The Inkwell Fiction Prompt #230

_{Source: Leonardo.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: "Where did you go?":

• @jemima2001
• @marriot5464
• @zerah
• @venom2951
• @popurri
• @oyebolu
• @nancybriti1
• @lailawrites
• @rinconpoetico7
• @pretemi
• @gabmr
• @nachomolina2
• @jennyee1
• @ima99
• @rare-gem
• @abuzayd
• @almadepoeta
• @isha1
• @abojode
• @perfect20
• @edith-4angelseu
• @delightedpen
• @lara-bee
• @bisolamih
• @artofkylin
• @corporateay
• @happy0808
• @ubdan313
• @rammargarita
• @abigail04
• @riya2020
• @stone4
• @zain-ab001
• @goshen
• @aloysiusmbaba

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.

@almadepoeta

Where Did You Go?

Curator comment:

@almadepoeta writes another terrific dark fiction - a story in which it's possible to get trapped inside a museum mirror if you stare at it too long. His writing style is so captivating. This is a beautiful and poignant story.

@abuzayd

Standing Right There

Curator comment:

@abuzayd writes of a reality that creeps up on the narrator, a reality where a relationship hollows out so slowly that he doesn't notice until there is nothing left but a shell. This story is modern, relatable, and sensitive. It is told with such skill that it will stay with the reader long after the last word.

@artofkylin

Where Did You Go to Get Here?

Curator comment:

@artofkylin spins a tale of dark magic. It's difficult for an author to strike an original note in this genre, but artofkylin manages to do just that. Each tree in the forest of his childhood home represents a loved one taken, and killed. The trees are like headstones. Our protagonist, master of magic himself now, has come to burn down the forest and end its murderous rule. The writing in this story is rich with imagery. An excellent piece.

Nicely done, writers! We normally pick three writers to showcase, but there were so many great stories last week that we had to showcase a few more. You guys rock!!

Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week

This week's prompt is: "Boondoggle"

This interesting word indicates an effort or activity of some kind that seems like a great idea to someone, but is actually pointless or wasteful. For example, imagine a VP of a very large company recommending that the company provide hovercrafts for the staff members to more efficiently get to meetings in other buildings around the company campus. But the cost to obtain them, and the resulting medical costs from collisions costs so much that the company nearly has to close its doors. In the end, the VP stands in the parking lot with a brief case and his personal hovercraft, remembering the company's prosperous days before its downfall.

In other words, a boondoggle is a bizarre idea or a ridiculous invention that has very little chance of succeeding, but often has a champion who really believes in it.

When asked to provide three story ideas for the "boondoggle" prompt, here's what ChatGPT came up with:

1. The Great Conference Catastrophe
   When eager junior employee Kyle is selected to attend a prestigious "tech synergy retreat" in Aspen, he thinks he's about to climb the corporate ladder. But when he arrives, he discovers the retreat is actually a chaotic mess of llama yoga, meditation with a self-help influencer, and a team-building exercise that results in a fire. As Kyle documents the absurdity to warn future attendees, he accidentally becomes a viral sensation — and the retreat’s most requested speaker.

2. Grant Me a Break
   Small-town inventor Doris Winchell applies for a government innovation grant to fund her revolutionary “Solar-Powered Umbrella.” When the money rolls in, she quickly assembles a ragtag team of eccentric cousins and sets up shop in her garage. But as deadlines loom and nothing works (unless setting fire to a mailbox counts), Doris scrambles to make it look like something got invented — leading to a hilarious and disastrous unveiling ceremony involving robots, glitter, and one very angry mayor.

3. Boondoggle Bonanza!
   Three best friends fake a startup — “Moodoodle,” a totally fake app that claims to change your mood through scented screen protectors — just to get into an exclusive entrepreneur cruise in the Caribbean. All they want is free shrimp and some sun. But things spiral out of control when investors show interest, a rival startup tries to steal their "tech," and they end up pitching to a billionaire who insists on a live demo. The problem? Moodoodle doesn’t exist.

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Hashtags: Please use these hashtags: #fiction #writing #inkwellprompt #theinkwell.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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!")
8. 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?; #225 I thought I was on mute; #226 Fortune cookie; #227 False alarm; #228 Late to the game; #229 Where did you go?}

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