Welcome to The Ink Well's weekly creative nonfiction prompt!
In this post, we'll provide the prompt for the coming week.
Before You Write Your Creative Nonfiction Post...
We ask that you read our Creative Nonfiction Tips post to learn about the creative nonfiction genre and review our guidelines.
Important notes:
Creative nonfiction stories are based on your real-life experiences.
We are looking for real short stories! Not advice columns, reports on crime or corruption in your city, observations on nature, recipes, religion, politics, or any other nonfiction content. Just real-life short stories.
Ideal story length is between 750 and 1500 words, but your story must be at least 350 words, at a minimum to be curated.
Please focus on quality content. Read and edit for errors! Use a grammar checker before you post your story.
We expect everyone who posts in The Ink Well to read and comment on at least two other stories for each one published.
Do not post stories featuring physical abuse, graphic violence, erotica or NSFW content.
Last Week's entrants
Thank you to all who participated in last week's prompt : There is no rose without thorns.
At first, I pretended not to be interested, but my heart was leaping. My heart dropped at his handsomeness, but my brain reset quickly, reminding me to be careful with strangers.
Curator's comment :
marynn writes one of the most effective and well-written relationship CNFs I've read in The Ink Well. She tells of the early moments in a relationship, making sure she didn't rush into it and then falling big time. Then she tells of how her BF ultimately shows his true colors -- being skimpy on spending on anyone but himself. Finally, at the end, she calls him out for his behaviors and just walks away from a nearly year-long relationship. I was so proud of her!
James was that guy everybody loved while in school. The comforter, the warmth on cold days, the life of the party, the caregiver and the best of it all he was a beautiful soul.
Curator's comment :
There are some stories where there is the sense that everything is written so the author can use one magical line to sew it all together. That's the case in marriot5464's most recent CNF entry. This is the line: "...being a rose to everyone is his way of coping with his thorns"--a wonderful take on the prompt, *There is no rose without thorns*. In the story, James is kind and humorous and generous. He is the bright spot in everyone's day. Then, marriot5464 discovers James unconscious in his apartment. James, it turns out, has a kidney disorder, a serious health challenge. The ramifications of the kidney disorder are the thorns, and his giving personality is the rose. This is lovely, well-written piece.
The days following her arrival at home were very happy and fun. We would come home from school to pick her up to hold her and pet her. She was very tender, and we liked to feed her lettuce and carrots.
Curator's comment :
What child does not love a little grey bunny? Certainly @popurri and her siblings could not resist the bunny her father brought home. But little grey bunnies have a way of growing, and gnawing, and depositing leavings around the house. Rabbits are not clean housemates, and parents are the only ones with the will to see that. @popurri loves the little bunny her father brings home, and she loves the adult bunny they eventually bring to live on a farm. This essay shares the experience of a young @popurri who loves the baby rabbit and must relinquish the adult. This piece is moving and eloquent.
Although she was named after my maternal grandmother, I also believed, in my childish thoughts, that it fit perfectly with the newborn: she was very beautiful, but so delicate, that only mom and dad could touch her.
Curator's comment :
@nancybriti1 writes a sensitive, moving piece in response to the roses with thorns prompt. Her little sister Rosita is sick, almost from birth. She comes hom from the hospital and must be kept under a mosquito net. No one can touch her. Everything must be sterilized. She has a horrible rash that only gets worse and the child cries all the time. Finally one day she goes into crisis and is taken back to the hospital. When she comes home a couple of days later she is on the mend. No more mosquito net. @nancybriti1 can touch her, gently. The child was suffering from an allergy to breast milk. The story could have been melodramatic, but it wasn't. The clear language and plain tone give the reader the opportunity to respond to the tragedy of the child's suffering, without superfluous cues from the author. An excellent piece of writing.
This Week's Prompt 107:
Skeletons in the closet
Means:
A secret that would cause embarrassment if it were known.
Whether it's your closeted skeletons or a close friend or family members’ hidden skeletons that you decide to talk about, make sure that your story is about the consequences that ensued once those skeletons were exposed.
Have fun and good luck! We look forward to reading your stories.
Rules
You have 6 days to write your story from the date of this prompt post. Be sure to check the deadline countdown.
Write a real-life story with the creative elements of fiction, like characters, dialogue, scene setting and a story conflict.
Stories must be written in English. If you've translated the post, it's best to add the original version below the translation. Do not write mixed language paragraphs.
Read and comment on at least two stories in the community.
Add a link to your story as a comment on this post.
And be sure to remember to join The Ink Well community!
Prize
A prize of 20 Hive will be awarded to one submission every four weeks.
Procedure
Two or three stories will be featured every week. One of the featured stories will win the grand prize every four weeks.
The winner will be featured in a special announcement post.
Interested in joining our community? Start by joining Hive!
We welcome delegations! These support our community in many ways, including helping us to provide support to quality content creators through curation and contests.
@zerah
@jennyzee1
@bisolamih
@omokunmi
@abojode
@marynn
@farahikram
@marriot5464
@offia66
@livingword
@mmeyenejoseph
@popurri
@osomar357
@ridgette
@medemausi
@bipolar95
@nancybriti1
