Dear community:
Welcome to Prompt #26 in our creative nonfiction initiative. Thank you to everyone who contributed a nonfiction story last week.
Here's a quick overview of how it works:
Each week, we provide a creative nonfiction prompt. You are also welcome to post other creative nonfiction pieces that are not based on the prompt. See the guidelines below.
To be curated, your content should follow our guidelines, be at least 350 words (but ideally 750 -1500 words), be written in English, or another language as well as the English translation, and — as much as possible — free of errors. We also expect everyone who posts stories in The Ink Well to read and comment on the work of at least two other community members for each story published. (Thank you!)
What Is Creative Nonfiction?
There are many guides and resources online for getting to know this wonderful genre. It is truly about storytelling. The simple difference between creative nonfiction and fictional stories is that the story is not made up.
We like this definition from an article on creativenonfiction.org:
Simply put: Creative nonfiction is true stories, well told.
With creative nonfiction, you are using the literary and storytelling tools of a fiction writer to craft stories from real life experiences. Set the scene. Give the details. Profile the characters. Give us the dialog, as best you can remember it.
Ideas and inspiration:
Creative nonfiction stories can be snippets from your life autobiography — moments in time you want to capture in words, whether they were frightening, enlightening, bittersweet, or life-altering. They can be observations about life, about a time you connected at a profound level with a perfect stranger, or something you have learned along the way that made you a better person.
Do you love podcasts? One of the greatest sources of creative nonfiction is The Moth Radio Hour. Listen to a few of the stories from The Moth, and we guarantee you will be inspired.
Here are some additional resources for learning more about the creative nonfiction genre:
-- Reedsy blog: What is Creative Nonfiction? The Unputdownable Truth
-- Writers.com: Understanding Creating Nonfiction: What It Is and How to Write ItCheck out this list of creative nonfiction stories. For example, one of the stories is about a funeral for a lizard named Rango.
We hope you are inspired!
Guidelines for Creative Nonfiction Articles in The Ink Well
- Write creative nonfiction stories about real life, memories, or experiences.
- As with our fiction guidelines, we ask that articles be at least 350 words in length. Optimal length is 750-1500 words.
- Please read and edit your content before posting. It makes a big difference in how we reward work published in The Ink Well. (And we have some great guidelines for improving your grammar and fixing errors before you post in this article.)
- Please post directly in The Ink Well community, and post your link in a comment on this post.
- Please use the tag #creativenonfiction on these posts.
Here are some examples of what we are looking for:
- Explore an idea that interests you, such as how childhood experiences shape us as adults.
- Write about the study of dreams and what they mean, along with your own experience.
- Tell about an experience from your life that profoundly changed you.
- Write about a teacher who inspired you.
In other words, tell a story from real life. And illustrate the ideas you share with real world experiences, memories and observations.
Here’s what we are NOT looking for:
- A picture of a flower or other posts focused on photography
- A few paragraphs about what you ate for lunch
- Recipes and how-to articles
- Life lessons or advice
- Essays about religion or politics
- Poetry
What will be muted:
- Spam posts or plagiarism
- Graphic violence
- Lectures or proselytizing about religion, politics or morality
Last Week's Creative Nonfiction Winners
Thank you to all who participated in last week's prompt: " Where is it? I can't find it! " We enjoyed reading how our writers reacted to this announcement. There was fantastic writing!
Writers who joined in the fun:
@marriot5464
@pearlsuddy
@timix648
@ubani
@faitz007
@george-dee
@yuki-nee
@stellageorge
@funshee
@princessbusayo
@mrenglish
@dianelson
@ayane-chan
@marynn
@rukkie
@nnennafavour
@dapomolaaaa
@amiegeoffrey
@inessita
@nkemakonam89
@hazmat
@marilour
@treasuree
@cypher09
Honorable Mentions of the Week
Our honorable mentions for last week's prompt are:
- @yuki-nee: Who are You?
- @stellageorge Lost And Found
- @dianelson: My left hand lost it not me
- @hazmat : Unexpected Kindness
- @nkemakonam89: The Missing Register
Third Place: Wins 2 Hive
Our third place winner is @ayane-chan, with the story Thank you for the memories.
For the first time in my life, I was heartbroken over a crush and the one responsible for it was nowhere to be found since then. I forced myself to move on and forget him, get back to my normal life without thinking of him and the memories he left. Right now, when I visit my Grandma's house sometimes, I can still see his dormitory and people say that he is still living there. The funny thing was, I totally forgot his name and I can't search for him on Facebook anymore because I deleted my old account where we were friends back then.
Second Place: Wins 3 Hive
Our second place winner is @marilour with the story Contingency.
After a few minutes, I looked at the children. The worst was over, Caridad was nowhere to be seen. I questioned my siblings, but none of them could guide me. I was worried, my heartbeat was racing and I was sweating profusely. How was I going to tell my parents and aunts and uncles what had happened? I was not thinking clearly, I was anxious and desperate. Soon it would be dark.
I plucked up my courage and told them. My aunt Conche, who couldn't stop crying, cradled me tightly and desperately. Her eyes, inquisitive and disappointed, kept repeating: "Where is he? Where is he? Where is he? I, in tears, answered: "I can't find her I can't find her" My mother intervened, tried to calm her down, hugged me, and cuddled me in her lap.
First Place: Wins 5 Hive
Our first place winner is, @inessita, with the story Where is Grandfather? I can't find him.
One day when I came home from school, I found the news that grandpa had gone to heaven, that's what they told me, everyone cried, I also cried a lot, at my 6 years old what else could I do, I went to the yard, I told the chickens, that grandpa would not come anymore.
Until that day came the life story of Don Inés Borges, the most wonderful grandfather in the world, he would not tell me any more stories, there would be no more kisses, no more hugs, there I realized that no matter how hard I looked for him I was not going to find grandfather.
Congratulations @inessita, @marilour, @ayane-chan!
The Ink Well Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompt #26:
Mistake!
People can make mistakes in many ways: making hasty decisions, getting carried away by first impressions, getting confused by taking one path instead of another, buying a garment or other object that we will never use...
Some mistakes can be very unpleasant but others can turn out to be very funny as time goes by.
Turn your mistake into a good story!
For this topic there are several possible approaches. For example:
You greet someone warmly and then realise that you are confused. You apologise for the mistake and start a new story.
A salesman knocks on your door and an hour later you own something you don't really need.
You have an opinion about someone until you have an experience with them that makes you change your mind.
How many things can happen when you rush into a decision!
Tell us about it!
Have fun and good luck! We look forward to reading your stories.
Please use the tags #creativenonfiction and #inkwellprompt on these posts. And please remember to add your post link to a comment on this post!
NOTE: Please refrain from providing advice, guidance, or suggestions to others about their life choices in your post. Creative nonfiction is about storytelling.
Prizes!
- The top creative nonfiction story of the week will receive 5 Hive
- The second place story will receive 3 Hive
- Third place will receive 2 Hive
Deadline
You have SIX DAYS to write for the prompt. We are now adding countdown timers to our contest posts so the contest ends one day before the new one is posted. This will give us more time to read all contest stories.
Interested in joining our community? Start by joining Hive!
We invite lovers of creative writing to visit The Ink Well, a Hive community started by @raj808 and @stormlight24 and run by @jayna, @gracielaacevedo, @yaziris, @itsostylish, @millycf1976 and @grindan.
You can follow our curation trail by going to our hive.vote curation trail page and clicking the follow button.
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, @zeurich, @marcybetancourt, @agmoore, @marlyncabrera, @stormcharmer, @generikat, @iamraincrystal, @preparedwombat, @gracielaacevedo, @chocolatescorpi, @samsmith1971, @grindan, @jackdeathblack, @josemalavem, @riverflows, @itsostylish, @stuartcturnbull, @morey-lezama, @evagavilan2, @popurri, and @mrenglish.
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