Source: Pexels
Welcome to the Weekly Fiction Prompt
Hello community members! Thank you for joining our weekly writing prompt!
Getting Started
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. You will find all kinds of great resources for fiction writers in our catalog of storytelling tips. And you can learn more about our community and the expectations of community members in our treasure trove of tips and guidelines.
Stories from the Previous Week
Thank you to who posted a story for last week's prompt: "Three words: wonder, eclipse, coffee":
- @oyebola
- @owen222
- @marriot5464
- @stone4
- @mosin-nagant
- @fashtioluwa
- @beauty197
- @rare-gem
- @daeze-winnie
- @zerah
- @coolbabe88
- @trexane
- @rammargarita
- @ginika
- @rinconpoetico7
- @consistency
- @abigail04
- @zain-ab001
- @estilodereba
- @aloysiusmbaba
- @aiuna
- @katleya
- @jazclassic
- @offia66
- @popurri
- @bisolamih
- @kei2
- @hazmat
- @abojode
- @bipolar95
- @terjix
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 story that includes the three prompt words, but doesn't depend on the presence of those words. Eclipse is used creatively, as it means to eliminate. A couple meets for the first time in a coffee shop. Word two, coffee, included significantly. The third word, wonder, is essentially the theme of the story, because the man wonders about the background of the woman he has met. They fall in love, but he has doubts because of her mysterious past. He finds out she was a professional fraudster. Wondering destroys their relationship. This story is well constructed, well told and believable. All the elements of a good story are present. Great first couple of sentences--these set the scene and introduce the characters. Strong dialogue and character development. Solid arc.
@mosin-nagant
Curator comment:
@Mosin-nagant creates a wonderful world-building story that takes us to a post-apocalypse zombie time. While the theme of zombie apocalypse is well-used, this author manages to give his narrative an original bent. The zombie creatures are not humanoid...they are monsters. The survivors, who seem to be zombie hunters, are very human. The end of the story might be difficult for some, because there is no end. However, in a zombie apocalypse short story, an author can hardly offer a believable solution. What the author can offer is a yearning for coffee and the sudden appearance of a shuttered coffee shop. Nice touch.
@kei2
Curator comment:
@kei2 writes a cute fiction for the triple prompt about a young boy, Ahmad, who encounters a group of adorable silver-bellied, fluffy creatures who occasionally fall off the moon to Earth to play. He can't work out if he was dreaming or not. When he shares his experience with his Grandma, she tells him that her mother once spoke of the same thing, and gave her a ladder of yarn to help them return to the moon should they miss their curfew, as a missed curfew would cause the world to go dark. She gifts the ladder to Ahmad. When the creatures return, Ahmad plays with them in the park all night, causing them to miss their curfew. The moon turns black and they become fearful. Ahmad races home, grabs the ladder, and returns to the park. When the creatures sit on it, it turns into a metal ladder reaching back into the sky, and they use it to return to the moon. This was a sweet story with some clever little quips of humour. Nicely delivered.
Nicely done, writers!
Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week
This week's prompt is: "Butt dial"
Welcome to the prompt of the week. If you have ever accidentally called someone by putting your phone in your pocket and then sitting on it, then you know what this prompt is all about. It may not happen often, but now and then most people make a call to someone they did not intend to call.
What if it is an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend? What if it is someone so far in the past that the main character cannot even remember them (at first)?
What if the main character accidentally makes a "butt dial" phone call, and doesn't realize it? What if they start talking about the person they dialed, not realizing they accidentally made the call?
There are many potential avenues to write about for the "butt dial" 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.
- 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](https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@theinkwell/the-ink