Source: Randa_Hamdouni on Pixabay
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: "Don't sell me a dog":
Author Shout-outs
We'd like to call out a few stories that got high marks from our curators.
Curator comment:
In a parallel with Victorian England,
sets his piece in more modern times. Governments are in a state of constant warfare with other nations, and world economies have collapsed. The people are subjugated to the will and control of the wealthy minority, siloed into camps with little hope of elevating their social or financial standing. They exist to survive, day-to-day, hand-to-mouth. His MC is a rag-and-bone man, plying his trade for a sixpence a day, but choosing a life of effort and hard work rather than selling his soul for an easier ride into substance abuse. I've always enjoyed this author, when I've come across his pieces. He writes well and is meticulous about his sourcing.
Curator comment:
brings us a story for the Don't sell me a dog prompt. It was a pleasure reading him this evening. He shares a tale of a young girl who falls ill with leukemia, and despite expensive treatments, starts to deteriorate. One day she decides to go for a walk but doesn't get past her garden as she is so exhausted. She lies down on the grass and then hears a little voice talking to her. I won't say anymore! Do go take a read! His story left me with a lump in my throat. This was touching, beautifully written, and bittersweet. It was nicely balanced, and well structured, and drew this reader in.
Curator comment:
writes a delightful, enchanting charmer of a fiction. The story about an immortal wolf pack is a real tearjerker and worthy of this author’s awesome reputation. I write this with a tear in my eye! Wonderful read.
Curator comment:
does justice to the dog prompt. She tells of a young man who yearns to be a journalist, in opposition to his father's ambition. His father wishes him to be a doctor. Throughout his school career the young man lies. He pretends he is pursuing a medical degree. In the end, his father succumbs to cancer. The young man has never told him the truth and regrets that his father died with a lie in his ear. However, the young man's mother confesses that the father knew all along about the change in career plans, and was proud that his son had followed his heart. At the very end of the story, the father appears at the end of the young man's bed and tells him of his pride. There has been foreshadowing of this end--we were told early on that the young man had the gift of premonition. If a white dove appeared to him it meant a death was imminent. Sometimes, after the death, a ghost would appear. We are therefore not shocked that both a dove and a ghost appear to the young man. While this sounds farfetched, it works well in the story because idlemind establishes a foundation. Very well written.
Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week
This week's prompt is: "Gravity."
What to do with this prompt?
You can do whatever you wish, as always! As long as your story is inspired by the words "gravity," and you include it in your story, it's fine.
We all know what gravity is. It's what causes that glass you set on the edge of the table to topple to the floor and shatter. It's the reason when your bike hits a rut in the road, you go flying, but instead of remaining airborne, you crash to the ground.
But like many words in the English language, "gravity" has more than one meaning to inspire you. It also means "weight" or "danger." For example, if politicians are in a meeting discussing an international crisis, they are dealing with the "gravity of the situation." And if two people are running through a dark cave trying to find the exit, and they hear the low growl of a dragon coming from somewhere at a critical point where they must decide to take a tunnel to the left or right, the gravity of their choice is immense.
Let's see what your imagination comes up with! 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; #151 Bicycle; #152 Flight; #153 Time Travel; #154 A trip to the fair; #155 Don't sell me a dog
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