Source: Pixabay
Welcome to the Weekly Fiction Prompt
Hello community members! Thank you for joining our weekly writing prompt!
Getting Started
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.
Please also check out these additional helpful resources:
- You will find all kinds of great resources in our catalog of storytelling tips.
- You can learn more about our community and the expectations of community members in our treasure trove of tips and guidelines.
- We are always about quality first. Never about quantity. To achieve the kinds of awards you want, take the time to write quality stories and check them for errors. See the topic of the month, "Don't Miss This Step" in the March 2025 newsletter to learn about using tools (and using them properly) if you are not already doing this. We do notice when you don't take the time!
Stories from the Previous Week
Thank you to who posted a story for last week's prompt: "Nostalgia":
Author Shout-outs
We had some truly breathtaking stories for last week's prompt. Something about nostalgia inspired our community of writers! We bring you a bonanza of author shout-outs for last week's prompt.
Curator comment:
does an excellent job in this story of painting a character who is immersed in nostalgia. A young woman returns home from studies abroad and craves her favorite hangouts, favorite old vendors and foods, etc. But in the five years since she left, many things have changed.
As she struggles with this, and seeing vendor stalls replaced by modern stores, she gets a call from her sister who can't wait for her to return home. And she realizes that at least that has not changed. Really a lovely story.
Curator comment:
There are so many things to like about
's story. In the space of a short, short story, the author manages to present a premise, introduce a conflict and work out a tragic resolution. He addresses the issue of credibility by informing readers that this world is not ours, but like ours. It exists in another reality. Thus
In order to do this the author gives us two brilliant scientists who have at their disposal a mysterious substance. With this substance they create a creature, called Hydroid. Hydroid is tasked with bringing about world peace. The creature decides that all conflict, all war, originates with humans. Therefore, humans must be eliminated. The Hydroid destroys all life. He finds himself floating in a lifeless void. Then he realizes there is no peace in loneliness. His new mission: begin life anew.
Curator comment:
writes an exceptional story for the nostalgia prompt that portrays grief, angst, sadness and redemption. A young woman returns to her home town where a gaping hole has been left by the passing of Papa (her grandfather) — not just for her and her family, but for the town. He was a storyteller and an overall wonderful person.
In the end, she and her cousin find a beautiful way to honor his legacy and keep his memory alive. This is some beautiful storytelling.
Curator comment:
Is there room for fantasy in our lives? If there is, then make way for
's fantasy story, June's Heart. Heart is June's twenty-year-old cat. June has an appointment for the vets and this appointment apparently is to allow Heart a gentle transition to the next plane of existence.
The two friends, Heart and June, fall asleep. Heart expires. Outside June's window appears a kitten. It is storming, so June takes the kitten inside and dries it. As she does so, a small piece of paper falls to the floor. The words "heart and soul" are written on the paper. When June takes the kitten to the vet next day, the vet discovers a small heart on the animal's leg. And so the story ends, with Heart somehow still in June's life. It is a fantasy, gentle, loving, and well written
Curator comment:
expertly weaves together a story of love, tragedy and nostalgia. We meet a doctor who requests the opinion of his colleague, an oncologist. They both look at the results: it is indeed cancer.
At first we do not know who the patient is. But the doctor who sought his colleague's opinion is wrestling with memories and with his consciousness. He thinks back to childhood and all the times his father wanted him to go fishing, but he waived him off saying he needed to study.
He remembers more and more about those beautiful childhood days, losing sleep at night to the memories.
Finally, he destroys the test results and goes to see his father. He chooses time and love and conversation. He tells him his health his good. It is so lovely and bittersweet.
Nicely done, writers!
Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week
This week's prompt is: "Fear"
Everyone on the planet experiences fear. Let's see some fictional stories about the different things people are afraid of, and the different ways people experience fear.
Children are of course great characters for such stories, because they may have a fear of the dark, monsters under the bed, or things hiding in the closet. They have wonderful imaginations! And adults can even be afraid of these things too.
But people also fear so many other things. Some fear heights. Some have "claustrophobia" which means they fear being in enclosed spaces. Some are "agoraphobic" — a Greek wording meaning afraid of market places — which actually means they are afraid of going outside of their homes. Some fear the world may come to an end.
Chronic fears may require the care of a mental health doctor. Perhaps your character cannot quell the fear they are being followed by someone sinister. Or that government spies have placed listening devices in their home. Or that aliens are preparing to invade.
There are also fears of more basic things, such as fear of getting married, of starting a new job, of moving to a new city, etc. In other words, this prompt can take you in many different directions.
We hope those examples inspire your creativity!
Good luck. 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 — please use the free Grammarly tool for grammar and spelling checks (and not AI writing or rephrasing tools for revising)
You can find more on all of these topics in the catalog of storytelling 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.
- 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 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. (Note: We generally consider stories less than 750 words "too short!")
- 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 or manipulate 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; #156 Gravity; #157 Love, wheelbarrow, dog; #158 Stealing; #159 Sportsmanship; #160 Toast; #161 Pickle; #162 You only live once; #163 Ring; #164 Hope; #165 Dreamcatcher; #166 In mother's house; #167 Keep Out; #168 Chin up; #169 Dish; #170 Talking in your sleep; #171 Wish upon a star; #172 Diary; #173 Plan B; #174 Clown; #175 The good old days; #176 The shoe is on the other foot; #177 Will tomorrow ever come?; #178 Am I a fool for dreaming?; 179 The moment that changed everything; #180 Superstition; #181 Gypsy; #182 Blind ambition; #183 Ah-ha moment; #184 Never say never; #185 Things are not always what they seem; #186 Domino effect; #187 The elephant in the room; #188 Higgledy-piggledy; #189 Scoundrel; #190 Storm the castle; #191 I think I'm being followed; #192 Hidden camera; #193 A long goodbye; #194 Confession; #195 Gobble; #196 Guilt; #197 Everything was fine until...; #198 Fragile; #199 Secret gift; #200 Party; #201`Old Habits Die Hard; #202 New Year's Resolution; #203 Unanswered questions; #204 Hey, the line is back here!; #205 I won't back down; #206 Sink or swim; #207 Time is of the essence; #208 Kryptonite; #209 When the cat's away, the mice will play; #210 Three words: wonder, eclipse, coffee; #211 Butt Dial; #212 Soup; #213 Spring Surprise; #214 Humble Pie; #215 Nostalgia
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