Creative Nonfiction in The Ink Well: Prompt #18

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Dear community,

Welcome to Prompt #18 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 It

• Check 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

1. Write creative nonfiction stories about real life, memories, or experiences.
2. As with our fiction guidelines, we ask that articles be at least 350 words in length. Optimal length is 750-1500 words.
3. 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.)
4. Please post directly in The Ink Well community, and post your link in a comment on this post.
5. 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: A Day in the Life! We enjoyed reading about the meaning of good friends.

Writers who joined in the fun:

@kingsleymark
@dianelson
@chincoculbert
@fantom22
@joycealarapon
@cypher09
@nkemakonam89
@lrscarmen
@lightpen
@princessbusayo
@minhajulmredol
@mrenglish
@rukkie
@diikaan
@funshee
@george-dee
@princess-dara
@pjpavan
@amiegeoffrey
@dennnmarc
@deraaa
@bornben
@lydiapauline
@kenechukwu97
@jhymi
@abdul-qudus
@borderline.babe
@hazmat
@ipexito
@momogrow
@safari-bangz
@balikis95
@safari-bangz
@treasuree
@depressedfuckup

Honorable Mentions of the Week

Our honorable mentions for last week's prompt are:

• @lrscarmen : An everyday but unforgettable day

• @deraaa: That day

• @abdul-qudus : A day of my life

• @riz611 : A Trade Beyond Price

Third Place: Wins 1,000 Ecency points

Our third place winner is @funshee ,with her story, A Typical Day With My Heroes In It.

The day they handed me over to my hubby and inlaws. I remember having teary eyes as they said their goodbyes as if I was leaving forever. We do speak on the phone from time to time but I miss all the things we used to do together.

My mind flashed back to how I used to look forward to the weekend because I know my dad always has one or two special treats for me. And mom's tender cares and love. I won't be able to visit them until towards the end of this year when I will be traveling home for the first time in two years, and if I make it there, here is a day I have in mind with them.

Second Place: Wins 3 Hive

Our second place winner is @momogrow ,with her story Story time: A perfect day .

Upon arriving home, I opened the door and the smell of delicious foods wafted toward us. It was as though a master chef was present. Then we went to the terrace and saw Jeff - a master chef indeed - preparing a veritable feast. However, it was not only Jeff; some of my closest friends and family were there as well. I could not believe my eyes. It then dawned on me that the meeting in the park was orchestrated - in fact my whole day was. Everyone started hugging and kissing me. Then suddenly, from between the smiling faces and warm greetings came the biggest surprise of them all - my grandma walked towards me. I was gobsmacked but elated. I could only say,
“Grandma - it has been so long!!”

First Place: Wins 5 Hive

Our first place winner is @ipexito ,with her story The Day I Want To Live.

That's why I will tell you about my dream day. In my dream day, of course, I would wake up early and start my day. I would get out of bed immediately and wash my face. I would quickly change my clothes and go to the gym at home. (If I dream of starting my day by waking up early, I can also imagine that I have a gym at home😁) In reality, I don't have a gym at home and sometimes it's a challenge because I love to work out. But sometimes I don't have the space at home for it and so I don't want to work out and I keep putting it off and putting it off. If I had a gym, I would run down there in the morning and do stretching followed by working out for about 40 minutes. Then, when I was tired or hungry, I would finish and go back to take a shower.

Congratulations,@ipexito,@momogrow and @funshee !

The Ink Well Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompt #18: Surprise!

Surprises fill life with emotion. Just think of the number of situations that can be hidden behind that beautiful word :
admiration, astonishment, stupefaction, confusion, dazzle, disturbance, shock, fascination, rapture, enchantment... We often lose count of how many surprising situations we have had! Tell us about the surprises your life has given you!

For this prompt, there are several possible approaches you could take. For example:

• Maybe you want to tell us about that surprise you never imagined you would receive, a desired gift, an invitation, a chance meeting,, for example.

• Or tell us about that time you couldn't believe your eyes!

• Have you surprised yourself?

• You never imagined that person could be capable of such an act!

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 1,000 Ecency points

Deadline

You have a week, until the next prompt is posted, to post your creative nonfiction story in The Ink Well community.

See you in The Ink Well!

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