my abilities as an artist than disgracing my lineage with my nonexistent dance moves. I knew that this birthday dinner would either be the big break I needed to find my place in the industry or mark me as unworthy in the eyes of the entire industry.
First Place: Wins 5 Hive
Our first place winner is @nancybriti1, with the story:
Empty chairs
Everyone would get up and take something from the table and share it among themselves or take a tray and leave it in the center of the room for everyone to help themselves. Although the table was laden with food, the chairs were empty. No one sat in them.
This Week's Prompt #44:
Camaraderie
Camaraderie is much more about a feeling of togetherness than actual friendship. You can tap into the emotional buzz of camaraderie with a total stranger; there just has to be a connecting factor.
For this topic, there are several possible approaches. For example:
- Reflect on a disaster that struck in your community and the joyous emotional kick that you felt when you witnessed your peers coming together as one to remedy the situation.
- Pursue your feelings when you realized that an associate shared a similar reverence for a certain book that you absolutely loved. Discuss the emotional charge that accompanied this revelation.
- Perhaps you joined a choir and found that the force of the combined voices gave you inspiration.
- Maybe you found a sense of purpose as a member of a sports team or hobby group. Discuss how team spirit guided your ambition and dreams.
Tell us about it! And remember to integrate storytelling elements like characters, scene setting, dialogue and action to bring your story to life!
Have fun and good luck! We look forward to reading your stories.
Contest Rules
- You have 6 days to write your story from the date of this prompt post. Be sure to check the deadline countdown.
- Write a real-life story with the creative elements of fiction, like characters, dialogue, scene setting and a story conflict.
- Post your story in The Ink Well Community.
- Please use the tags #creativenonfiction and #inkwellprompt on these posts. Other possible tags: #writing #inkwellprompt #nonfiction
- Stories must be written in English. If you've translated the post, it's best to add the original version below the translation. Do not write mixed language paragraphs.
- Read and comment on at least two stories in the community. Add a link to your story as a comment on this post.
And be sure to remember to join The Ink Well community!
Prizes
Prizes are only for stories written for this week's prompt
- First place : 5 Hive
- Second place : 3 Hive.
- Third place : 2 Hive.
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