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 storytelling tips.
Stories from the Previous Week
Thank you to who posted a story for last week's prompt: "Domino effect":
- @blaqbarbie
- @terjix
- @adese
- @vickiee
- @zerah
- @jennyzee1
- @snowbhale
- @iskawrites
- @balikis95
- @marriot5464
- @omokunmi
- @rafzat
- @rinconpoetico7
- @rare-gem
- @beauty197
- @wlin
- @abigail04
- @kinganny
- @iyimoga
- @bmo77
- @amarachi22
- @lightpen
- @phyna
- @islariver
- @walindo
- @ridgette
- @estilodereba
- @rachie05
- @offia66
- @kingsleyy
- @nancybriti1
- @kei2
- @ubdan313
- @bipolar95
Author Shout-outs
We'd like to call out a few stories that got high marks from our curators this week.
@terjix
Curator comment:
@terjix writes a diabolically depressing masterpiece about Lagos and how it spits, seethes and destroys the happiness right out of people. This is beyond brilliant! Work that demands more accolades than we/I can possibly give. Everyone, here shines a brand new STAR!
@ridgette
A Requiem for the Fallen Fiddler
Curator comment:
@ridgette can write, and she writes up a storm for this story about music, a violin and frustrated ambition. The narrator of the story is the violin. Right away we know the author has made a bold move with this POV. Can she make it work? Yes! We see the decline of the young man as his love of music is frustrated by a family that doesn't understand. There is almost a love affair between the violin and the young man. When he dies, the violin is devastated. This is a really interesting, creatively adventurous bit of writing.
@phyna
Everything Happened Swiftly on February 29th
Curator comment:
This is a wonderful story from @phyna for the domino effect prompt, which hooked me from the start. Two young people defy their parents and sacrifice everything, including their passions, to stay together. When a freak accident happens, will they meet the challenge head on and succeed? Will love and passion win the day? Read on to find out!
Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week
This week's prompt is: "the elephant in the room."
The expression "the elephant in the room" refers to a problem no one wants to talk about. It is usually an issue that is really overwhelming or burdensome, or that has been ignored for a very long time, even though it is always there.
For example, if one person in a family drinks too much, and no one ever talks about it or confronts that person, that could be called "the elephant in the room." One family member might mention to another family member, when the drinker is not present, "Why doesn't anyone in this family ever talk about the elephant in the room — Harry's drinking?"
Another example would be if two people are arguing, and they seem to be arguing about their financial situation and how they are going to pay for vacation, but in fact there is an issue or cause not being discussed, such as one of the two people has a gambling problem, or one of them buys new shoes every few weeks.
The elephant is metaphorical, of course. There really is no elephant in the room, but the elephant represents the big problem that everyone is pretending is not there.
Tell us a story about characters experiencing an elephant in the room!
Good luck. 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 — please use the free Grammarly tool for grammar and spelling checks (and not AI writing or rephrasing tools for revising)
You can find more on all of these topics in the catalog of storytelling 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: - 50 Loglines - 50 Story Ideas - 50 Imagination Ticklers
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 or manipulate 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](https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@theinkwell/the-ink-