Creative Nonfiction in The Ink Well Prompt #55
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 Time
Last week's participants
Honorable Mentions of the Week
![]() | NEEDED CHANGE Hearing this I groaned loudly enough for everyone present to hear. I could see from the interest on the faces of everyone gathered that they were definitely interested in hearing the story, so I had to tell it. |
![]() | The best time is the right time He stood strong at his decision and convinced us to do the same. We did inform our parents about the plan and all parents agreed to the suggestion except mine. My father said Oga "you will wait for your time" That statement got me almost mad seeing my friends move ahead of me. |
![]() | My childhood friends The praises we got and the elegance that the watches added to our outing made us decide to repeat the same thing the following year - this time, we decided to contribute to purchase shoes. We started in September and gave ourselves a similar timeline. |
| Jetlag, 32 Hour Day As fast as we could, we checked the files, we went through the old notes, we looked for the work to be done, we reviewed the reports, and besides all that, there were also the procedures for recognizing the devices. This was actually the most important part of the job because navigation is always more important than anything else. Good thing that I have worked with most of these devices before. But safety comes first. Better to remember. |
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![]() | We cannot go back in time He caressed, my wrinkled cheeks and said: Grandmother, why are your cheeks wrinkled, with the fan closed? "Because that's the way life is." |
Third Place: Wins 2 Hive
Our third place winner is , with the story:
The right time to be a writer

It was my dad who introduced us to the reading culture, shoving our heads into any newspaper article, novel, or textbook he found at the bookstore. We thought he hated us then, but today, the reading culture has fueled the essence of my career. Let me not digress.
As we grew older, my dad asked the question again "Who do you want to be in the future?"Everyone's answer remained the same but I kept mute. I remember my father turning eager eyes to me as if to tear my head apart to fetch the answer he was waiting for.
"Daddy, I want to be a writer."
Second Place: Wins 3 Hive
Our second place winner is , with the story:
My timepiece

While sitting with my chin rested on my left palm and my elbow propped on my locker, the sun rays penetrated the room through the windows and rested on my wrist, where my watch was neatly fastened. The sun rays flattered the silver-coated bezel of my watch, causing it to glitter more than usual.
First Place: Wins 5 Hive
Our first place winner is , with the story:
No more, no less

My poor childish heart started pounding in my chest. No child is prepared to hear that his parents are separated, that his world is shaken, that his root is taken away. That night I couldn't sleep, fearing that my father would open the door and walk away from us. I remember staying awake and the night was very long for me. I think it was the first time in my life that I was aware of the weight of minutes and seconds.
This Week's Prompt #55:
Haunted, Haunting or Haunt
The word "haunt" can take many meanings, which don't necessarily associate with spookiness.
Ideas:
- The memory of her laughter haunted you long after the messy breakup.
- A particular haunting melody always brings back vivid memories of your youth.
- Maybe your uncle (father or grandmother) was a larger than life figure and their spirit continued to "haunt" family meetings long after they were gone.
- Your friend's haunted expression drove you to discover a deep, dark secret.
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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Join here at Hive Onboard.
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