Source: Aedrian Salazar on Pexels
Welcome to the Weekly Fiction Prompt
Hello community members! Thank you for joining our weekly writing prompt! If you're new, be sure to check out our community rules before posting in The Ink Well. (You can find them at the top of our home page. And you will find all kinds of great resources for fiction writers in our catalog of fiction writing tips.
Stories from the Previous Week
Thank you to who posted a story for last week's prompt: "In mother's house":
- @fashtioluwa
- @jazclassic
- @nathy33
- @iskawrites
- @kei2
- @wongi
- @diikaan
- @mdakash62
- @mikechrist
- @nancybriti1
- @osomar357
- @marriot5464
- @jjmusa2004
- @lightpen
- @sabrinah
- @abigail04
- @mrenglish
- @rare-gem
- @balikis95
- @samiwrites
- @litguru
- @rinconpoetico7
- @loveth97
- @universoperdido
- @moaz-sabir
- @graat
- @omolayo
- @kei2
- @bipolar95
- @kristowe
- @mhizrutty
Author Shout-outs
We'd like to call out a few stories that got high marks from our curators.
@rinconpoetico7
Curator comment:
@rinconpoetico7 writes a story in response to the fiction prompt. The story is nostalgic. The protagonist, Luis, is mourning the loss of his mother. He must return to his childhood home in order to put things in order after her death. As he returns home, he also returns to the past. He has an experience that is not rational, but it is real to him. He sees his mother. She talks to him. She tells him he has lived a life without warmth or meaning. After the talk, he falls asleep. The story is rich in detail that evokes memories and emotions. It is very well written.
@kei2
Curator comment:
@kei2 writes the most delightful, charming fantasy fiction about discovering the identity of her father. In the story, which will give you chills, the MC’s mother dies, but her death leads to uncovering a mystery about the village that the protagonist lives in: a rumour exists that children disappear because of the power of a witch. The witch is thought to be the MC’s mother. I won’t add any more spoilers because this is a “feel good” must read.
@litguru
Curator comment:
@litguru delivers a great sci-fi story! A married couple lives in the luxurious residence they inherited from her family. They are assisted by an old robot that has been with them since the wife's childhood. There is a very special bond between them, full of knowledge and affection. The man feels threatened and begins to conspire to make Emma, the old robot, leave the house but the machine has her resources and a cunning, "represented" as information in her memory, that allows her to take the lead and remain in her protective mission.
@jjmusa2004
Curator comment:
@jjmusa writes a story that cleverly applies the fiction prompt. He describes rival students. A young girl and young boy compete for top position in class. They can't stand each other. Then the boy hears the girl sing a song that is unique to the boy's maternal family. He talks to his mother and realizes his rival is actually his cousin. Suddenly, family becomes more important than rivalry. The two cousins compete as years in school pass, but they are content to trade that first position, as long as it remains in the family.
Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week
This week's prompt is: "Keep Out."
For this prompt, let's see where your imagination takes you when you think about a "Keep Out" sign. Perhaps your character is a child who wants to go into his teenage sister's room, but he is confronted with a Keep Out sign. Or maybe your character is a traveler in the woods, lost and hungry, and when he finally finds signs of civilization, he must decide whether to trespass onto the property past the sign.
You could go in so many directions with this prompt, from silly to scary!
Tell us a story. We look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Remember, as always, we are looking for the elements of story. These include:
- Great first lines
- Good settings
- Well-developed characters
- Integration of action, dialogue and narrative
- A conflict that intrigues the reader
- A "story arc" which results in the resolution of the conflict and brings the story to a satisfying conclusion
- And of course, we are looking for well-edited stories that are not littered with typos or grammatical errors
You can find more on all of these topics in the catalog of fiction writing tips.
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:
Writing Prompt Guidelines:
- See The Ink Well FAQ: Before you post in The Ink Well, we ask that you read our FAQ post to familiarize yourself with our important community rules and guidelines.
- Story link: Please be sure to 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 — as well as #dreemport, if you are also posting your story to the DreemPort site.
- Community support: When you post in The Ink Well, please be sure to 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. Please do use the prompt word(s) within the story.
- 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 all image source links.
- Length: We request that story word counts are a maximum of 1,500 words in length and ideally 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. (Note: We generally consider stories less than 750 words "too short!")
- Translations: If you post a story that has been translated from another language, please include both the English version and the translation.
Reminders: Be sure to also read our community rules. As always, please avoid violent, gory, bloody, brutal, sexist or racist themes and language, NSFW (not safe for work) stories like erotica, stories with a political or religious agenda, and stories featuring abuse of any kind. (We have a complete article about The Ink Well stance on violence and brutality for more information.) And do NOT use AI tools to write your stories. You must provide your own unique content.
Past Prompts
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; #59 Blossom; #60 Temptation; #61 Happiness; #62 Footprint; #63 Frequency; #64 Sailing; #65 Fortune; #66 Worry; #67 Adventure; #68 Shadow; #69 Motor; #70 Embarrass; #71 Proud; #72 Guide; #73 Impression; #74 Lost; #75 Wonder; #76 Tear; #77 Splash; #78 Brilliant; #79 Sinkhole; #80 Exhaust; #81 Roll; #82 Wishbone; #83 Chatterbox; #84 Foil; #85 I can't believe you said that; #86 Boo; #87 Midnight; #88 Hunger; #89 Light; #90 Spirit; #91 Fire; #92 Tend/Tender; #93 Cheer; #94 Appearance; #95 Ambition; #96 Trust; #97 Fly; #98 Comfort; #99 Fate; #100 To Create; #101 Vision; #102 Sympathy; #103 A Special Time; #104 Suspense; #105 Bride, stairs, illusion; #106 Reality TV; #107 Things the Go Bump in the Night; #108 First line: Two strange things happened that day; #109 What if that loose floorboard was actually a hidden passageway?; #110 Footsteps; #111 Mess; #112 Cards; #113 Elephant; #114 Crystal; #115 Phone call; #116 Date; #117 Chocolate; #118 Three words: wish, button, sky; #119 RSVP; #120 Objets d'art; #121 Soul; #122 Scuttlebutt; #123 Recall; #124 Doorway; #125 Beacon; #126 Seagull, Market, Box; #127 Window; #128 Terrified; #129 Dance; #130 Two endings; #131 Ghosted; #132 Treasure; #133 Taste; #134 Reunion; #135 I miss you; #136 Wonder; #137 Ruins; #138 Beach memories; #139 There was something in the wind; #140 Mask; #141 Halloween; #142 Photo album; #143 Dreams; #144 Crayon box; #145 Back of beyond; #146 Intuition; #147 Delight; #148 Anticipation; #149 Holiday memories; #150 Resolution; #151 Bicycle; #152 Flight; #153 Time Travel; #154 A trip to the fair; #155 Don't sell me a dog; #156 Gravity; #157 Love, wheelbarrow, dog; #158 Stealing; #159 Sportsmanship; #160 Toast; #161 Pickle; #162 You only live once; #163 Ring; #164 Hope; #165 Dreamcatcher; #166 In mother's house
Thank you for being a part of The Ink Well!
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congratulations to all winners
Wow. Thank you so much. I feel honored. Congratulations to everyone who took part this week.
Wonderful writeup from the authors selected.
Here's my entry for the week. Supported @trexane @chizzy1
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@treasuree/the-keep-out-chronicles
Thank you for the shout-out, @theinkwell!
Congrats to the winners.
@theinkwell , please, I'm sorry to come up again today. I observed that I must have made some mistakes which must have made @theinkwell not stopping by to comment on my write up. If at all, I just need to know whether I'm doing the right thing after posting. Although, I do check my work before posting but then no one is above mistakes. I may even feel so happy while posting but then no one would come up to pinpoint my mistakes.
I know you said you do select the best post for curation, but then commenting just to know my mistakes is quite important.
Thanks for your understanding....
We have already provided an explanation to you in the past, @omolayo.
There are hundreds of other communities on Hive to choose from.
Oh yes! I really appreciate it at first too and I've changed. I also understand that there are other communities on hive but due to the fact that theinkwell is one of the communities I really love to post my write up to, most time too.
Please I'm not happy seeing this. Can you give me second chance again.
I will be glad if my write up is being considered again.
Long live inkwell community and thumb up to you all.
Thank you!
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@marriot5464/the-keep-out-room?referral=marriot5464
My entry
Congrats guys 😍
Here is my entry
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@iskawrites/to-them-there-were-2-janes-and-no-mary
My entry link
https://www.ecency.com/hive-170798/@amarachi22/the-murder-secret
I have commented on other people's post also
I supported every writer with a link posted here.
Here is my entry
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@zyzymena/the-last-return
Congratulations to the Winners I hope to be in this list soon. I know I have so many flaws in writing my fictional and nonfiction but I believe with time and regular corrections I will be perfect. I may not be a perfect writer now but with continues trials and practice I will be.
Hey there 🤗
Here's my link for this week's prompt: https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@chuksmeezy/a-moment-with-death
Supported some writers
Here's my entry guys
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@annavenezmua/keep-out-the-forbidden-cabin?referral=annavenezmua
And also congrats to winners
Congratulations to all the winners, great work.
Here's is my entry:
https://inleo.io/@captainman/the-keep-out-zones-
I have commented on @annavenezmua, @amarachi22 posts.
Here's my entry:
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@do777/keep-out
I commented on @rukkie, @abdul-qudus, @restcity, and @mikechrist.
My entry: https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@trexane/the-rescue
Here's my entry fam
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@mhizrutty/svidlane
Hello, guys. Here's my new story :)
https://hive.blog/hive-170798/@gabmr/the-worst-home-run-ever
My link is below; https://peakd.com/@cool08/the-python-house
I have commented on @tressuree and @marriot5464
Here’s my entry:
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@tommyik/the-forbidden-garden-s-secret
Thank you for the honorable mention.
Here's my entry
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@jjmusa2004/retrieving-our-ball
My entry:
https://inleo.io/@marynn/the-farm
I supported these authors @do777, @captainman, @jjmusa2004, and @ucngozi
Supported @amarachi22 and @captainman
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@rare-gem/a-sign-they-should-have?referral=rare-gem
Supported @amarachi22 and @jjmusa2004
Post link
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@kristowe/the-lost-treasure
This is my entry 👇
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@kingsleyy/hansens-daredevil-debut?referral=kingsleyy
I supported @iskawrites @iyimoga @zino01
Here is my entry
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@emreal/a-new-dawn
I supported Maryann and rare-gem
Hello friends. Here I bring my participation:
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@universoperdido/mildred-is-lost-the-ink
Here's my link.
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@balikis95/the-talk-with-mr-hook
I supported;
-Emreal
-Kingsleyy
Hi everyone here is my entry
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@loveth97/under-the-stars
I supported @jjmusa2004 and @balikis95
Greetings community this is my participation: https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@osomar357/fiction-the-ghost-of-the
These are the guys I supported: @emreal, @iskawrites, @balikis95, @amarachi22
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@nancybriti1/fiction-the-hiding-place-of-some-creatures-el-lugar-donde-se-esconden-algunas-criaturas-eng-esp
My participation this week. May God multiply the luck among all of us. Greetings
Greetings. Here is My Participation for the Topic Keep out.
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@mikechrist/the-four-unforgettable-experience-
This is my submission
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@sabrinah/into-the-forbidden-woods-
I'll Support;
My link below
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@abigail04/presumed-brave
I have commented on
@sabrinah and @captainman
Hello 👋 this is my entry for this week's prompt:
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@ucngozi/the-strange-door
I commented on the work of others
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@fairylaw/are-all-men-the-same
Hi, it's my first time here, I hope you like my story.
Very happy to know that my story is among the highlights of the week and very grateful to our beloved community for this beautiful space where stories come to life. To the other notables, many congratulations and my applause for their beautiful stories. Cheers!
I leave you Rincón Poetico's participation in the weekly call.
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@rinconpoetico7/fiction-the-sign-el-letrero-enes
This is my response to the prompt. While Summerscale doesn't have a keep out sign, I think most people would be reluctant to enter that particular home 😂
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@wrestlingdesires/summerscale-s-secret
Hi Inkwell,
My entry;
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@kei2/death-eaters
@rinconpoetico7
@jjmusa2004
My entry, I supported Emreal and Balikis
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@bipolar95/the-past
Here is my entry, so sorry I had a very bad network today.
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@amiegeoffrey/the-curious-tourist
Supported @fashtioluwa and @mrenglish
Hello writers in the community
Here is my entry
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@fashtioluwa/unfinished-journey?referral=fashtioluwa
I supported
Hello everyone
https://hive.blog/hive-170798/@emeka002/grandmother-willow-the-inkwell-fiction-prompt-167
This is my entry
I commented on @amiegeoffrey post and @captainman