Creative Nonfiction in The Ink Well: Prompt #5

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Dear community,

Welcome to Prompt #5 in our creative nonfiction initiative. Thank you to everyone who contributed a nonfiction story last week! In case you missed the announcement about The Ink Well opening up to nonfiction stories, you can see it here.

We began the initiative as a trial. It's going well, and we are excited to continue! We have now updated our rules to include creative nonfiction.

Here's a quick overview of how it works:

Each week, we will 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.

In opening up our community to a broader range of content, we will take the stance that not every post will be curated. To be curated, your content should follow our guidelines, be at least 350 words, be written in English (or another language as well as the English translation) and — as much as possible — free of errors.

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.

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
• 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: Overcoming Obstacles!

• @fantom22
• @idlemind
• @diikaan
• @egboncass
• @rammargarita
• @pjpavan
• @mrenglish
• @kzxixs
• @fragozar01
• @abdul-qudus
• @gracielaacevedo
• @fantom22
• @kirlos
• @brujita18

Many of these stories were beautifully told, heartfelt, and in many cases heartbreaking. It was difficult to choose two from this goldmine of stories!

Second Place: Wins 1000 Ecency Points

• Our second place winner is @idlemind, with her story, Last Call:

My eyes were as restless as the erratic beating in my chest. I couldn’t explain the peculiar emotion enveloping my squeamish heart then. My hands were icy and trembling when I grabbed my phone to make a call.

I dialed my sister’s number to check on our mother, who was in the hospital. The long ringing sound coming from the other end of the line brought an agonizing feeling, tormenting me to the core. Until finally…

First Place: Wins 5 Hive

• Our first place winner is @rammargarita, with her story, Someday We Will Meet Again:

That afternoon, when I returned home and did not notice my old man's presence, I felt a great loneliness and pain in my heart. I cried until dawn, with tiredness and pain I fell asleep. I dreamed that I was floating in the sky and the wind was blowing me away like a blade of straw, then the wind stopped blowing and I fell into the grave of my beloved.

Congratulations, @idelmind and @rammargarita!

The Ink Well Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompt #5: Letters

Many people don't write physical letters anymore. In the "old days" those of us whose childhood was prior to the days of email would watch for the postal worker and get so excited when we received an actual letter.

Yet, even if you don't remember those days, you know what it is like to receive something in the mail that is addressed to you, such as a holiday card or a birthday card.

If you don't receive letters, perhaps you occasionally receive a really nice email. These experiences are great fodder for a piece of writing.

There are many things you could do with the "letters" prompt in your creative nonfiction story.

• You could tell readers about the long-lost days of letter writing, and about the experience of sending or receiving letters.
• You could write about one very important letter you once received. What did the letter feel like in your hands? Were you thrilled or apprehensive?
• Or maybe you once wrote a particularly meaningful letter — whether to break up with someone, share some important news, or set the record straight.
• Perhaps you have had a "pen pal" at some point in your life, and each time you received a letter from your pal, you sat down to write one back.
• Or, of course, come up with any idea of your own based on the letters prompt.

Have fun!

Please use the tags #creativenonfiction and #inkwellprompt on these posts. And please remember to add your post link to a comment on this post!

Prizes!

• The top creative nonfiction story of the week will receive 5 Hive
• The second place story 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!

Interested in joining our community? Start by joining Hive!

Join here at Hive Onboard

Already a Hive member? Click Subscribe at the top of The Ink Well community home page.

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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, @agmoore, @gracielaacevedo @yaziris and @itsostylish.

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.

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, @zeurich, @marcybetancourt, @agmoore, @marlyncabrera, @stormcharmer, @generikat, @iamraincrystal, @preparedwombat, @gracielaacevedo, @chocolatescorpi, @seeger, @itsostylish, @josemalavem, @morey-lezama, @sayury, @evagavilan2, @popurri, and @grindan.

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