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PLEASE NOTE A CHANGE TO THE RULES OF ENTRY - SEE BELOW
Welcome to Week 4 of The Ink Well's Summer Fiction Challenge. Each week you will be offered two prompts to start your creativity - you can use either prompt or both; you can include them in your story or use them to get your thoughts going and see where they take you ... and never mention the prompts in your writing at all!
Everyone who meets the Rules for Entry will:
- Receive 100% upvote from The Ink Well.
- Be included in the draw for 500HP delegation for 7 days.
- Have a chance to be a Show Case Post in future weeks.
Entries that meet the criteria will also be curated for a curie vote.
The 500HP delegation and The Showcase Post will be announced seven days after this post pays out.
How To Enter The Challenge
The Ink Well is about encouraging high quality creative writing from story tellers. The challenge is open to everyone, whether you are an experienced writer or just starting your writing journey. Every week, there will be two fresh prompts to help you develop your writing skills.
Week 4 Prompts
Option 1: thorn
Option 2: the goat
You can use either prompt - or both - to create a story. You can include the prompt in your story, or use it as a jumping off point for your ideas.
The Poetry Challenge has the same prompts as the Fiction Challenge each week.
See all the prompts for the Summer Season.
What You Need To Do
- using the prompts, write a story that has a minimum of 500 words.
- post it in The Ink Well Community.
- use the title format: "theinkwell fiction challenge | title of your story".
- include the tags: #theinkwell #challenge #story.
- post a link in the comments of this post.
Remember, original work only - no plagiarism or re-posts!
The deadline is when this post pays out on Thursday 11 June 2020.
What We Are Looking For
The vision for The Ink Well is all about encouraging and rewarding high quality creative writing on Hive. We know that everyone has to start somewhere, and that your writing skills improve the more you write.
To help you develop those skills, we've set out some categories that you will want to think about for your story. We've included some links to writing tips to help you. If you get stuck, have a look at these tips: Writing From A Prompt, Put It On The Page and Writing What You Know.
Last but not least, don't forget about Adding Conflict!
| Category | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Setting | Time and place the story is set and whether this affects the story. Tips to help you: How Writing Fiction is Like Weaving. |
| Plot and structure | What are the essential plot points? Does the story incorporate conflict, climax and resolution? Is it linear, chronological or does it move around? Are there themes? Is it believable? Tips to help you: What is a Story Arc? and The Magic Starts at the Beginning. |
| Characters | How are characters drawn in the story? What is their role in the story? Do they change or remain the same? Are they fresh and original or stereotypical? Are they believable? Tips to help you: Bad Habits and What is Your Major Malfunction? |
| Style | The writer's use of language, imagery and tone (eg is it ironic, humourous, tender or dramatic?) Tips to help you: Is Show Don't Tell A Writing Rule? and Avoiding the Dreaded Info Dump. |
| Presentation | Does the presentation and formating enhance the writing? Is the word count appropriate for the story? How does the writer use grammar and spelling? Is their use consistent? |
Any Questions?
If you have any questions, put them in a comment below.
Before We Go
Don't forget to read other people's entries and leave them a comment. The Ink Well will be searching for and tipping good comments!
We're looking forward to reading your stories!
Harvest of Thorns by Shimmer Chinodya
Source
This week's prompt came from the title of Harvest of Thorns by Shimmer Chinodya, a Zimbabwean writer.
Harvest of Thorns opens with Benjamin's return to his mother and the brother he accidentally crippled in childhood. After a few days of welcome, tensions grow, and his mother tells Benjamin's young foreign wife, whom he has brought home, that she must know who Benjamin truly is.
... to show who Benjamin is requires circling into the past—this young man, as all of us, does not come from a vacuum... Through a wholly unpredictable path, his fanatical religious upbringing leads Benjamin to become the guerrilla Pasi NemaSellout.
... Chinodya's treatment of the struggle again subverts expectations; battles and atrocities occur but are not central. Rather than glorifying young people fighting for a cause, Chinodya's narrative voice becomes distanced, describing day-to-day concerns. The tedium of finding food, staying dry, and getting enough sleep ...
... The struggle, won at a heavy cost, has changed little in everyday life. When Benjamin embraces his place as a son, a brother, a husband, and a father, the novel questions the obstacles he had to overcome. Perhaps, Chinodya suggests, fewer causes and greater human compassion—between men and women, parents and children, neighbors and outsiders—offers the only hope for true political change. (Victoria Carchidi)
We would like to invite lovers of poetry and short stories to visit The Ink Well, a Hive community started by @raj808 and run by @shanibeer and @stormlight24 with support from moderators @carolkean and @jayna.
It is now possible to follow The Ink Well curation trail on Hive blockchain with Hive.Vote. Simply navigate to the curation trail section and search for theinkwell and our trail will pop up as an option.
If you wish to delegate to @theinkwell and support creative writing on Hive, you can do this from the wallet section in PeakD.
A big thank you for our delegations from:
@felt.buzz @iamraincrystal @kaelci @owasco @riverflows @shanibeer @trucklife-family
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