The Ink Well Writing Challenge | Season 2 Week 1

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Welcome to The Ink Well Writing Challenge!

See the Season Launch post for a full list of prompts so you can plan your writing. There will also be a writing prize with hundreds (hundreds!) of Hive in prizes in December. The theme will be renewal and you will be able to submit entries for three weeks from Friday 18 December 2020 until Friday 8 January 2021.

This Week's Prompt

Prompt: "Nobody expected ..."

Use this prompt as a jumping off point in your story.

You could start by writing down the prompt and then free-writing for 30 minutes - just writing down whatever comes into your mind. Take a break (twenty minutes, two hours, a day) and then come back and start editing and developing your story. When you have a polished story, submit your post!

This is just one idea about how to use the prompt - it might become the opening or finishing sentence, or it might not appear in your final story at all.

Prompts and ideas for this Season's Writing Challenge are from Bryan Collins at Become a Writer Today.

Rules of Entry

using the prompt, write a story that has a minimum of 350 words.
post it in The Ink Well Community.
use the title format: "theinkwell writing challenge | title of your story".
include the tags: #theinkwell #challenge #story.
post a link in the comments of this post - this is your entry to the writing challenge, don't forget to do it!

Only include the tag #posh if you are sharing your story on Twitter. If you include the tag #feedback, you are letting curators and other members of the community know you welcome feedback on your story. We aim to be gentle and constructive with feedback, to help writers develop their craft.

Remember, original work only - no plagiarism or re-posts!

Curation Policies

The Ink Well aims to become an alternative source of long-term income for writers. We are looking for high quality well-crafted stories that have a clear story arc, well-developed characters and a satisfying ending for the reader. We have set out the Season Two programme in advance so you have time to plan your stories over the eight weeks. Don't forget to edit your story - remember we are looking for high quality and presentation!

When they review your stories, curators are looking for the following:

Category	Explanation
Setting	Time and place the story is set and whether this affects the story. Has the writer created a world that is believable?
Story arc	What is the story arc? Does the story incorporate conflict, climax and resolution? Is the ending satisfying to the reader?
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?
Style	The writer's use of language, imagery and tone. Is the writer engaging? Are they showing not telling?
Presentation	Does the editing and presentation enhance the writing? Has the writer developed their story and corrected mistakes?

Writing Tips

The Ink Well has lots of resources to help you develop your skills as a writer - or if you just get stuck. You can find the full list of tips with links in the latest post tips post pinned in the community. Here's a selection to get you started:

Category	Explanation
Setting	Writing What You Know, Let's Explore World Building
Story arc	Do short stories have to have a plot?, What is a story arc?
Characters	Character types in fiction, Developing memorable characters, Writing character descriptions
Style	Hook your readers, Avoiding the dreaded info dump, Is "show, don't tell" a writing rule?
Presentation	Editing your work with fresh eyes, Lessons in Tense

Posts that meet the criteria to a good standard (including editing!) will be submitted for OCD curation. The Ink Well will also be looking for promising posts to submit for @curie curation.

Finally

If you have any questions, put them in a comment below.
We look forward to reading your stories!

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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.