Source: Meta AI
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.
Please also check out these additional helpful resources:
* You will find all kinds of great resources in our catalog of storytelling tips.
* You can learn more about our community and the expectations of community members in our treasure trove of tips and guidelines.
* We are always about quality first. Never about quantity. To achieve the kinds of awards you want, take the time to write quality stories and check them for errors. See the topic of the month, "Don't Miss This Step" in the March 2025 newsletter to learn about using tools (and using them properly) if you are not already doing this. We do notice when you don't take the time!
Stories from the Previous Week
Thank you to who posted a story for last week's prompt: "What could possibly go wrong?":
- @mbiatabasi
- @marriot5464
- @wlin
- @oyebolu
- @ellizy
- @edith-4angelseu
- @nancybriti1
- @cyberking25
- @harmony2605
- @tranquil3
- @jazclassic
- @nachomolina2
- @venom2951
- @rare-gem
- @lara-bee
- @bisolamih
- @sherah
- @abojode
- @rammargarita
- @rinconpoetico7
- @happy080
- @offia66
- @lailawrites
- @popurri
- @farahikram
- @jennyzee1
- @caramel10
- @faithwellington
- @delightedpen
- @lareaiyela
- @zain-ab001
- @stone4
- @universoperdido
- @artofkylin
- @aloysiusmbaba
- @riya2020
Author Shout-outs
As always, we received some excellent stories for last week's prompt. Here are a few of the stories that received high marks from our curators.
@edith-4angelseu
Curator comment:
@edith-4angelseu writes a fiction for the "what could possibly go wrong" prompt. She shares a story about a girl who loses her brother to a lightning strike when she was 10 years old and he was only 5. The narrator feels immense guilt and sadness as she was responsible for looking after her brother that day, and when he begged to be allowed to stay and play in the rain, she let him. She feels the weight of that decision every day, and it is mirrored in the eyes of those around her. Later in life, she reflects on her loss every time she encounters a storm, although she also remembers her brother with great joy and sees him in the everyday antics of the children that she teaches. This was a beautiful and poignant story that tugs at the heartstrings.
@happy080
Curator comment:
What could possibly go wrong with a passel of cats, a goat that knows secrets, the town 'witch' and two mischievous children? A lot, and @happy080 entertains us with one of the possibilities. The story is clever, funny, and good-natured. The story is well paced and well structured. A very enjoyable read.
@zerah
Curator comment:
As we read this story by @zerah about a young man who is about to lose his money, we want to reach through our screens and stop him. That is the power of this story. We are certain how it will end, and yet we are invested in the fate of this young man. Zerah makes him real. It is a story repeated millions of times, and yet in this case we feel the loss deeply. Good writing. Good characterization. Sad but not tragic resolution.
Nicely done, writers!
Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week
This week's prompt is: "I thought I was on mute"
For this prompt, we are looking for stories where people say things they shouldn't, or perhaps embarrass themselves in some other fashion, because they believe no one is listening.
An online group meeting is a classic example. If one of the members regularly "goes on mute" — meaning they turn off their laptop's sound — then it's all too easy to forget when they have sound turned on. What if they mutter "what a jerk" when the boss is talking about a big upcoming project?
When asked to write the synopsis of three story ideas for the "I thought I was on mute" prompt, here's what ChatGPT came up with:
-
Workplace Comedy – The Mute Button Debacle
During a high-stakes virtual meeting with corporate leadership, junior analyst Becky accidentally leaves her mic on and delivers a scathing (and wildly accurate) roast of her department’s incompetence. To her horror, everyone hears it. But instead of getting fired, Becky’s accidental honesty sets off a chain reaction of corporate reckoning—and unexpected promotions. -
Psychological Thriller – Mute No More
In an online support group for trauma survivors, a reclusive woman known only as “Lena87” forgets to mute herself while whispering a bedtime story to her supposedly missing daughter. The chilling audio sends one listener spiraling into suspicion. Determined to uncover the truth, they unravel a web of lies, hidden identities, and a past that was never as dead as Lena claimed. -
Drama – Echoes in the Classroom
A beloved high school teacher, Mr. Tran, thinks he’s muted during a remote lesson and quietly confides to someone off-screen about his recent cancer diagnosis. His students, hearing every word, are shaken. What follows is a semester where silence becomes connection, and the class learns to give back to the teacher who never asked for help but needed it more than they knew.
What will you come up with? Tell us a story!
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; #92 Tend/Tender; #93 Cheer; #94 Appearance; #95 Ambition; #96 Trust; #97 Fly; #98 Comfort; #99 Fate; #100 To Create; #101 Vision; #102 Sympathy; #103 A Special Time; #104 Suspense; #105 Bride, stairs, illusion; #106 Reality TV; #107 Things the Go Bump in the Night; #108 First line: Two strange things happened that day; #109 What if that loose floorboard was actually a hidden passageway?; #110 Footsteps; #111 Mess; #112 Cards; #113 Elephant; #114 Crystal; #115 Phone call; #116 Date; #117 Chocolate; #118 Three words: wish, button, sky; #119 RSVP; #120 Objets d'art; #121 Soul; #122 Scuttlebutt; #123 Recall; #124 Doorway; #125 Beacon; #126 Seagull, Market, Box; #127 Window; #128 Terrified; #129 Dance; #130 Two endings; #131 Ghosted; #132 Treasure; #133 Taste; #134 Reunion; #135 I miss you; #136 Wonder; #137 Ruins; #138 Beach memories; #139 There was something in the wind; #140 Mask; #141 Halloween; #142 Photo album; #143 Dreams; #144 Crayon box; #145 Back of beyond; #146 Intuition; #147 Delight; #148 Anticipation; #149 Holiday memories; #150 Resolution; #151 Bicycle; #152 Flight; #153 Time Travel; #154 A trip to the fair; #155 Don't sell me a dog; #156 Gravity; #157 Love, wheelbarrow, dog; #158 Stealing; #159 Sportsmanship; #160 Toast; #161 Pickle; #162 You only live once; #163 Ring; #164 Hope; #165 Dreamcatcher; #166 In mother's house; #167 Keep Out; #168 Chin up; #169 Dish; #170 Talking in your sleep; #171 Wish upon a star; #172 Diary; #173 Plan B; #174 Clown; #175 The good old days; #176 The shoe is on the other foot; #177 Will tomorrow ever come?; #178 Am I a fool for dreaming?; 179 The moment that changed everything; #180 Superstition; #181 Gypsy; #182 Blind ambition; #183 Ah-ha moment; #184 Never say never; #185 Things are not always what they seem; #186 Domino effect; #187 The elephant in the room; #188 Higgledy-piggledy; #189 Scoundrel; #190 Storm the castle; #191 I think I'm being followed; #192 Hidden camera; #193 A long goodbye; #194 Confession; #195 Gobble; #196 Guilt; #197 Everything was fine until...; #198 Fragile; #199 Secret gift; #200 Party; #201`Old Habits Die Hard; #202 New Year's Resolution; #203 Unanswered questions; #204 Hey, the line is back here!; #205 I won't back down; #206 Sink or swim; #207 Time is of the essence; #208 Kryptonite; #209 When the cat's away, the mice will play; #210 Three words: wonder, eclipse, coffee; #211 Butt Dial; #212 Soup; #213 Spring Surprise; #214 Humble Pie; #215 Nostalgia; #216 Fear; Shopping; #218 Necessity is the mother of invention; #219 Life of the party; #220 The short straw; #221 Mouse; #222 The power of hindsight; #223 Ill at Ease; #224 What could possibly go wrong?
Thank you for being a part of The Ink Well!
@jayna, @gracielaacevedo, @yaziris, @itsostylish, @samsmith1971 and @agmoore
Interested in joining our community? Start by joining Hive!
Note: The Ink Well is now paying out curation rewards to our delegators!
We welcome delegations! These support our community in many ways, including helping us to provide support to quality content creators through curation and contests.
@jayna, @felt.buzz, @carn, @itsostylish, @agmoore, @ricardo993, @marcybetancourt, @marriot5464, @marlyncabrera, @stormcharmer, @juniorgomez, @iamraincrystal, @preparedwombat, @gracielaacevedo, @timix648, @samsmith1971, @jackdeathblack, @josemalavem, @generikat, @mineopoly, @hazmat, @treasuree, @kingsleyy, @popurri, @nancybriti1, @marynn, @rinconpoetico7, @nathy33, @iyimoga, @captainman, @kachy2022, @morey-lezama, @evagavilan2, @mrenglish, @funshee, @amiegeoffrey, @balikis95, @rukkie, @raymondpeter, @tomiajax, @stuartcturnbull, @monster-hunter, @sayee, @gertu, @mosin-nagant, @beauty197, @beckyroyal, @perfect20, @estilodereba, @rare-gem, @jjmusa2004, @ricurohemi28, @benwesterham, @artofkylin, and @shakavon.
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