The Ink Well Fiction Prompt #155

theinkwell (72)in The Ink Well • 3 months ago

Countdown terminated on Feb 7, 2024, 3:00 AM

Welcome to the Weekly Fiction Prompt

Hello community members. Thank you for joining our weekly writing prompt! If you're new, be sure to check out our community rules before posting in The Ink Well. (You can find them at the top of our home page. And you will find all kinds of great resources for fiction writers in our catalog of fiction writing tips.

Stories from the Previous Week

Thank you to who posted a story for last week's prompt: "A Trip to the Fair":

Author Shout-outs

We'd like to call out a few stories that got high marks from our curators.

@stuartcturnbull

The Shadow of Coming Events

Curator comment:

@stuartcturnbull is a brilliant writer. The current story is a sci-fi spectacular. It takes place on a space ship. The journey is called The Long March, sort of like Mao's Long March. The ship is run apparently by Chinese and Russian colleagues sometime in the 23rd century. The Russian is ambitious and puts the lives of people at risk. The Chinese colleague is more cautious. People die, and the Russian is proved wrong. The power struggle is resolved. There is a great story arc, great character development, great dialogue.

@gabmr

Me As an Ice Beast

Curator comment:

@gabmr has really developed his writing skills. This is a really interesting and enjoyable story within a story, told by a pirate when threatened with the business end of a gun. The story he tells is about getting stuck on an island near the North Pole, after jumping ship when some of the people on board were trying to steal some gold from him. He gets saved from starvation by a polar bear. I can't tell the rest because it's too sad, but the story is really nicely told. He does a great job of giving the pirates interesting, memorable names and characterization.

@jjmusa2004

Frenzy Ferris

Curator comment:

@jjmusa2004 turns in an excellent story in response to the 'Fair' prompt. An adolescent goes to the fair filled with resentment at a school bully. He also has a crush on a young lady. Both the bully and the young lady are on the Ferris wheel at the same time. The protagonist wishes no harm comes to the girl, but wouldn't mind seeing the bully and his friends hurt. Suddenly, there is a problem with the Ferris wheel. People panic. The protagonist asks the Ferris wheel operator if there is not an overall power switch for the fair grounds. That's the solution to the problem. The power is shut off to everything and the Ferris wheel comes to a stop. The protagonist not only is relieved that the girl is safe, but he is also grateful the the bully has not been hurt. His deed becomes known in the school and he achieves a kind of celebrity. The story has a really good arc and sounds believable, even though it is every adolescent's fantasy.

@kei2

The Eve Story

Curator comment:

@kei2 writes an imaginative fiction about deciphering the mysteries imposed by time and circumstance. The MC (main character) will soon take on the responsibility of leading her clan but before she takes on the reigns she, surreptitiously, enters a forbidden portal that offers her a reflection in time of a bygone era and the secret of her lineage. Beautiful structured, nicely resolved and intelligently plotted.

Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week

This week's prompt is: "Don't sell me a dog."

What to do with this prompt?

You can do whatever you wish, as always! As long as your story is inspired by the words "Don't sell me a dog," and you include it in your story, it's fine.

The expression "don't sell me a dog" is actually an old saying that means "don't lie to me." You can choose any interpretation you wish. If you are inspired by a story involving dogs, that is fine. If you would like to tell a story about someone seeking the truth, that's fine too. Have fun! And be sure to review the Writing Prompt Guidelines below.

Remember, as always, we are looking for the elements of story. These include:

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

You can find more on all of these topics in the catalog of fiction writing tips.

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:

Writing Prompt Guidelines:

See The Ink Well FAQ: 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.
Story link: Please be sure to post your story in The Ink Well community, and post a link to your story in a comment on this post.
Hashtags: Please use these hashtags: #fiction #writing #inkwellprompt #theinkwell — as well as #dreemport, if you are also posting your story to the DreemPort site.
Community support: When you post in The Ink Well, please be sure to visit the work of at least two other community members and comment on their work.
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. Please do use the prompt word(s) within the story.
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.
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!
Translations: If you post a story that has been translated from another language, please include both the English version and the translation.

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.) And do NOT use AI tools to write your stories. You must provide your own unique content.

Past Prompts

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; #133 Taste; #134 Reunion; #135 I miss you; #136 Wonder; #137 Ruins; #138 Beach memories; #139 There was something in the wind; #140 Mask; #141 Halloween; #142 [Photo album]; #143 Dreams; #144 Crayon box; #145 Back of beyond; #146 Intuition; #147 Delight; #148 Anticipation; #149 Holiday memories; #150 [Resolution](https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@theinkwell/the-ink-well-fiction-prompt-150; #151 Bicycle; #152 Flight; #153 [Time Travel]https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@theinkwell/the-ink-well-fiction-prompt-153); #154 A trip to the fair}

Thank you for being a part of The Ink Well!
@jayna, @gracielaacevedo, @yaziris, @itsostylish, @samsmith1971 and @agmoore

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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, @gracielaacevedo, @yaziris, @itsostylish and @samsmith1971.

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