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Hello and thank you to all the brave and talented writers who participated in The Ink Well two-week summer short story contest and workshop. Your work was wonderful to read, and we couldn't be more pleased with the response of the community, the work you put into your wonderful stories, and the support and feedback you gave to one another in the workshop process.
Qualifying Participants and Story Highlights
A total of 14 writers completed the requirements of the contest, which was a two-week process with a workshop component:
- The first week was for drafting a story based on one of the 50 loglines provided. Additionally, all contestants were required to read and provide feedback on at least two other contestants' stories to continue to week two.
- The second week was for polishing your story based on feedback given.
You must have completed all requirements of these two phases to qualify.
You can read the initial contest post here and the final rules and tips here.
Before announcing the winners, we would like to take the opportunity to share some highlights from all 14 of the delightful final entries. These are organized below, alphabetically.
| Author | Story | Quote | What We Loved |
|---|---|---|---|
| @aimharryianne | The Stone | Somebody pushed the button and started to move up, but one of them pressed the emergency stop button and shouted, “You will all do as I say, those who are going to the 13th floor!." | The sense of unease that something bad is going to happen to one of the students... or perhaps all of them. |
| @amberkashif | Jack in Jimmy | Once he was surfing the internet when Diana found him reading aloud a language he had never studied. Initially, Diana thought he was merely mumbling but when she observed him repeatedly, she realized he really understood and spoke that language. | Something is very odd about Jimmy, and the story pulls us in as we anticipate learning the cause of his strange behaviors. |
| @bruno-kema | No Strangers | Standing in the middle of the street, the men looked at each other, recognition evident on their faces. Each knew the other could remember him. And the memory of their first encounter was still fresh in their minds. | Highly unusual circumstances, a frightening and impactful event, and a second chance encounter. |
| @deeanndmathews | How to Wreck a Birthday Party By Giving a Jade Necklace as a Gift | For weeks, Captain Hamilton had been tracking a wave of burglaries in southern Virginia, and was dismayed to discover that the wave was not coming from outside Lofton County, VA, in which Tinyville sat. | An entrapment and clever capture of a local thief whose family actually names their kids after famous criminals. |
| @diebitch | Kimchi Conundrum | Mo-gun looked at his sister. Her pearls glistening oddly in contrast to a modest plaid dress with an apron tied around it. His eyes flickered around the house which was swamped in boxes holding the remnants of a once happy family home. | A tapestry of family members and complex relationships, all made more complicated by food. |
| @dwixer | Trapped | He tore a piece from the overcoat he wore and tied his ankle to prevent the blood from gushing. He crawled a little farther and couldn't move anymore. | Great use of tension and an intriguing fantastical creature. |
| @hillarypowers | The Hate in His Eyes | Lina leaned on her husband, doing her best to stifle her sobs as they walked away from the scene of yet another murder. It had only been ten minutes since they witnessed the shooting of Bartholomew, the Jewish septuagenarian who ran the bakery downtown, by men of the Kriminalpolizei. They were made to watch it. All civilians had to. | Excellent character development, and Lina's total transformation from fear and sorrow to intense purpose by the end of the story. |
| @justclickindiva | The Last Confrontation | His battle confrontations left him with an unsteady gait, while his propensity for the decanter left him with an inaccurate aim. | A bizarre domestic squabble and an unforeseen story twist with an argumentative ghost. |
| @kaerpediem | Nobody Puts Jonny Castle in the Corner | As Jonny Castle walked through the desolate town, he thought of his mother and her obsession with the hero from the movie Dirty Dancing. | That creepy feeling that something is very, very wrong... and then finding out what it is. |
| @kemmyb | The Journey Through The Cornfield | It was a moonless night with tiny stars in the sky. The boys veered off the tarred road into the cornfield. As they walked briskly, they saw the scarecrow hanging on a tall stick in the middle of the field. | The sense of terror when the scarecrow comes after the boys... and then it turns out there's more than one of them. |
| @ricardo993 | Taltahim Aldhikrayat | I’m in the middle of the desert, looking for the Hadaya Tadhkaria Oasis, a mythical place of incalculable beauty. Few people have been there, often by accident and not by merit. Contrary to me, I go desperate. | Imagining what it must be like to love someone completely... and then forget them. |
| @sunnyag | The Story Begins When I Was Six | What a lovely feeling that was! At that point, I thought I owned the world. | An intriguing examination of destiny, will, and finding one's way in the world. |
| @ubani1 | The Investigation | They began by threatening my job if I didn't drop the case. When I paid them no attention, they began to threaten my life. That still didn't work because I kept digging tenaciously, getting close to the truth about what caused my mother to abandon me. | The narrator's deep desire to uncover the past and learn the truth. |
| @wrestlingdesires | The Discovery of the Century | At first it was exciting to dig for dinosaur bones, but they didn't find anything except beach sand brought in by the tide, mud, sharp rocks, and plenty of icy water. | The imaginative sci-fi adventure of two boys and their thrilling discovery. |
Contest Winners!
Friends, selecting winners from all those splendid choices was not an easy task! In selecting the winning entries, the qualities we looked for were:
- Originality: Fresh and interesting writing themes, characters and conflicts.
- Quality of writing: Nice “turns of phrase”, settings that are so well described we can “see” them, well-defined characters and good dialog.
- Quality of editing: Good sentence structure, grammar and punctuation.
- Overall great story: A captivating and memorable tale with all the important elements of a good short story, including character development, a good setting, dialog between characters, an interesting conflict, and a resolution of the conflict.
Congratulations to the winners:
- @kaerpediem: Grand Prize, 25 Hive
- @kemmyb: Second Place Prize, 10 Hive
- @justclickindiva: Third Place Prize, 5 hive
- @aimharryianne, @amberkashif, @bruno-kema, @deeanndmathews, @diebitch, @dwixer, @hillarypowers, @ricardo993, @sunnyag, @ubani1, @wrestlingdesires: 2 Hive
Rewards will be in your wallets shortly.
Thank you everyone! We hope you enjoyed the contest as much as we did. Please drop a comment to let us know how you liked the workshop aspect of the contest, and if you would like to participate in a contest of this type again. We appreciate the feedback!
@jayna, @agmoore and @gracielaacevedo
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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.
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Greetings, writers! It is a great joy to see the enthusiasm of your responses to the results. You show a wonderful spirit of fellowship and empathy.
The contest experience was fantastic as a reading experience, I particularly appreciated the beauty of meeting new characters and seeing them act in such diverse ways and worlds. Thank you for being open to comments and recommendations and for the editing effort. It was exciting to see the stories shine.
This week I felt that 14 new writers were affirmed on the platform and that the literature grew with it, leaving aside, for a moment, the legitimate aspect of the rewards. It was for me a celebration of art. Art for art's own sake.
Congratulations to all participants, Particularly congratulations to @kaerpediem, @kemmyb and @justclickindiva for their first places.
Emulating the motto of the Olympics we can say: Let's keep writing, more imaginatively, more beautifully, more innovatively.
Thank you for your kind and inspiring words. I'm grateful for my placement in the contest. The past two weeks were an awesome workshop. Once the editing process began, reworking my story by taking all comments and suggestions into account was key to its success.
Thank you for your part in helping my story find clarity. I appreciate it.
I know that the Community has discovered new and exciting authors in its midst.
Thank you @gracielaacevedeo! I couldn't agree more, this contest was indeed a celebration of art. I particularly appreciate your team's comments and suggestions that improved our stories and brought them to life!
We look forward to more contests. Keep up the great work! 🙂
Beautifully said, @gracielaacevedo! Yes — art for the sake of art!
Thank you thank you thank you
I am over the moon
What I loved about this challenge was the feedback that came with it
I also read the other stories along with the feedback and I learnt so much
Thank you to @theinkwell team and also to all the writers - ok, I should stop with my Oscar speech right but really, I was so happy just to be part of this.
Congratulations to everyone ❤️
Hello @theinkwell. I know it was an extremely tough decision with so many talented authors in your Community. Thank you so much for the opportunity to join in this Summer Writing exercise, and that my story resonated with you.
Congratulations to @kaerpediem and @kemmyb on your 1st and 2nd place wins. I knew your stories were excellent contenders.
In fact, all members who participated and placed submitted an awesome array of stories that I can still remember some of the details. I feel we all came away from this two-week contest stronger storytellers. So congrats to:
@aimharryianne, @amberkashif, @bruno-kema, @deeanndmathews, @diebitch, @dwixer, @hillarypowers, @ricardo993, @sunnyag, @ubani1, and @wrestlingdesires.
What I loved the most were the numerous comments and suggestions from members of the Community. You are the ones who helped pull my story up to the winning position. So, I appreciate your contributions. We all succeed when we help each other see through fresh eyes and different interpretations.
Take care everyone.
Thanks so much :) Yes, we all came away with the priceless gift of advice and encouragement ❤️
Awesome work, @justclickindiva! The community really did come together so nicely in providing helpful feedback. And you provided some of the most extensive comments. You really went above and beyond in the workshop!
Hello. Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate them. My mom taught me and my siblings to always treat others as you want to be treated. I've tried to adhere to that. I must say, this attitude has reaped good rewards for me so far.
Also, I've been well received in this Community. I take nothing for granted and try to pay it forward whenever possible.
Take care.
Oh yes, I agree on treating others as we wish to be treated. I learned that from my mother too, and it has served me well. If we all did that, the world would certainly be a better place.
I am sure but I can say this for myself- I am a little more confident about fiction NOW. Basically, I am a travel writer! Thank you!
Fiction should feel like reality, no matter how fantastic. This means you are well on your way to being a popular writer of fiction 🙂
I am learning bro, I never give up 😄
I know that, can't wait to see where you take this genre!
Hello @sunnyag. Happy to hear you're a bit more confident. I feel as though fiction comes from our imagination based upon real experiences with added flavor. I always take a situation I've seen or heard and surround it with the elements needed to be fantastically unbelievable, but slightly believable.
Look forward to seeing more of your fiction writing. How about something incredible happened on one of your travels?
Take care.
Thanks and once again my heartiest congratulations! As for my travel post, I keep doing them and will do them again soon. Thanks a lot!
I'll look out for them then.
That's a wonderful outcome from this contest, @sunnyag! Congratulations on all you have learned and achieved on your journey as a writer.
Thank you so much
Yes, I found it tough even to critique, I cannot imagine judging :D
Thank you @justclickindiva and congratulations to you and all the writers <33
You're welcome
!LUV
<><
@kaerpediem, you've been given LUV from @justclickindiva.
Check the LUV in your H-E wallet. (1/10)
Hello @aimharryianne. Thank you so much for your kind sentiments. I appreciate them very much. I'm always happy to assist anyone who desires to engage with me and learn. I don't know a lot about many things on Hive. But what i do know, I don't know sharing.
I really enjoyed The Stone and the unknown powers it supposedly held. Keep writing and learning, just like I do.
Take care and have a good week ahead.
Congratulations to all the winners! The contest was an eye-opener for me as a fiction writer. Thank you, @theinkwell
Your story was truly remarkable, @hillarypowers. You have a natural storytelling style. (I also really love historical fiction!) Keep writing!
Hello @hillarypowers. Thank you for your support of my story. Yes, you are correct. It's an eye-opener as a fiction writer.
I think my stories are excellent; that is, until others say, "wait a minute; why; how; I'm confused; when; and what did you mean." I feel that explaining my stories to others helps me to see how it was not as good as I thought if it left them with all those questions.
Have a good rest of your weekend.
Congratulations to all the entrants and the first tgree winners @kenmyb, an old friend, @justclickindiva and @kaerpediem
I really loved the contest. It allowed me to omit my mistakes and refine my ideas. The expert suggestions helped me polish my draft. Honestly speaking, I felt a desire of similar opportunity for every prompt because the second draft shines brightly than the first written with some loop holes.
Thanks for this amazing workshop. Waiting for some new contest.
Hello @amberkashif. Good to hear from you again. Thank you for your congratulatory words. I appreciate your support.
I too loved the contest. It was a good experience as a fiction writer.
Also, I can't help but think about your story, Jack in Jimmy. It resonated with me because it was a complete surprise about the circumstances of his birth. I never would have guessed it concerned science and research. Nice twist.
You write with clear details. I could follow the sequence of your story.
Yes, let's have another workshop. Take care, and stay safe.
Thanks for your appreciation in such beautiful words ❤
I'm so glad you benefitted from the workshop, @amberkashif. You wrote an excellent story and refined it well! Great work, and thank you again for being a part of this fun event!
Thanks for the opportunity and the candid feedback. The whole inkwell team deserves to be appreciated for its efforts
Thanks dear Amber for your lovely comment. Your story was an interesting one and you did great. Keep writing! 🙂
Thank you @amberkashif
The feedback was great. Seeing one's story through someone else is an eye-opener :D
Indeed ma'am @kaerpediem . Seeing through another person's eye expands our horizon
Thank you @theinkwell I really enjoyed and learned a lot from this workshop and I'm still learning. The philosophy of learning for me is "One learns until he is still alive". I congratulate all three winners of this contest and looking forward for more such opportunities!
Yes, learning never ends. I have been writing fiction since I was 7 years old (a shocking number of decades ago) and I still learn all the time. Thank you so much for being a part of the contest!
I was just wondering how shocking the number of decades could that be? Compared to mine which was probably found during the digging of Mohenjo Daro 😁 And this is nothing to do with fiction writing!
😂
Woohoo! This is amazing!! 😅
What a lovely news to wake up to! I appreciate the hardworking team behind @theinkwell, you are absolutely amazing! Thank you for taking the time to read our stories week after week, and offer helpful tips to make us better writers.
I enjoyed this contest and the workshop aspect because it opened my story up for more feedbacks and different suggestions beyond what I usually got. I liked that I was able to edit my story to make it better.
I would not mind a repeat of this contest. May I suggest genre-based contests?
Congratulations to @kaerpediem and @justclickindiva! Your stories were captivating. Well done!
To everyone who participated, you are fantastic writers! 😊
Well done, @kemmyb! Your story was delightfully spooky and spine-tingling. Thank you for the suggestion on a genre contest. That would be fun.
Hello @kemmyb. Well, what can I say? Your story was definitely a contender from the start. I love adventurous youths, especially boys. They almost invariably get into some type of trouble. Excellent job. Scarecrows already give me the jitters, so I read intently to see if the ones in the field would harm them.
Your outcome was well thought out. Congratulations on your 2nd place win.
Take care.
Hehe, me too! Thank you and have a restful Sunday! 🙂
Helloooo @kemmyb - congratulations!!! :D
@kaerpediem @kemmyb @justclickindiva congratulations ❤️!!! I loved your stories :) @kemmyb didn't I say yours would be a winner 🙂
Congratulations to all of us who came out with better writing skills and the joy of reading some awesome stories 🙂
Hahaha, yes. You did say so! Thanks so much. Congratulations to us all! 🙂
You really deserve it ❤️
Wonderful comment, @wrestlingdesires. Yes, everyone gained skills and showed wonderful improvement in the editing process. It was really fun to see all the great revisions. Thank you for being a part of the event. Your story was great!
Thanks so much, I really am grateful for this workshop and contest ❤️
Hello @wrestlingdesires. Thank you so much for your kind words for my story. I appreciate your support. I'm happy to hear you liked it.
I also enjoyed reading the discovery of Bill and Lyle in your story. They made a believer out of their parents.
Yes, we all came out of this exercise with additional tools to add to our writing styles. I certainly appreciate all the comments and suggestions from the Community.
Have a good rest of your weekend.
Thank you @wrestlingdesires
This was a fun one :D
Congrats to all the winners
Congratulations to @kaerpediem, @kemmyb, and @justclickindiva on the win! The Olympics were wonderful, but seeing YOU on the podium is EVEN BETTER!
Ha ha, yes we sort of had our own olympics, didn't we? Maybe one day fiction writing will be an Olympic sport. 😁
Thank you so much for participating and for supporting your fellow writers with great comments too!
LOL! So true! I can imagine my hands on @kaerpediem's and @justclickindiva's shoulders, hugging them to my side and taking a picture with our medals!
Thank you for your kind comment and support! 🙂
That would be a great picture!
And a happy dance right after we get off @kemmyb :D
Hello. Just having you cheer me on is enough. Thanks so much for your kind words. They mean a lot. Don't feel I'm steady enough for the podium yet!
You have a keen eye and a fabulous writing style. I thoroughly enjoy all your sagas. I was so excited that the Jade Necklace was thought so highly of that it enabled the capture of a career criminal and his supporting cast! It was a beautiful antique worth the risk, I suppose.
Your support of all the authors in the Community is awesome. You're so helpful, and your suggestions on point. Thank you for helping me locate the title of my winning entry in the body of my story. I never looked at that way before. Now, I have an added tool in my story box.
Take care and have a great Sunday.
hahaha thank you @deeanndmathews <33
Congratulations all!🎉💚
Thank you for visiting The Ink Well and checking out our contest, @angie08. We would welcome a short story from you. We publish weekly fiction prompts. You can see our read our community rules on our home page.
@jayna Thank you so much!💚🌻 I would love to share stories here.😁
I congratulate everyone who participated in this process. Until the very moment votes were tabulated, I didn't know who would "win". Everybody won. That's not to diminish the achievement of those who actually garnered First, Second or Third Prize. It's to emphasize that there were many quality stories that dazzled me.
The best part of this exercise was watching writers develop skills. And, observing the dynamic process in which all writers contributed to the success of others. There was sincere feedback. Even though improving someone's story possibly diminished chances of winning, writers plunged in and offered great, well-considered advice. Such team spirit.
I will congratulate the three who placed in the top three spots, because they deserve recognition @kaerpediem, @kemmyb and @justclickindiva. I read each of your stories with great care (all of the curators did). All three of you started with quality material, but it was your willingness to grow and take good advice that made your stories shine.
Thank you, everyone who participated, for making the Ink Well Summer Contest memorable and rewarding.
Until next time: Keep writing, and don't forget to edit!!!
Well said, @agmoore!
Hello ma'am! I very much appreciate you and your team for hosting this contest and taking the time to read our stories. We are all better for it!
Your suggestions and comments made our stories shine. Thank you for your support. I am encouraged to keep writing! 😊
Thank you so much @agmoore
The feedback that came through really helped
And I am encouraged to keep improving <33
Waoooo! I didn't expect to be one of the highlights.
Congrats to the winners, enjoy your rewards.
And thank you very much for considering me among the third place. Appreciated.
Thank you so much for participating in the contest, @ricardo993! We really enjoyed your story, and you did some great work on the rewrite. We wanted all participants who completed the requirements to receive a reward, as it was hard work and everyone really rolled up their sleeves. Congrats!
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the person sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
Thank you @dwixer! You did great too! 🙂
Thank you for sharing your imaginative story and taking part in the contest, @dwixer. It was a fun read! Keep writing!
Hello @dwixer. How are you doing this week? First, I want to say that I appreciate your constant support. Thank you for your kind words.
Also, you have a nice way of framing your stories. I enjoy reading them. The workshops are good exercises that help point out items we may have missed in our stories.
Keep writing and learning as we all must do. Take care, and stay safe.
Thank you @dwixer :D
I'm so glad you enjoyed the contest and benefitted from the workshop process, @aimharryianne. I think we will probably run a contest of this kind in the future. It was so fun to see the progression of the stories, and we are thrilled to hear the writer say that they learned and improved their skills in the process!
Thank you @aimharryianne and congratulations to you too! Your story was suspenseful and captivating. You are a fantastic writer! 🙂
Thank you @aimharryianne <33