The Ink Well Fiction Prompt #122 - 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 just peruse and enjoy the work of our community members.

Special Reminder: Check out our monthly contest for the month of June, 2023, ending June 30! And be sure to honor the countdown timer! 10 Hive to the winner!

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.

Weekly Challenge and Prize Announcement

Time for the prize announcement and new challenge!

Last week's prompt was: "soul". And the skill challenge was to integrate all three of these important story elements: "action, dialogue and narrative."

Stories From the Previous Week

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

• @devotedman
• @kinganny
• @arduilcelebren
• @ginika
• @nelson-george
• @mrenglish
• @fashtioluwa
• @estilodereba
• @dianelson
• @caroolina
• @lightpen
• @marriot5464
• @riverflows
• @rinconpoetico7
• @emeka002
• @inessita
• @ricardo993
• @blessworld
• @balikis95
• @cool08
• @kemmyb
• @jhymi
• @marynn
• @fantom22
• @greatideas
• @vivaebony
• @george-dee
• @morey-lezama
• @abigail04
• @seki1
• @hazmat
• @samsmith1971
• @mineopoly
• @diikaan
• @borderline.babe
• @kingsleyy
• @cypher09
• @popurri
• @clemenp
• @rammargarita
• @marilour
• @universoperdido

Honorable Mentions

Our honorable mentions of the week are:

• @arduilcelebren: Temple of Magic, Power of the Symphony
• @lightpen: Stereotyping
• @kemmyb: The Scarred Soul
• @riverflows: The Many Lightning Strikes of Henry Watts
• @ricardo993: Happiness in Medals
• @rinconpoetico7: The Signal

The Winners!

All of these authors not only wrote fantastic stories, but did an excellent job with the skill of the week: integrating action, dialogue and narrative!

Third Place: Wins 2 Hive

• @caroolina, with the story The Enigma of the Soul

Welcome, Miss Laura. I am glad you have accepted my invitation.

—said Lord Blackwood, his voice echoing in the silence of the place—

My daughter, Elizabeth, has mysteriously disappeared and I need your skills to find her.

Laura nodded and delved into the case, as the mansion's servants whispered in the corridors about dark secrets and rumors of forbidden rooms. As Laura spoke with them, she discovered that each had a unique story to tell. From the butler, an elderly man with a prodigious memory, to the enigmatic maid who was never separated from her music box.

Note: Again this week we could not settle on just three winners, so we chose two second-place winners! Congrats to @seki1 and @george-dee who tied for second place!

Second Place: Wins 3 Hive

• @seki1, with the story The Crown or the Soul

Instantly the pressure dropped, the lad stumbled, unsure if he should continue attacking or run.

In a voice that was way more serious and a lot more colder, the king spoke.

"If you really wish to die today lad, cross this line."

The king used his sword tip and drew a line on the sand.

The boy was stagnant but shaking.

"Why won't you attack?? Why ask me if I want to die?? You didn't ask them if they wanted to die before you waged a war on them."

"I'm sorry lad, but I don't know who you're talking about." The king said.

"The soul stone war damnit!" The boy said, taking a step forward but remembering the line and pulling his leg back.

Second Place: Wins 3 Hive

• @george-dee, with the story Ryan and Ella

"An attack?", Ryan shouted and ended the call immediately.

He turned to Ella who was shivering already.

"Babe, I need you to calm down. The base is under an attack so I will take you to a safe place and we will leave once it is safe to do so", Ryan said to her and she only nodded.

He held her hand and they ran through some tanks to a more quiet place. They entered a warehouse and could hear a few gunshots close to them.

"We shouldn't have come here at all and you are submitting your resignation letter if we survive this", Ella whispered.

"Let's go into the woods, I know another safe spot there", Ryan said when he heard footsteps approaching them and they left through the warehouse's back door.

First Place: Wins 5 Hive

• @samsmith1971, with the story King of Hearts

Is this spot taken?

The words skirted the periphery of my conscious mind.

I was more focused on what the other players were doing: with their hands, their eyes, their cards... these little things make a big difference in a game of Poker.

The question repeated, jarring me from deep concentration.

I looked up to see a young man with olive skin and dark curls, wearing tailored jeans and an open-necked crisp white collared shirt. Standing just a few feet away, his hands draped casually over a blue velvet high-backed chair, he seemed blissfully unaware of his unwelcome intrusion.

Can I help you?

Congratulations to @samsmith1971, @george-dee, @seki1 and @caroolina!

This Week’s Prompt

FIRST: A COUNTDOWN NOTE
Be sure to submit your entries before the countdown ends.

You must submit before the end of the countdown to be considered for the prizes and honorable mentions.

Please observe the timer below this post. If it's purple, and the COUNTDOWN time is in the future, you can submit and be eligible for prizes and honorable mentions.

If the countdown is gray, and the timer has expired, you can submit, but your story will not be eligible for prizes or honorable mentions.

When the timer expires, we get busy reviewing all the stories, and no further submissions are considered.

Prompt of the week!

WAIT! Did you read the information above about the countdown timer? Okay, proceed!

This week's prompt is: "scuttlebutt." 😄 Our skill challenge is writing proper dialogue.

What to do with this prompt?

Well, here's what's fun about this prompt, other than the fact that it is a very silly word: It has two meanings.

• The original meaning is a cask on shipboard to contain fresh water.
• Another meaning of the word is "gossip."

You can read about it on dictionary.com.

So, there are some interesting possibilities! You can write a dramatic or humorous story that takes place on a ship and somehow involves getting water from the scuttlebutt... or you can write a story involving gossip. Or combine the two!

Here's an example of the use of "scuttlebutt" when it means "gossip."

"Well," Frank said, "the scuttlebutt around here is that you're the next CEO. Is it true?"

And that brings us to the skill of the week, writing proper dialogue. See that example just above? That's proper dialogue!

You don't put the "dialogue tag" (such as 'he said' on a separate line. You don't make it bold or italicized. You simply put the dialogue in quotation marks and the dialogue tag, if needed, outside of the quotes.

Here are a few more examples of proper dialogue format:

Gina stomped her foot. "You're so rude!"

In that example, Gina makes a gesture, so we know the thing that is said belongs to her. You therefore don't need to use the dialogue tag, "Gina said."

"What? I can't believe that," Rudy said. "It's not possible!"

In that example, the dialogue tag is inserted between two things that Rudy says. Note the comma within the quotation marks. If a dialogue tag like Rudy said comes after some dialogue, always put a comma after the statement and before the dialogue tag, unless what is stated ends in an exclamation mark or a question mark. See the next example.

"Harry come quick!" Mathilda shouted.

"What's the problem?" Harry called back.

In those examples, note that there is an exclamation point in Mathilda's dialogue and a question mark in Harry's dialogue. You simply add the dialogue tag right after the quote with no extra punctuation.

Be sure to read the article, How to Write Dialogue in Fiction in our catalog of fiction writing tips to learn more about this important fiction writing skill.

To be eligible for prizes, you must write a story based on the prompt and demonstrate proper use of dialogue.

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:

• 50 Loglines
• 50 Story Ideas
• 50 Imagination Ticklers

Weekly Prompt Rules:

1. 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.
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 — as well as #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(s).
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 (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; #114 Crystal; #115 Phone call; #116 Date; #117 Chocolate; #118 Three words: wish, button, sky; #119 RSVP; #120 Objets d'art; #121 Soul}

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