The Ink Well Prompt #97 - Plus Weekly Challenge and Prize Announcement

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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 peruse the work of our community members.

Note: We always launch our prompt posts with important information. So be sure to check it out first! Then we invite you to read on and see what we have in store for this week's prompt.

Important FAQs about The Ink Well!

What Is The Ink Well All About?
The Ink Well is a creative writing community. Here are answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about The Ink Well.

• No novels, chapter stories or multi-part stories
• No poems
• No introduction posts
• No memes

The Ink Well is all about creativity, quality, community, and engagement. As such, we ask the following:

• Please take the time to get to know the community and read other writers' work. Everyone who posts in The Ink Well is expected to read and comment on at least two other stories for each piece you post.
• See our catalog of fiction writing tips and make use of our resources. (Many of our writers are developing awesome skills, and you can too!)
• Put effort into your posts. Review and edit your content for errors before publishing.

What are the community rules?

You can find our community rules at the top of The Ink Well community (right side of the page).

Please read the rules before posting in The Ink Well, as we outline the "do's and don'ts." If you can't find them, you can read them here.

Our community rules are designed to make our community a safe, welcoming, plagiarism-free space for self-publishing original short stories. We do not allow stories depicting violence, brutality, or abuse of women, children or animals. If you have questions, please read this article explaining our stance on violence.

What does it take to get rewards in The Ink Well??

We refer you to the above description of what The Ink Well is about. If you are not getting great rewards, it is likely for one of the following reasons:

• Your story has many grammatical errors. (This is easily fixed with the tips in our post, Help for the Grammatically Challenged.)
• Your story lacks some important elements of good fiction, such as character development, dialog, scene details or a story arc. (See our catalog of fiction writing tips for information on these important aspects of short stories.)
• Your story lacks originality or does not follow our community rules.

Important tips!

• Among the factors we look at is quality of engagement with others in the community
• Please make sure your story is clearly inspired by the prompt.
• Remember to link your story to the prompt post.

Weekly Challenge and Prize Announcement

Time for the prize announcement and new challenge!

Last week's prompt was Trust and the skill challenge was to work on story setting. This community really came through with surprising, amazing stories!

Many of our writers created original, memorable stories in response to the prompt. Our selections of this week's winners and honorable mentions reflect how well writers dealt with this prompt and skill challenge.

Update! We are excited to share that in addition to our first place winner, we are awarding a second and third place. We also will be selecting honorable mentions. For second and third place we are awarding Hive Basic Income (HBI). The third place winner receives 2 HBI and the second place winner receives 3 HBI.

Here are this week's honorable mentions, all of them writing in response to the prompt and skill challenge.

Honorable Mentions

• @hazmat with the story Tested and Trusted

I was at work one day when the police walked in and requested to see Fabian. After he was arrested we got the gist that he and Irene were con artists who went about defrauding rich men of their hard earned money.

• @rammargarita with the story My Wishes

The young woman returned a few days later with another invitation to another country. The relationship between her and her husband became strained; there was no longer any trace of his love for her; the affectionate man became insecure, bold and cold as an ice storm.

• @janaveda with the story Sophie's News

Michael was silent for a while. He was absorbed in thinking about how his aunt Amanda had trusted the Exchange. On several occasions, she told him how these institutions worked, which he considered a necessary evil as long as there was no mass adoption and paradigm shift.

• @jetta.amaya with the story The Dragon Child

Since then I dedicated myself to look for the Dragon Boy who changed my way of seeing life that Christmas night. Eventually I discovered that they only appeared on December 24th. I followed them, I joined them, they accepted me in their clan of cursed children.

• @kemmyb with the story The Stakeout

Trevor Banks was a tall, well-built and enigmatic man known for his brilliance and pragmatism. Being one of dedicated officers in the force, he had never been known to fail in any mission. This made Mac nervous. This was his first case since he received his detective badge and he'd assured his Unit leader, Sergeant Trevor Banks, that his CI, Marley, would lead them to Xavier Sawyer.

Third Place: Wins 2 HBI

• @dreemsteem with the story Braindead Isn't so Bad

The voice was soft, tender, amused. It should have startled her! But the delicate, rumbling laughter soothed her in the oddest way. Did she know the voice? Yes, the filmy thread of remembrance danced and teased. As she fiddled to grasp and pull it near, it slipped and slid from her, tantalizing her, calling her, luring her further into the recesses of her mind

Second Place: Wins 3 HBI

• @universoperdido with the story The Iron Woman

To Magnus she was perfect, and once he finished it he fell in love with it. He still kept his mother's favorite nightgowns in his parents' old window. He took one of them; he still kept the smell of soap and perfume that always characterized them. He dressed the iron woman in her nightgown and it fit her perfectly. Looking at her, Magnus loved her even more.

And the winner of the Trust/creating a story setting challenge is...@arduilcelebren with the story It's so Hard to Leave You Behind. Congratulations, @arduilcelebren. You will receive 5 Hive!

Don't worry, you can count on us. Sign here. You're no longer a baker. From now on, you're a soldier. You are a soldier who will fight for the future of your child and the future of all the children in this city. You've made the right decision.''
He sent me toward the soldiers on the left. And I thought, "Is that all?...
''Next!''

Okay, let's review fiction entries from last week's prompt and launch a new one.

Stories From the Previous Week

@marriot5464
@kristowe
@mrenglish
@nathy33
@kingsleyy
@faitz007
@marynn
@janaveda
@fantom22
@jetta.amaya
@lightpen
@princess-dara
@cool08
@nichebezarius
@vincric
@universoperdido
@abigail04
@balikis95
@amiegeoffrey
@george-dee
@arduilcelebren
@mbkumasi03
@seki1
@kemmyb
@dreemsteem
@rammargarita
@hazmat
@wrestlingdesires
@pravesh0
@pjpavan
@iyimoga
@innfauno12
@diebitch

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

This Week’s Prompt

The Ink Well is fortunate to have many members who are eager to write. It would be wise to use talent on the best story you can write so you can receive the optimal curation. Remember, Quality over Quantity.

Please Note: The Inkwell curators read many creative submissions each week. Ideally, we would comment and curate each piece. However, there are physical limitations, which include time. It may be the case that stories are submitted and are not curated. We do try to curate every piece but that may not happen.

At last, the prompt of the week!
This week's prompt is Fly. Our skill challenge will be to create a strong story arc. @jayna has written a great essay about creating a story arc: What Is a Story Arc? In your story we would like you to keep in mind that in every story there should be an essential conflict. An arc introduces basic elements in the story, sets up the conflict and then offers a resolution (a solution).

**When you write for the prompt, you don't have to use the exact word. Derive inspiration from it. Fly has many meanings. Use your imagination and come up with a original interpretation of this prompt.

Here are some Fly examples to help you get started on a story. You can probably come up with much more interesting ideas of your own.

1. After the fly settled on my bagel, I could no longer eat it.
2. Mary would rather take a train to California than fly.
3. One of my favorite pastimes in summer is to go fly fishing.
4. Courtney was so happy after her wedding that she was flying high.
5. Cynthia was excited when the fly-boat pulled up next to the yacht. She knew her beau was piloting that small craft.
6. Let me fly this idea past you. I think it's really original.
7. We walked in the cabin and saw a strip of flypaper hanging from the ceiling.
8. I wasn't sure what Arthur meant when he said my friend was 'fly', but I knew it was supposed to be a compliment.
9. We watched the skaters literally fly across the ice.
10. Miranda's ambition was to fly for the Air force.

A week from now, we will select a winning story that demonstrates this skill and utilizes the prompt. Of course, we will also be looking for overall quality in the winning story. Good luck!

Note: As always, please avoid violent, gory, bloody, brutal, sexist or racist themes and language, erotica and other NSFW (not safe for work) content, and stories featuring abuse of women, children or animals. (We have a complete article about The Ink Well stance on violence and brutality for more information.)

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

Weekly Prompt Rules:

1. Deadline: You have a week to write for the prompt, until the next one is posted. (Note: You can write for any of the prompts anytime. This is just a guideline to be included in the weekly round-up in the next prompt post.)
2. Story link: 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 and #dreemport, if you are also posting your story to the DreemPort site.
4. COMMUNITY SUPPORT: 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 or include the prompt word.
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 the source link.
7. Length: We request that story word counts are a maximum of 1,500 words maximum 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!

Reminder: Be sure to also read our community rules. The reason for the repeat reminder is that we see many stories describing brutality of women, children, or animals, or that have excessive gore or violence, and we must mute them. Please do not post these stories in The Ink Well. We want our community to be a safe and comfortable place for all readers.

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

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

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, @samsmith1971, @grindan, @itsostylish, @josemalavem, @morey-lezama, @sayury, @evagavilan2 and @popurri.

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