In this monthly newsletter, we share tips for our writers, as well as any important news or updates, and announce the winner(s) of the previous month's contest for the best overall story of the month.
Helpful resources:
We collect all of our important tips for success in the community in our Treasure Trove of Tips, Reminders and Guidelines here. If you're looking for writing tips and help with improving your writing craft, you can find our catalog of fiction writing tips here.
Topics in this newsletter:
- Topic of the Month: Read your post aloud
- Winner(s) from the May Contest!
- June Contest
- Find Us on Discord
- Delegate to The Ink Well / Follow Our Curation Trail
Topic of the Month: Read your post aloud
Have you ever taken the time to read your story (or other Hive post) to yourself out loud before you post it? If not, we recommend that you try it.
Why? Because you are much more likely to see errors. And the errors that you miss before posting your story affect your curation. It is very obvious when a writer has taken the time to read their story and polish it before posting. It is equally obvious when a writer dashed off their story quickly and then posted it without reading through it carefully.
Guess which type of story gets better curation from The Ink Well?
You guessed it! The one that is carefully edited earns more.
So try reading your story out loud, slowly. If you're worried what your roommates or spouse might think, just tell them you are practicing to be a public speaker. 😉
We hope this is helpful!
As always, if you have questions, please visit the "ask-theinkwell" channel in our Discord server. But note that we do not tolerate pleading or arguing with our admins.
Winner(s) from the May 2025 Contest!
Thank you to everyone who participated in our May fiction contest by writing stories for our fiction prompts throughout the month. If you submitted a story for any of our weekly fiction prompts, you were automatically entered into the monthly contest.
In addition to our winner of the month, we have selected several honorable mentions.
Our Winner!
Our top story of the month for May, 2025, winning a prize of 20 Hive is....
@reblogme, with her story, Drawn to Life.
Curator's notes:
@Reblogme writes a fascinating a fiction about the dangers, wonders and possibilities of AI and coding. The MC a “mouse” of a boy, codes up an AI virtual friend that starts to take on alarmingly sentient characteristics. The progression of the story is neither trite , nor predictable with the AI downplaying his abilities to make his creator happy. A wonderful piece of writing.
Congratulations, @reblogme!
Honorable Mentions
The following stories were also in the running for best stories last month, with excellent storytelling!
- @kristabel123: Three Years, One Heartache
- @zerah: The Scent of Him
- @seki1: It's All in My Head
- @litguru: Transmigration Revisited
- @wrestlingdesires: The Straw Game Fiasco
- @marriot5464: The Midnight Wahala
- @nancybriti1: Mr. Pi/ Míster Pi
Well done, writers!
June Contest!
As a reminder, you are automatically entered into the contest of the month by writing and posting a fictional story in The Ink Well anytime throughout the month. There is no prompt for the monthly contest. So keep writing for our weekly fiction prompts and keep giving your stories your best effort!
Contest Rules
Participate in one or more of our weekly fiction prompts (or write any fictional short story in The Ink Well) before the end of the calendar month.
Post a link to your story in a comment on the prompt that inspired your story, if applicable.
Use the #fiction tag as well as the #inkwellprompt tag (if applicable) on your post.
Please remember that we have rules around violence, rape, blood, and physical abuse. See The Ink Well rules, and our article describing The Ink Well Stance on Violence.
If you have questions, please visit the "ask-theinkwell" channel in our Discord server.
At the end of the month, we will announce our winner of the month and our honorable mentions, and the winner will receive 20 Hive.
Hint: We are looking for a high-quality story. Don't rush. Remember the important skills we always talk about — great settings, good character building, strong dialog, and a good story arc that resolves well in the end.
And finally, we recommend using our tips in the article Help for the Grammatically Challenged to identify errors in your story before posting.
Good luck!
Find Us on Discord
Our Discord server is a great place to chat with other community members about the craft of writing.
Please pop into our Welcome channel, read our guidelines for conduct, and then feel free to interact with other community members or ask The Ink Well Team a question in the #ask-theinkwell channel.
Discord invitation link: https://discord.gg/Bng7mMsaQj
Delegate to The Ink Well / Follow Our Curation Trail
Want to support our community, our contests, and our rewards for great quality content? See the table below. We have made it super easy. Thank you, thank you, thank you! We have a goal to continue increasing the support we give to our wonderful, hardworking and dedicated authors!
You can follow our curation trail by going to our hive.vote curation trail page and clicking the follow button.
We welcome delegations! These support our community in many ways, including helping us to provide support to quality content creators through curation and contests.
@jayna, @felt.buzz, @carn, @itsostylish, @agmoore, @ricardo993, @marcybetancourt, @marriot5464, @marlyncabrera, @stormcharmer, @juniorgomez, @iamraincrystal, @preparedwombat, @gracielaacevedo, @timix648, @samsmith1971, @jackdeathblack, @josemalavem, @generikat, @mineopoly, @hazmat, @treasuree, @kingsleyy, @popurri, @nancybriti1, @marynn, @rinconpoetico7, @nathy33, @iyimoga, @captainman, @kachy2022, @morey-lezama, @evagavilan2, @mrenglish, @funshee, @amiegeoffrey, @balikis95, @rukkie, @raymondpeter, @tomiajax, @stuartcturnbull, @monster-hunter, @sayee, @gertu, @mosin-nagant, @beauty197, @beckyroyal, @perfect20, @estilodereba, @rare-gem, @jjmusa2004, @ricurohemi28, @benwesterham, @artofkylin, and @shakavon.
We invite lovers of creative writing to visit The Ink Well, a Hive community run by @jayna, @gracielaacevedo, @yaziris, @itsostylish, @samsmith1971 and @agmoore.
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