The Ink Well Fiction Prompt #143 and Prize Announcement

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ANNOUNCEMENT!

Hello community members. We will be making some changes in the coming weeks, which we will announce in the next monthly newsletter on December 1st.

One of these changes is to phase out the weekly fiction contest. Starting now, we will simply post a weekly prompt in place of the fiction contest. We will continue curating stories with merit. We will also continue to highlight a few stories each week that have some great storytelling elements.

We will also still be running a monthly contest. Be sure to check out the November contest here.

Stay tuned for more information as we roll out some new changes!

Winners from Last Week's Contest

Last week's prompt was: "Photo album".

Stories From the Previous Week

Thank you to everyone who posted a story for last week's prompt!

• @arduilcelebren
• @princess-dara
• @george-dee
• @ayokunlehenry
• @marriot5464
• @iskawrites
• @caithlyn
• @samiwrites
• @nancybriti1
• @rinconpoetico7
• @zeegirl
• @cedujem
• @chm-writes
• @cojonac97
• @tomiajax
• @lightpen
• @lara-bee
• @abigail04
• @jjmusa2004
• @popurri
• @balikis95
• @mrenglish
• @aloysiusmbaba
• @jazclassic
• @kei2
• @amiegeoffrey
• @sofs-su
• @smc.arike.oba
• @diebitch
• @marynn

Honorable Mentions

Our honorable mentions of the week are:

• @george-dee: The Happiest Day of Her Life
• @tomiajax: Walk the Line
• @chm-writes: Amnesia
• @jjmusa2004: Ireti
• @diebitch: The Secret Ingredient

The Winners!

All of these authors wrote fantastic fiction using the prompt, and did an excellent job with the storytelling skills we look for in the best-told stories!

Third Place: Wins 2 Hive

• @sofs-su, with the story Rachel Is Back

Her vacant stare, her unfinished soup lying before her, and her rather faded clothes caught a lot of attention in that tiny cafe. This woman in her mid forties seemed rather out of place in this cafe. The cafe itself was a small place, decorated in bright colors, filled with young people, blasting loud music in a hippie sort of way. How did this woman saunter into this place, she looked like she had waked out of a time machine into the future.

Rachel's hair which hadn't seen a comb in months was tied in a clumsy bun. She looked quite dirty and didn't smell pleasant either. However, when one took a closer look at her one noticed her beautiful skin shining through beneath the dirt, her beautifully shaped nose, bow shaped lips and high cheekbones seemed to speak of a certain nobility in her.

Second Place: Wins 3 Hive

• @arduilcelebren, with the story The Album of Souls

After taking the gold, the devil took the photo album and tore out the page with the man.
Then he handed this moving photo to the woman.

"And how do I get him off this page?" the woman in the white dress asked.

"Oh, baby! You ssssshould be more careful when dealing with the Devil. This information will cost you extra"

"I thought it would be like this." Said the woman in the white dress and picked up the photo with a huff. She went outside.

First Place: Wins 5 Hive

• @kei2, with the story The Puzzle Time

The first photo was from fifteen years ago. It was a picture of herself, Zara, and their grandfather, Mich. They sat holding hands by the lake behind the house. Hannah recalled his fondness for time and life. The way he often described life as fickle and time as an illusion. “Listen, Hannah, time is not a thing. There is no distinction between the past, present, and future. Everything is on the same plane of existence.” Hannah smiled thinking about the old man's Husky tone. “Over there on the other side! Where the waters are clear is where the puzzle gets solved. Only if you are bold enough to get on that boat.” The old man tickled them both. Hannah and Zara never understood half the things he said even though he always appeared full of conviction. They were always satisfied with just having his company.

Congratulations to @kei2, @arduilcelebren, and @sofs-su!

Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week

This week's prompt is: "Dreams."

What to do with this prompt?

Dreams can enter our subconscious minds while we sleep, or they can be things we imagine and wish for. It's time to find out which of these kinds of dreams inspires your next story!

Note: Please don't end your story with the entire story being just a dream! We highly discourage this approach, as readers often feel cheated. We have an article explaining this concept here, in our catalog of fiction writing tips.

Let's see where your imagination takes you!

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 — as well as #dreemport, if you are also posting your story to the DreemPort site.
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 a *minimum of 350 (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. Thank you!
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.)

Tips for Getting Curated by The Ink Well

There are some important elements of storytelling that make a story stand out, and make people want to read it, and keep reading. 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.

You can find more on all of these topics in the catalog of fiction writing tips.

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]}

Thank you for being a part of The Ink Well!
@jayna, @gracielaacevedo, @yaziris, @itsostylish and @samsmith1971

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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 and @samsmith1971.

How to Follow Our Curation Trail

You can follow our curation trail by going to our hive.vote curation trail page and clicking the follow button.

Note: The Ink Well is now paying out curation rewards to our delegators!

How to Delegate to The Ink Well

We welcome delegations! These support our community in many ways, including helping us to provide support to quality content creators through curation and contests.

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A big thank you to all of our delegators:
@jayna, @felt.buzz, @itsostylish, @agmoore, @marcybetancourt, @marlyncabrera, @selftheist, @stormcharmer, @iamraincrystal, @preparedwombat, @gracielaacevedo, @timix648, @samsmith1971, @jackdeathblack, @josemalavem, @riverflows, @generikat, @mineopoly, @hazmat, @treasuree, @innfauno12, @kingsleyy, @popurri, @nancybriti1, @marriot5464, @marynn, @jjmusa2004, @universoperdido, @juniorgomez, @morey-lezama, @evagavilan2, @moneykeep, @mrenglish, @stuartcturnbull, @marilour, @rinconpoetico7, @funshee, @amiegeoffrey, @loveah, @balikis95, @cool08, @rukkie, @raymondpeter, @emreal, @eunice9200, @tomiajax and @ricurohemi28.

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