The Ink Well Fiction Prompt #133 - 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 fiction contest for the month of August, 2023, ending August 31! 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: "treasure". And we encouraged authors to integrate all of the storytelling skills that make stories compelling and readable.

Stories From the Previous Week

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

• @lara-bee
• @mrenglish
• @marriot5464
• @cool08
• @deirdyweirdy
• @greatideas
• @iyimoga
• @balikis95
• @ayokunlehenry
• @jjmusa2004
• @hazmat
• @kinganny
• @enalaton
• @seki1
• @ozd
• @selftheist
• @seunruth
• @teewhy120
• @edystringz
• @marynn
• @fashtioluwa
• @princess-dara
• @blessworld
• @universoperdido
• @rinconpoetico7

Honorable Mentions

Our honorable mentions of the week are:

• @kemmyb: Treasures in the Grave
• @balikis95: Adriana's Grieve
• @selftheist: The Curse of Sleep
• @jhymi: Lana's Keepsake
• @marriot5464: The Adventures of Jacob Brown
• @universoperdido: Grandma's Treasure

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

• @rinconpoetico7, with the story The Cursed Treasure

"Raise the flag, today we are going for victory, arrggg!" Willy shouted excitedly to the crew, while he was getting drunk with the adrenaline breeze of the upcoming battle.

The cries of the pirates could be heard across the immense ocean. The warm sun accompanied with its shining rays what would soon be the sound of cannons hungry for destruction.

"Petty Officer Jou, you lead the attack," one-eyed Willy said to him as his dark beard soaked up the damp, refreshing breeze.

Second Place: Wins 3 Hive

• @seunruth, with the story Selene

He rolled his eyes. "I love you, Selene but you're the most clueless person I've ever met in my entire life. And trust me, I have met people." He stressed the last word and shuddered as traces of his last job as an entertainer flashed in his mind.

"He's everything I want in a guy. He's nice and handsome. He has curly hair and pretty eyes. He promised to make all my dreams come true and…" Adam stopped listening as her eyes glazed over.

He glanced at her. Selene was everything a man would want in a woman. She was smart, a great cook and could turn anything she laid her hands on into money.

She was that good.

She was also clueless and like he recently discovered, a magnet for toxic people.

"He's also toxic." He deadpanned. The force of his words collapsed the castles she was building in the air.

First Place: Wins 5 Hive

• @deirdyweirdy, with the story, Football Crazy

Suddenly she was jolted into wakefulness, her eyes wide as they lighted upon a familiar figure ahead in the distance. It was her Dave or someone who looked exactly like him. And who was that woman he was embracing? She craned her neck to get another look as the bus rounded the corner. It couldn't be Dave she thought. He was at the football game with the lads on the other side of town. But there was no mistaking his six-foot-five gangly frame.

Back home she awaited his return, pasting on a smile when his key turned in the door.

Congratulations to @deirdyweirdy, @seunruth, and @rinconpoetico7!

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: "taste."

What to do with this prompt?

As always, you can interpret the prompt as you wish. "Taste" is an interesting word because it can mean several different things. Of course taste is one of our most important senses. It is how we experience the culinary delights. Food that tastes good is a thrill for the taste buds. Food that tastes bad can make you lose your appetite. What if your character has to attend a dinner at his fiancé's house and the food he must eat tastes awful?

But taste also refers to our choice in clothing, jewelry, décor, and an appreciation for certain personality types. "I can't understand your taste in men," one character might say to another. "You always go for the guys wearing suits and carrying briefcases. I prefer an outdoorsman."

Let's see where your imagination takes you!

Use Your Storytelling Skills

For many months we have asked our community members to focus on a skill each week, such as character development or dialogue. Going forward, we are looking for all of these skills as we identify winners and honorable mentions:

• 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.

To be eligible for prizes, you must write a story based on the prompt (be sure to use the prompt word(s) in your story), and demonstrate the fiction writing skills we have been encouraging everyone to practice. Be sure to turn to our catalog of fiction writing tips for guidance!

Ready, set go!

A week from now, we will select winning stories that demonstrate these qualities and utilize the prompt. Good luck! Be sure to read the contest rules and reminders 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. But 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!

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; #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}

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@jayna, @gracielaacevedo, @yaziris, @itsostylish and @samsmith1971

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