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: "Gobble":
- @terjix
- @zerah
- @restcity
- @marriot5464
- @rinconpoetico7
- @farahikram
- @amarachi22
- @coolbabe88
- @samiwrites
- @rare-gem
- @balikis95
- @littlepiggies
- @blaqbarbie
- @estilodereba
- @offia66
- @kei2
- @bipolar95
- @hazmat
- @abigail04
- @osomar357
- @nancybrit1
- @lrscarmen
Author Shout-outs
We'd like to call out a few stories that got high marks from our curators this week.
@kei2
Curator comment:
Is there a place for enchantment in the world? @kei2 creates a story filled with enchantment, so there must be. If the reader is looking for reality, or looking to anchor a story in fact, then that reader will be disappointed in this charming tale. But if the reader still has the faculty of childhood, to be won over by magic and transported into another reality, then the reader will have a very enjoyable — an enchanting — experience. This is a lovely tale about a granddaughter who believes in the fantastic stories of her grandfather. That belief is rewarded.
@osomar357
[https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@osomar357/fiction-the-guardians-of-friendship)
Curator comment:
@osomar357 writes a fantasy story that takes two girls on a big adventure involving a unicorn, a witch and a basilisk, puts their lives in ultimate danger as they are swallowed by the basilisk, and then resolves very nicely as they emerge from the monster after defeating darkness and evil. This story is a parable of our times, a tale that seeks to find that hopeful rainbow in a world that is struggling under the weight of worrisome trends and shifting of powers.
@terjix
Curator comment:
@terjix offers us a memorable first line in her fiction story, The Peace. Here is the line: "The day Simon left, I watched Mom shed tears over the chopped onions for the first time." This appears in a short first paragraph. Her second paragraph offers symmetry by beginning with this sentence: "The day Simon left, I watched Dad flip through TV channels absentmindedly, even when it clocked 8pm." The author achieves a great deal in those two paragraphs. We know something monumental has happened and we know that Simon is central to the crisis in the family. Simon, the narrator's brother, has left home. All hopes were placed on this son, who possessed a brilliance that was denied his father. The father used Simon to realize a dream he could not. The mother acquiesced to all things that would soothe the father's ego. This dynamic nearly destroys the family, but when the narrator has an accident everything changes. This is the catalyst that brings understanding to the mother and father, and brings reconciliation with Simon. It's a lot for a short story, but the author has an agreeable voice and the skill to realize her intention.
Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week
This week's prompt is: "Guilt"
Welcome to the prompt of the week. Guilt can be a crippling emotion. What might be causing your character to feel a deep sense of guilt or remorse?
Perhaps your character is a working professional, and a decision she made caused a financial loss for her company. Or maybe your character is a forgetful grandfather and missed his granddaughter's dance recital and she was counting on him to be there. Or perhaps your character had an "emotional affair" with a woman at the office, and even though he did not act on it he feels a terrible sense of guilt whenever he's around his wife for even thinking of infidelity.
We look forward to seeing the story you come up with for the "guilt" prompt.
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](https://peakd.com/publish?edit=theinkwell%2Fthe-ink-well-prompt-95-plus-weekly-challenge-and-prize-announceme