Hello and welcome to the The Ink Well weekly fiction prompt and prize announcement! The Ink Well is a Hive blockchain-based social media community of creative writers. If you love to write short stories, we invite you to join us! Or just peruse and enjoy the work of our community members.
Special Reminder: In addition to the weekly fiction contest we hold a monthly contest. Check out our April fiction contest ending April 30! 10 Hive to the winner!
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We ask that you read our FAQ post to familiarize yourself with our important community rules and guidelines.
Weekly Challenge and Prize Announcement
Time for the prize announcement and new challenge!
Last week's prompt was "elephant" and the skill challenge was world building.
Stories From the Previous Week
Thank you to everyone who posted a story for last week's prompt!
The Ink Well is fortunate to have many members who are rising talents! We would like everyone to think of these weekly prizes as a showcase of just a few of the very best stories, as well as an opportunity for our members to be inspired by reading some polished stories that demonstrate excellent storytelling skills.
- @wrestlingdesires
- @universoperdido
- @aloysiusmbaba
- @jetta.amaya
- @ubani
- @mrenglish
- @littlepiggies
- @rinconpoetico7
- @mhizrutty
- @nelson-george
- @iyimoga
- @amiegeoffrey
- @talon12
- @marynn
- @dianelson
- @kei2
- @jjmusa2004
- @vincric
- @kemmyb
- @seki1
- @jhymi
- @itsostylish
- @popurri
- @yuki-nee
- @diikaan
- @pjpavan
- @gracielaacevedo
- @djoi
- @lrscarmen
- @kingsleyy
- @abigail04
- @hazmat
- @george-dee
- @rammargarita
Honorable Mentions
Our honorable mentions of the week are:
- @mrenglish: Sacred Life Beyond Muyenge Mountains
- @littlepiggies: The Lucky Elephant
- @dianelson: The Elephant Princess
- @kei2: Optical Illusion; Answers from the Third Dimension
- @wrestlingdesires: Intergalactic Elephants
- @jjmusa2004 : The Final Wish of Tony
Third Place: Wins 2 Hive
- @universoperdido, with the story Elephant Vision
Shaun found himself in front of a field full of small bushes like in a savannah. The coppery color of the plants caught his attention, as he had never seen anything like it before. The sky had an amber hue reflecting the light of a reddish sun. The biome of sparse small trees seemed to move slowly; as if they were being pushed by a bunch of invisible ripples moving beneath the earth.
Second Place: Wins 3 Hive
- @kemmyb, with the story The Elephants Are Coming Home
On the white elephant was a tall and muscular man. He wore a similar totem, like everyone but his pendant tusk was longer and glowed red. Raina stood agape, watching as she remembered the stories of Turkalo, the warrior, who travelled with other chosen men to the land of the spirits to retrieve the lost totem.
First Place: Wins 5 Hive
- @jetta.amaya with the story Julie and Esteban's Elephant
Julie sat down at the table, she felt a little dizzy, the presence of the elephant made her nervous, her heart was fluttering and she was in a cold sweat. She looked around, she saw the dirty kitchen and Esteban in his ridiculous pajamas, it seemed to her that on the walls hung the most beautiful memories of their life together, but now they looked faded and dulled by time, besides the walls were beginning to crack from the vibrations caused by the elephant, in a short time they would no longer be able to hold up.
Congratulations to @jetta.amaya, @kemmyb, and @universoperido!
Okay, let's launch the new prompt!
This Week’s Prompt
COUNTDOWN: Many of you are submitting stories after the countdown ends. If you do so, we will still include you in the list of that week's authors, but you must submit before the end of the countdown to be considered for the prizes and honorable mentions.
Prompt of the week!
This week's prompt is "crystal." Our skill challenge is stunning first lines.
What to do with this prompt?
As always, there are plenty of options. The word "crystal" means many things. Crystals can be found in natural rock formations. Some crystals are considered to have healing properties or magical powers. And of course crystal is found in the glassware and the chandeliers of the wealthy.
So... pick some definition of the word "crystal" and tell us a story.
And whatever you do, start it off with a really great opening line!
For inspiration, see our Stunning Writing Examples article. Or check out some of the great articles online about the best first lines in fiction, like this one.
Ready, set go!
A week from now, we will select winning stories that demonstrate the skills and utilize the prompt. Of course, we will also be looking for overall quality in the winning stories. Good luck! Be sure to read the contest rules below.
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:
Weekly Prompt Rules:
- Deadline: You have SIX DAYS to write for the prompt, and you must submit your story before the end of the countdown to be considered for prizes and honorable mentions. You can find the countdown timer at the bottom of the prompt post on The Ink Well home page.
- Story link: 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 — as well as #dreemport, if you are also posting your story to the DreemPort site.
- COMMUNITY SUPPORT: 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 or include the prompt word(s).
- 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 (preferably 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. Thank you!
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.)
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
Thank you for being a part of The Ink Well!
@jayna, @gracielaacevedo, @yaziris, @itsostylish, @millycf1976 and @grindan
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