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Hello and welcome to the The Ink Well weekly fiction prompt and prize announcement! The Ink Well is a Hive blockchain-based social media community of creative writers. If you love to write short stories, we invite you to join us. Or peruse the work of our community members.
Note: We always launch our prompt posts with important information. So be sure to check it out first! Then we invite you to read on and see what we have in store for this week's prompt.
Important FAQs about The Ink Well!
Here are answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about The Ink Well.
What Is The Ink Well All About?
The Ink Well is a short story community. This means we only accept short fiction. (Fiction means stories that came from your imagination, not from real life.)
It also means:
- No novels, chapter stories or multi-part stories
- No poems
- No introduction posts
- No essays or other non-fiction
- No memes
Just fictional short stories!
The Ink Well is all about creativity, quality, community, and engagement. As such, we ask the following:
- Please take the time to get to know the community and read other writers' work. Everyone who posts in The Ink Well is expected to read and comment on at least two other stories for each piece you post.
- See our catalog of fiction writing tips and make use of our resources. (Many of our writers are developing awesome skills, and you can too!)
- Put effort into your posts. Review and edit your content for errors before publishing.
What are the community rules?
You can find our community rules at the top of The Ink Well community (right side of the page).
Please read the rules before posting in The Ink Well, as we outline the "do's and don'ts." If you can't find them, you can read them here.
Our community rules are designed to make our community a safe, welcoming, plagiarism-free space for self-publishing original short stories. We do not allow stories depicting violence, brutality, or abuse of women, children or animals. If you have questions, please read this article explaining our stance on violence.
What does it take to get rewards in The Ink Well??
We refer you to the above description of what The Ink Well is about. If you are not getting great rewards, it is likely for one of the following reasons:
- Your story has many grammatical errors. (This is easily fixed with the tips in our post, Help for the Grammatically Challenged.)
- Your story lacks some important elements of good fiction, such as character development, dialog, scene details or a story arc. (See our catalog of fiction writing tips for information on these important aspects of short stories.)
- Your story lacks originality or does not follow our community rules.
Weekly Challenge and Prize Announcement
As we announced in our February newsletter, we are now running a weekly challenge to generate some fun and excitement while also helping our members to work on the different skills involved in story telling. Last week's challenge was to work on dialogue. Dialogue is often a challenging part of a story, but also one that is usually welcome by readers.
You guys are amazing! There were some really enticing examples of great dialogue. This is a great skill to develop. Because this is such an important skill, we'd like to include a few good dialogue examples as "honorable mentions":
Adam, I know you're angry because you think I'm a bad father, but the truth is that your right I am a bad father, and you have every right to hate me ......
Ever since you were born Adam, I've not been able to do things right by you, and it's my fault and I'm sorry ... But I'm here now, even though I know nothing I say or do can ever be able to fix the mistakes I've made, I still want to try with you.
"Yeah, you have a man in that kid" Mrs Emily said turning to look at me "I don't know how he got to know your class or me. But he told me how you've put in so much work to that project. The sleepless night and it would hurt if you fail defending it today and spending some extra months in school" she concluded and bade mum goodbye.
"It's been 12 years since you left your hometown to an unknown land after robbing one of your brothers" the king started, "though it's been long, but the judgment of your act you'll still face" he said.
"I know I have done wrong in the past, I'm ready to make amends and I'll take whatever judgement is given to me, but before then, where are my parents?" He asked.
“I know, but you can’t stay up here forever. A whole life is waiting for you on earth. Plus, your Mom and Dad have patiently waited for you for nine months. Your Mom is going through horrible pain for you to be born, and you're going to keep her waiting?
“I'm not asking about your job my son, you have circles under your eyes…I haven’t seen you in months…the last girl you brought home was two years ago…you have been working non-stop…all that is fine but I’ve been having dreams about you and I am worried…I just want to know if you’re happy”. His mother said calmly, moving his plates to the sink.
And the winner of the Dialogue Challenge is...@kei2, with her story We Come in Pairs. Here's an excerpt from the story:
“You must stop thinking lowly of yourself. There is so much more to you that you can achieve. You need to face your fears and believe in your abilities. Only you can help your situation.”
Congratulations to @kei2, who will receive 5 Hive as the winner.
Okay, let's review fiction entries from last week's prompt and launch a new one.
Stories From the Previous Week
Thank you to everyone who posted a story for last week's prompt, A Reckoning.
Here are the week's stories. Be sure to read and support these authors for their work.
Someone Important by @restcity
Estefania a Blessed Woman by @lrscarmen
The Bone in My Throat by @mrenglish
Thunderclouds With Gold LInings by @stormcharmer
Wife Material by @cool08
The Pot of Gold by @bruno-kema
My Husband's Wife by @alovely
The Prank: Inkwell's St. Patrick's Day Challenge by @itsostylish
Rahim's Dream by @anikearn
There's No Problem by @boscohage
The African Dream by @hazmat
The Naked One Who Offered Her Clothes by @kennsplash
Gimmick and Gerald by @doubleworld
Childhood Love by @storygoddess38
A Baby's Journey by @restcity
The Little Things by @egboncass
Zari and Her Lost Dreams by @atyourservice
Twisted Revenge by @wrestlingdesires
Elf's Kingdom by @abigail04
The Story of Coming Back by @lacrucita
Tales of a Tattoo by @kingobonnaya
The Anxiety of St. Patrick's Day by @raymondpeter
If I Hadn't Written the Manuscript by @b0s
Reckoning by @itsostylish
False Reckoning-Tales From an Animal Kingdom by @zeraton
Hi, Smart Mouths by @deraaa
Was She a Vampire by @rayt2
Unlikely Best Friends by @theawesononso
Not Everything Looks Like It Seems by @zyzymena
Sammy's Luck by @egboncass
The Winged Elf/Children's Story by @gracielaacevedo
Stealing Money From the Market by @anikearn
Encourages Daughter to Face Bulliesby @ayin
Tears of Joy by @smilejerry
My Love My Robot by @muba04
The Gift of a Little Boy by @mrenglish
The Harbinger of Retribution: He never looked so silly, despite his serious intention by @lordtimoty
Dark Shades by @ddn688
My Wrong Wish at the Right Time by @merit.ahama
The Illustrated Gastronomic Stove by @katleya
Summertime by @mrnightmare.net
The Return of Gath by @dwixer
The Phone Call by @yhuddee111
The Next Gen. by @hdprinter
A Man of Honor by @jmis101
What Ifs and Maybes by @hazmat
Scars to Your Beautiful by @hopestylist
A Tale of Mysteries by @rosahidalgo
She Was in Love With Two People at the Same Time by @rayt2
The Game of Throne by @iyimoga
A Single Wish by @supo1
Old Diary by @fantom22
Lagos Crazeby @hazmat
He Worths Being Trusted by @abigail04
Giving Love Another Chance by @didiee
A Long Awaited Journey by @cool08
What a Day by @boscohage
Little Man by @kingobonnaya
We Come in Pairs by @kei2
Grey Face Curse by @mrenglish
Journey to Summer Camp by @muba04
One Day Farm Manager by @mrenglish
The good elf changes a father's relationship with his daughter by @katleya
That Thirsty Soul by @rayt2
Hundred Miles Away by @repayme4568
My Childhood Friend by @popurri
Incarnation by @cool08
Professor Jimmy's Guests on St. Patrick's Day (Green Beer Adventures by @mrenglish
For the Love of the Game by @sonofremi
Leo and Virgo-Oh, and THE TIME MACHINE by @restcity
The End is the Beginning by @boscohage
Wings Tarnished by @grocko
The Ink Well Prompt #58: Play Stupid Games For 155 Years, Get BIG Stupid Prizes by @deeanndmathews
A Settled Scores by @cool08
Rules and Love by @abigail04
Current Situation by @anikearn
Misunderstanding From the Past by @emeka002
Ouroboros- From Beginning To End by @rayt2
Stories In Letters: Why Do We Shiver At The Edge? by @amirtheawesome1
Hired a Whole Family Without Knowing by @ayin
Absolute Conversion by @abigail04
The King's Last Wish by @princessbusayo
A Moment of Zen-A Dino Staring at Sheep by @vincentnijman
Unintended But Punished by @chidubem26
Out of Curiosity by @cool08
Lost in Heaven by @restcity
Love of Lust by @muba04
Finding Mr. Joe by @philomenob
A Lesson Changed the Life by @fantom22
Lost in Love by @storygoddess38
Wrong Reckoning by @diebitch
A Day of Reckoning Has Arrive by @farahikram
A Frozen Thought by @cool08
The journey to the kingdom of elves by @muba04
Angel of God by @fantom22
Punished by the Cursed Windeku by @littlepiggies
The Great St. Patrick, or St. Patty's Day by @fantom22
The Mirage by @itsostylish
What a great collection of stories. Thank you, everyone!
This Week’s Prompt
At last, the prompt of the week!
This week's prompt is Blossom. And your skill challenge for the week is creating a story setting.
What should you do with this prompt? And what does this skill challenge mean? Here are some additional details:
Blossom: This word can be a verb: meaning, to come to life; to reach full potential. The word can be a noun: a flower, or anything that is a bud, new life. A blossom indicates growth, change. Think of how you might use this concept to enhance or create your story's setting.
Creating a Story Setting: The setting brings the story to life. A skillful author creates a vivid scene so the reader can 'see' where the conflict occurs. Your "setting" is the place and time of your story. And it’s important, even in very short stories, to incorporate some elements that help the reader to feel situated in that place and time.
For example:
- Noise drowned out conversation and the pulsating beat made her want to dance. It was the first time she had ever attended a rock concert
- The sky was black. The cars were black. It seemed everything that day was covered in a pall as she waited outside the church with other mourners.
- She squinted against the sunrise as the pounding surf reminded her of the adventure ahead. She couldn't take her eyes off the yacht she was about to board.
We have a great resource for you. Read the article What Is Your Story Setting? in our catalog of fiction writing tips to learn more about creating a setting and why it's so important.
A week from now, we will select a winning story that includes a great story setting. Of course we will also be looking for overall quality in the winning story. Good luck!
Note: As always, please avoid violent, gory, bloody, brutal, sexist or racist themes and language, erotica and other NSFW (not safe for work) content, and stories featuring abuse of women, children or animals. (We have a complete article about The Ink Well stance on violence and brutality for more information.)
If you don't feel inspired by this prompt or the featured image, feel free to peruse any of our past prompts or our collection of idea-generators:
Weekly Prompt Rules:
- Deadline: You have a week to write for the prompt, until the next one is posted. (Note: You can write for any of the prompts anytime. This is just a guideline to be included in the weekly round-up in the next prompt post.)
- Story link: Post your story in The Ink Well community, and post a link to your story in a comment on this post.
- Hashtags: Please use these hashtags: #fiction #writing #inkwellprompt #theinkwell and #dreemport, if you are also posting your story to the DreemPort site.
- COMMUNITY SUPPORT: Visit the work of at least two other community members and comment on their work.
- Title: The title is up to you. You can come up with any title you wish. You do not need to name it after the prompt or include the prompt word.
- Images: Please only use images from license free and creative commons sites, like Pixabay, Unsplash and Pexels. Images you find on the Internet are copyright protected and cannot be used. Be sure to provide the source link.
- Length: We request that story word counts are a maximum of 1,500 words maximum length (preferably 750-1000 words). This is just a guideline. Longer stories are okay too, but they tend to get fewer readers. Additionally, The Ink Well admins appreciate keeping to that maximum story length for our time management. Thank you!
Reminder: Be sure to also read our community rules. The reason for the repeat reminder is that we see many stories describing brutality of women, children, or animals, or that have excessive gore or violence, and we must mute them. Please do not post these stories in The Ink Well. We want our community to be a safe and comfortable place for all readers.
Here are the past prompts if you would like to use them or refer back to them:
- #1: Heart and Soul
- #2: The moment when...
- #3: Beauty with a twist
- #4: The Way Home
- #5: A Matter of Time
- #6 50 Story Ideas
- #7 The Library
- #8 All the way to tomorrow
- #9 Legend
- #10 Three Words
- #11 World Building
- #12 Childhood Summers
- #13 50 Imagination Ticklers
- #14 Railroad
- #15 Cats - 750 words
- #16 Your Birthday
- #17 Action, Dialog and Narrative
- #18 Change
- #19 Tea Time or Tee Time?
- #20 Summer Camp
- #21 Main Street
- #22 Fireworks
- #23 Picnic
- #24 Run
- #25 A word of advice
- #26 Winding road
- #27 Mirror
- #28 Shipwreck
- #29 School Notes
- #30 Three Words: Scooter, River, Midnight
- #31 Flash Fiction Contest
- #32 A Fork in the Road
- #33 Shadows
- #34 Three Words: Island, Witch, Cake
- #35 Full Moon
- #36 Graveyard
- #37 Jack-o-Lantern
- #38 Family Ties
- #39 Longing
- #40 Feast
- #41 Gift
- #42 Season of Light
- #43 Believe
- #44 Elf
- #45 Holiday
- #46 New Year
- #47 Unlikely Hero
- #48 Inheritance
- #49 Under the Light of the Moon
- #50 Three Words: Shoes, Mood, Adventure
- #51 They're Here
- #52 Artist
- #53 Headlights
- #54 Tomorrow
- #55 Lense
- #56 Perfection
- #57 Making and Breaking Rules
- #58 A Reckoning
Thank you for being a part of The Ink Well!
@jayna, @agmoore, @gracielaacevedo, @wrestlingdesires and @yaziris
We would like to invite lovers of creative writing to visit The Ink Well, a Hive community started by @raj808 and @stormlight24 and run by @jayna, @agmoore, @gracielaacevedo, @wrestlingdesires and @yaziris.
We also invite you to follow The Ink Well curation trail on the Hive blockchain, at https://hive.vote/. Simply navigate to the curation trail section and search for theinkwell (all one word with no @ symbol) and our trail will pop up as an option.
Similarly delegations are possible on Hive using the fantastic https://peakd.com/ Hive Blockchain front end. If you wish to delegate to @theinkwell, you can do this from the wallet section of https://peakd.com/
@jayna, @agmoore, @gracielaacevedo, @iamraincrystal, @generikat, @marlyncabrera, @preparedwombat, @marcybetancourt, @zeurich, @stormcharmer, @adncabrera, @josemalavem, @morey-lezama, @sayury, @evagavilan2, @bertrayo, @deraaa, @rayt2 and @fantom22.
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Prompt: Blossom Skill: Creating a Story's Setting