Creative Nonfiction in The Ink Well Prompt #46
Welcome to The Ink Well's weekly creative nonfiction contest!
In this post, we'll announce the winners from last week's contest and provide the prompt for the coming week.
Before You Write Your Creative Nonfiction Post...
We ask that you read our Creative Nonfiction Tips post to learn about the creative nonfiction genre and review our guidelines.
Important notes:
- Creative nonfiction stories are based on your real-life experiences.
- We are looking for real short stories! Not advice columns, reports on crime or corruption in your city, observations on nature, recipes, religion, politics, or any other nonfiction content. Just real-life short stories.
- Ideal story length is between 750 and 1500 words, but your story must be at least 350 words, at a minimum to be curated.
- Please focus on quality content. Read and edit for errors! Use a grammar checker before you post your story.
- We expect everyone who posts in The Ink Well to read and comment on at least two other stories for each one published.
- Do not post stories featuring physical abuse, graphic violence, erotica or NSFW content.
Last Week's Creative Nonfiction Winners
Thank you to all who participated in last week's prompt Motivation
Last week's participants
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Honorable Mentions of the Week
 | Failing Forward
The Chemistry teacher adjusted her glasses and scanned the class. I imagined for a second what she was seeing. She was probably seeing a mix of female faces of different skin tones wearing different looks. |
 | I Was Motivated And It Paid Off
When we moved to our own house which was more nature-like, some things changed. At first, I didn't quite enjoy the quietness as I was used to noise and all that. But in time I began to enjoy the beauty of nature and one of the reasons was that there are lakes around. So I thought to myself, This could be an opportunity for me to learn how to swim. |
 | A scar with many stories
After sitting down for 30 minutes, I walked straight to one of the tellers to explain my predicament to him. I humbly pleaded with him to either find a way to help do the withdrawal or help me with a token to transport myself back to campus. |
  | MORE THAN ENOUGH
I already knew that he was an amazing man, but I discovered that he was even more amazing after he died. He served God and people until he died. Even with all his pride and integrity, he was humble and down-to-earth. My heart shattered again. |
Third Place: Wins 2 Hive
Our third place winner is
Journey Through Time
My interest peaked when I saw a movie where a time capsule helped the people in the future greatly. Motivated, I set out to replicate that setting. I did so much research on time capsules, how they should look, what they should contain and the likes. When I felt like I was stuffed to the brim with information, It was time to write the message. The treasure.
Second Place: Wins 3 Hive
Our second place winner is
We are not alone
The blanket of night was falling, announcing misfortune. I arrived home agitated, as thousands of thoughts crossed my mind. When I saw my mother, I took a deep breath and calmed down. She was as scared as I was, but someone had to be strong at that moment.
First Place: Wins 5 Hive
Our first place winner is
An Unmotivated Life
Source Own
This memory marks a collection of beginning stories, my first word, my first book. In my mind, I see my parents' pride in my budding intelligence, and even after fifty years, the image remains vivid – the blue flannel of my father's shirt and the soft crinkle of the newspaper and the letters of the logo swimming into shape in my mind, the first time I realised that they could create and relay meaning. It did not take me long to read after that. It's hard not to read in a house hold of people who appreciate and value stories.
This Week's Prompt #46:
Mystery
Life's journey is strewn with uncertainty. Those Intriguing situations that perplex us. Sometimes we unravel the mysteries that confound us, but at other times we are left with a gnawing sense of disquiet.
For this topic, there are several possible approaches. For example:
- Perhaps reality mirrored a dream or nightmare so accurately that you were left with a sense of dread at your unexplained foresight.
- Maybe something you owned disappeared under mysterious circumstances, only to reappear in an even more inexplicable fashion.
- Perhaps you've always been drawn to the unexplained. Those questions that seem to have no tidy answers. Discuss how your interest in life's mysteries caused heartaches or happiness.
- A mysterious encounter or situation caused you emotional turmoil. Perhaps you couldn't think straight for days.
Tell us about it! And remember to integrate storytelling elements like characters, scene setting, dialogue and action to bring your story to life!
Have fun and good luck! We look forward to reading your stories.
Contest Rules
- You have 6 days to write your story from the date of this prompt post. Be sure to check the deadline countdown.
- Write a real-life story with the creative elements of fiction, like characters, dialogue, scene setting and a story conflict.
- Post your story in The Ink Well Community.
- Please use the tags #creativenonfiction and #inkwellprompt on these posts. Other possible tags: #writing #inkwellprompt #nonfiction
- Stories must be written in English. If you've translated the post, it's best to add the original version below the translation. Do not write mixed language paragraphs.
- Read and comment on at least two stories in the community. Add a link to your story as a comment on this post.
And be sure to remember to join The Ink Well community!
Prizes
Prizes are only for stories written for this week's prompt
- First place : 5 Hive
- Second place : 3 Hive.
- Third place : 2 Hive.
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