Image source:Pablojimeno on Pixabay
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 create a strong arc in your story.
You guys are amazing! There were some really good demonstrations of this skill. An arc serves as the backbone of a story. Readers especially appreciate the last part of a story arc, the conclusion. This is when the central conflict of the story is resolved. Because developing a strong arc is so important, we'd like to include a few examples of stories in which this skill was clearly evident.
In selecting honorable mentions and the winner there are so many great stories to choose from. It's not ever an easy choice. One of the factors in choosing these stories is community engagement.
Here are this week's honorable mentions, and excerpts from their stories:
It was too late for captain wades when he realized he was heading toward an iceberg. The steering became stiff as he struggled to change direction, soon Adam joined the force but gave up trying when he realized the iceberg was closer than he thought. They feared death from being trapped in the middle of a large river.
@popurri Margarita's Voyage at Sea
On the beach the townspeople have gathered to wait for Mr. Jesus's boat and are greeted with applause and shouts of joy. Ana, Antonio and Carmen are among them and when they see them they embrace with tears in their eyes.
No matter how Benno, the skipper, reduced the water quota per sailor, it was not enough for the rest of the journey. It was a little easier at night, but with sunrise, all sixty of the sailors, including Komu, his assistant, could hardly get out of the water, holding on to the ropes in case of sharks. The thirst was so intense that everyone stopped eating and was suffering from fever.
@doubleworld The Accursed>>A Different Story
I knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one our ancestors were told.
@katleya Gina Navigates the Sea of Life
Giulia manages to deliver the girl. They too would leave the country immediately.
When the nurses on duty become aware of the baby's disappearance, they inform the authorities. The police search for them but do not find them. The next day Gina, depressed, leaves the hospital with her baby.
And the winner of the create a strong arc challenge is... @tengolotodo with the story Iceberg to the Rescue.
Here's an excerpt from the story:
Wee Johnny was sat on his bed polishing his pride and joy. He had been doing this for the last forty-two minutes. Last week for his fifth birthday his Uncle Archie had given him a white sailboat and promised that he would be back at the weekend so that he could take wee Johnny to sail his sailboat in the local pond.
Congratulations to @tengolotodo, 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, Sailing.
Here are the authors who posted stories in response to the prompt.
@popurri
@hopestylist
@davidbright
@merrymay22
@kingobonnaya
@ipexito
@theawesononso
@nurudeen081
@wrestlingdesires
@samsmith1971
@restcity
@smokyice
@merit.ahama
@chidubem26
@diikaan
@yhuddee111
@lordtimoty
@modifiers
@funshee
@katleya
@daniella619
@zyzymena
@isabelpena
@ddn688
@abigail04
@hdprinter
@idlemind
@rayt2
@dwixer
@tengolotodo
@diebitch
@lightpen
@fantom22
@cool08
@ghazale64
@repayme4568
@young-boss-karin
@kelseyimoh
@iyimoga
@anonymous02
Thank you, everyone who posted a story!
This Week’s Prompt
The inkwell is fortunate to have many members who are eager to write. However, the curation team does not have infinite resources. In order to be fair to all writers, we have decided to ask our members to publish one, only one story per week. If members choose to publish more than that, they may. However, only one story will be curated.
It would be wise to use talent on the best story you can write so you can receive the optimal curation. Remember, Quality over Quantity. Moving forward the Ink Well Team believes this will provide a better experience for writers and curators.
At last, the prompt of the week!
This week's prompt is Fortune. For this week we will revisit as our challenge an essential part of every good story: the hook. Create a story in which you begin with a strong first line, a hook, that pulls the reader in.
What should you do with this prompt? And what does this skill challenge mean? Here are some additional details:
Fortune: We have all used this word in many ways. We can refer to great wealth, a fortune. Or, we can declare that someone is very lucky, fortunate. Or perhaps we might say that fortune has smiled (or not smiled) on someone. Use your imagination. Come up with your own interpretation.
The Hook. We've all experienced the challenge of writing a great first line, one from which a reader cannot turn. Make your story irresistible with the 'hook'.
What is this exactly? Details may be found in @jayna's excellent essay on the topic, Hook Your Readers, in the InkWell's Catalog of Fiction Writing Tips.
The examples below may be powerful first lines.
- The howl pierced her soul.
- She hung to the prow of the ship and prayed she would survive the night.
- As the masked man counted down from ten, she trembled.
Think about your own story, and come up with 'hooks' that are more enticing than these examples.
If you read @jayna's article, you will get an idea of how to go about creating a great 'hook' for your story. Mastering this skill will help you to become a better story writer.
A week from now, we will select a winning story that has a strong 'hook'. 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
- #59 Blossom
- #60 Temptation
- #61 Happiness
- #62 Footprint
- #63 Frequency
- #64 Sailing
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/
@zeurich, @jayna, @felt.buzz, @marcybetancourt, @marlyncabrera, @stormcharmer, @generikat, @agmoore, @iamraincrystal, @preparedwombat, @gracielaacevedo, @chocolatescorpi, @kirlos, @semarekha, @adncabrera, @josemalavem, @morey-lezama, @sayury, @evagavilan2, @deraaa, and @rayt2.
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Heartly Congratulations to the winner @tengolotodo and other authors @popurri @dwixer @rayt2 @doubleworld and @katleya.Also thanks to @theinkwell for their support and appreciation. This week a new prompt fortune sounds very nice and hope that many beautiful stories will come to see.
Thanks @fantom22
Thank you, @fantom22. Looking forward to reading your 'fortune' story.
Thank You @agmoore I will try to give a different and interesting story.
I expect it :))
Thank you so much and I look forward to seeing your story for this week. The hook sounds a great idea!
Thanks you @fantom22
Congratulations to all the entrants and winners.
Here's what I wrote about fortune.
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@thequizshow/the-journey-to-the-top
It's such a beautiful story. I like how short it is. Indeed i'm happy Margo was able to become successful. Please keep writing you are good at it.
You've earned a follower too.
Thank you, that's very kind of you to say. Have a wonderful weekend.
Congratulations to our winner of the week, @tengolotodo, and honorable mentions, @dwixer, @popurri, @rayt2, @doubleworld and @katleya!
Looking forward to reading some great first lines and interesting fortune stories in the week ahead!
Thank you so very much @jayna that was a wonderful surprise, and let's see what people come up with this week. I love your articles, they explain things so well!
Thank you, @tengolotodo! I’m so glad they are helpful to you!
You are so very welcome @jayna I am writing a novel , so I like to write short stories to get my writing skills more varied (that is the theory anyway haha), but I love the knowledge that you impart in your articles!
Wow, good luck with your novel, @tengolotodo. That is an undertaking!
Thank you so much @jayna yeah it really is an undertaking, but a big personal goal of mine:)
I am honored by this distinction @jayna. God willing I will continue with you next week with my story.
Thanks @jayna 😊
Another weekly prompt in my line!
By the way, I joined in the last prompt but I'm not sure if you mentioned me...or maybe something is wrong with my story? Hehe.
Here's my story for last week's prompt by the way
Hi @anonymous02. We assemble the list by looking through all of the links provided in the comments on the prompt post. It looks like you missed the step of posting a comment on the prompt post with your link. We can add you to the list. Remember to take that step after posting your story. Thanks!
Oh I'm sorry! I forgot it haha my bad. Will do it next time. Thanks for reminding me!
What a good lesson they gave Van, to start from the bottom after having had it all for treating his father badly. Very good.
Yeah I think it was a good twist.
Oh that is fantastic news!
Thank you so much and congratulations to @dwixer @popurri @rayt2 @doubleworld and
@katleya
Thanks everyone for entering and also engaging with each others stories. Feedback is awesome for a writer to receive, so don't be afraid to say what you think.
I would urge us all to read the articles from @jayna not just for this prompt but in general, they are full of tips and making your writing so much easier!
Now then let's go and think of our hook for fortune!
Have a great week ✍️
Thank you. Congratulations to you too @tengolotodo . Every week we learn something new. Inkwell has us spellbound and works magic to get us to be good writers. Your whole team and we, by reading and commenting, gain more skills and with that experience we improve the publications. Happy writing day!
That is so very true, Inkwell has us spellbound, I love that and yes they do!
It is a great community and we get pushed to be our best which is always fantastic!
May the force of the pen be with you always:)
yo man! congrats to you!
Thanks man, that was a fun one to write:)
For sure. I was looking for something like this, grateful to find this community. :)
There are a few writing communities now, I can't keep up 🤣🤣🤣
haha well at least, we won't run out of ideas to write about. :)
hehe well yes that is very true:)
Thank you 😊
The pleasure is mine
Oh you are writing great things already Ratee.
The articles are fantastic though, as you say writing fiction is an art, but an art that can be helped by getting the basics right!
You are very welcome and that is a great idea. You can learn so much from them!
😁
Congratulations to the winners.
Here's my entry for this week's prompt.
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@buezor/the-inkwell-prompt-65-or
Commented in @dwixer and @hdprinter
Great story. You command of the English language is outstanding. Keep writing you're good.
Wow! This is amazing! Wow! This is amazing! Congratulations to the winner @tengolotodo and honourable mention for the great job that you have done in last week's prompt. I wish every member of the @theinkwell community the best of luck in this week's endeavour. Please let us continue with a good job!
Congratulations to all the winners
Congratulations to all the winners. Lets do this again this week.
Congratulations to all the winners for last week's prompt, you guys did really great with it.
Partner @tengolotodo, it feels so good seeing your name as the winner, I'm so proud of you, I hope to Learn more from you.
aww thank you partner :)
It is fun to write these, and will see your name here one day:)
I love it how you always do everything with the love for it, I'm still working on that for myself I hope I get it right soon and someday my name will appear there 🥺🥺.
Thank you for your best wishes for me partner, I wish more for you too.
There are so many things that we can do Hope, finding ones that you love to makes it so much easier. You will get there Hope, I know it, just keep doing it and finding what tweeks your interest:)
Yeah, okay then let's see how it goes🥰🥰.
hehe yes let's see how it goes:)
Yeah 😊😊.
aww that is so sweet partner, well you know I read the articles from @jayna they really help to construct a good story. I would suggest reading as many as possible before writing!
Okay, I will do that.
brilliant, and then for this week nail how to write an awesome hook partner!
Yeah, I will.
okay good :)
Yeah.
Good morning partner 🥰🥰.
There are many good reading choices it is good to read these stories all the authors are very talented.
There are many good reading choices it is good to read these stories all the authors are very talented.
Congratulations to the winner. Here is my entry on prompt 65; "Fortune"
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@lightpen/smile-of-fortune
Hey guys, here's my entry link
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@merrymay22/intentions
I engaged posts of @artworkers and @lightpen
Check your entry again. The should be a mixup.
yeah, I think she got the link incorrectly.
congrats again to all the winners and here's my entry to this week's prompt:
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@meitanteikudo/tick-tock-out-of-luck
This is my entry for this week's prompt
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@young-boss-karin/a-trip-for-sanity
I've also engaged with other authors here.
Thank you for the honorable mention and congratulations to the winner @tengolotodo and to the other writers of fabulous stories.
Thank you so much for that and congratulations to you too:)
This week’s prompt https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@itsostylish/bound-for-the-afterlife-prompt
Hello! Here is my entry to the prompt : The Stranger and The Leprechaun
Had fun with this one. Oh, and congrats to @tengolotodo and really, every body else whom participated.
Hello, my dear friends. I would like to share with you the link to my entry 👇
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@raymondpeter/my-people
I have dropped my comments on the following people's posts:
I hope you enjoyed reading my post.
Thank you for viewing my blog.
Regards,
@raymondpeter
Here’s my entry: https://hive.blog/hive-170798/@restcity/how-to-break-a-curse
I commented on the posts of @ricestrela and @galenkp
This is my story link.
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@fantom22/destiny-rbqp4c
Hi community, here is my entry:
https://hive.blog/hive-170798/@isabelpena/gabrielas-lucky-day
My entry below
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@cool08/a-keen-eye
I have commented on @fantom22
@itsostylish posts...
Here's my story for this week. I always forget to Post my link here. I hope that ends, Working towards becoming a better community member🙂
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@ghost.queen/if-im-to-die-today-i-dont-want-to-die-smelling
Congratulations @tengolotodo I read that story and I totally enjoyed it.
Here is my entry for this week
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@zyzymena/the-unexpected
I supported @artworkers and @cool08
Thank you @zyzymena good luck for this week, now let me go read yours:)
Hhahahaha! I'll need the luck
Oh I am not so sure you need it;)
Congratulations to all the winners.
I am sure participating in this weeks prompt
SUPPORTED: @zyzymena, @doziekash
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@gi-de-on/from-grass-to-grace
MY ENTRY.
Dropping off my piece this week:
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@lordtimoty/a-tale-of-mystery-and-imagination
Having visited:
itssosylish, who personified fortune and dwixter, who juxtaposed wealth and fate.
Thanks
Help gûys, here's my entry link
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@yhuddee111/love-the-weakness
I also engaged posts of @rayt2 and @merrymay
Here is my entry:
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@repayme4568/the-leader-of-tomorrow-the
supported the following writer's:
@dwixer @hdprinter @doubleworld @mrenglish
Congratulations to the winner and the honourable mentions as well. You guys deserve it.
My entry: https://hive.blog/hive-170798/@philomenob/the-rainmaker-s-daughter
I supported @zyzymena and @ghost.queen.
Congratulations to the winners and to all participants! Here's my entry for the #fortune prompt.
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@anonymous02/family-treasure-the-fortune-from-accident
Congratulations to @tengolotodo, @popurri, @dwixer, @rayt2 and @doubleworld
My comments:
@popurri
@diebitch
My entry:
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@katleya/the-ink-well-prompt-65-be-careful-what-you-wish-for
Thank you very much katleya :)
Good luck for this one!
My entry
https://nocdn.peakd.com/hive-170798/@hazmat/scion
And congratulations to all winners
Fantastic story. I like the way you built up from start to finish. Please sir you are good keep writing.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, I really appreciate this alot.
Thanks for reading as well
You're welcome. Thanks for the beautiful story too. You've earned a follower.
Congratulations to the winners. Here is my entry. Thanks for reading.
https://hive.blog/hive-170798/@kingkenny44/the-hardworking-stranger
I have also commented on others story as well.
Hi Inkwell
My entry;
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@kei2/letter-from-a-glass
@kingkenny44
@hazmat
Hey guys.. Congratulation to the winners.. Here's my entry for this week's prompt
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@diikaan/untold-fortune
Here is my entry for this week's prompt https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@nasfyneboy92/the-adventure
Have commented on @dwixer and @anonymous02
https://hive.blog/hive-170798/@smokyice/into-the-woods
Here's my link, I've engaged with others.
Hello Inkwell
My entry
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@daniella619/the-missing-ring
@nasfyneboy92 and @yhuddee111
My link
https://hive.blog/hive-170798/@popurri/in-trouble-for-love
My comment
@daniella619
@artworkers
@thequizshow
@katleya
@kei2
With my compliments, here is my entry for the call of the week:
https://peakd.com/@gracielaacevedo/wheel-of-fortune
Hi there :)
Here's my entry for this week's prompt;
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@theawesononso/third-time-s-a-charm
Here is my entry
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@merit.ahama/fame-and-fortune
Supported @theawesononso @popurri @nelson-george
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@abigail04/the-other-side-of-fortune
I have commented on
@chincoculbert and @merit.ahama
my entry for the week
https://ecency.com/hive-170798/@iyimoga/the-ink-well-prompt-fortune
comment
@anonymous02
@dwixer
Here's my entry for the prompt "fortune"
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@hopestylist/the-least-expected-happened