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: "Late to the game":
Author Shout-outs
As always, we received some excellent stories for last week's prompt. Here are a few of the stories that received high marks from our curators.
Curator comment:
offers a dark urban fantasy for the fiction prompt that captivates thanks to the author’s engaging style and vivid imagination. The MC is a betrayed necromancer who finds himself imprisoned and shackled with magic-nullifying bracelets. Necromancy, which was once acceptable (even sought after) is now shunned by society.
A lawyer assigned to the MC’s case secretly passes him a key to escape his confines and he considers the future as an outlaw necromancer. A fresh, vividly drawn short story that was a joy to read.
Late to the Game But Made the Team
Curator comment:
addresses the prompt 'Late to the Game' with exquisite sensitivity. She describes a man who was caught up in life and forced to put aside his dream to be an actor. When circumstances change, and he can try acting again, he has grown too old to be hired. A chance occurrence places his dream in front of him again. He may be late the the game but he never forgot how to play it. The story is excellent.
Curator comment:
has a wonderful writing voice. Here she tells the story of a surly boy and his elderly neighbor. The boy is a bit of a troublemaker. The elderly woman is a former chess champion. One day when the boy enters her yard to get his ball, she beckons him over and they begin to play. Though she is frail and ill, this launches their friendship and his learning. This is a poignant heartfelt story of transformation and loss. But it's a reminder that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
Curator comment:
lailawrites shares a powerful, grounded and moody fiction that’s full of flavour and depth.
After being clinically dead for a few minutes, Arun wakes with a passenger in his head — a voice that believes he’s an ancient, fractured god sustained by the remnants of near forgotten beliefs. Arun needs to nurture the god to protect it from dissolution. To save the fragmented deity he finds/is drawn to others who hold shards of forgotten faiths. Together, they build a new religion…a god for the lost, the leftover and the in-between. A mesmerizing, atmospheric piece that blends urban fantasy with both theology and folk horror. It blew me clean across the kitchen. Wow!
Curator comment:
With a very light touch,
explores the illusory value of winning. A young man, Tony, is obsessed with a game at the arcade. He must become a top player. The author cleverly shows us the young man's immaturity by referring to the reflection of braces in the game façade. Tony is destroyed when someone else achieves the goal of best. Then, that someone else is discovered to be a cheater. Tony rushes to capture his prize, finally, to win the game and become best. As he approaches the arcade, the manager is unplugging the machine. It is being discontinued. This goal, the obsession, becomes empty. It's a great story, and a great insight into the psychology of winning.
Nicely done, writers! We normally pick three writers to showcase, but there were so many great stories last week that we had to showcase a few more. You guys rock!!
Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week
This week's prompt is: "Where did you go?"
Sometimes the people in our lives disappear. They move on to other friends. They ghost us. They disappear into drugs or alcohol. They somehow just emotionally go away. And in some cases they pass on to the next life without a goodbye. It can be tragic or bittersweet. Sometimes when a friend or significant other moves on to other people it is actually a relief... especially if that person was emotionally draining as a friend. But no matter what, it creates a sense of loss, emptiness and change. And of course there are many more interpretations of this prompt, from mysterious disappearances to science fiction.
When asked to write the synopsis of three story ideas for the "where did you go?" prompt, here's what ChatGPT came up with:
"The Upstairs Light" (Mystery)
When a quiet librarian named Elsie vanishes from her small town home, the only clue left behind is a light in her upstairs bedroom that turns on every evening at precisely 9:17 p.m. — despite no one being inside. Her estranged niece returns to investigate, drawn by a cryptic voicemail Elsie left her days before disappearing. As she digs deeper, she uncovers a hidden journal filled with accounts of ghost sightings, time lapses, and references to "the in-between place" where Elsie may have gone — and where she might still be waiting."Split" (Drama)
After surviving a near-fatal car crash, college student Jordan wakes up with no memory of the three days following the accident. Everyone asks the same question: “Where did you go?” Haunted by flashbacks of unfamiliar places and people, Jordan slowly unravels the mystery through therapy, finding that those three missing days hold the key to a buried trauma he never truly escaped — and a version of himself he may have left behind."The Wander Algorithm" (Speculative Fiction)
In the near future, people can back up their consciousness and “wander” temporarily into virtual dreamscapes for recreation or therapy. When freelance coder Lian’s partner chooses to wander and doesn’t return, Lian hacks the system to track them down. But what she discovers is not a glitch, but a digital Eden where wanderers choose to stay — and forget the real world entirely. Now she must decide whether to bring her partner home, or stay in paradise with them… at the cost of reality itself.
What will you come up with? Tell us a story!
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; #216 Fear; Shopping; #218 Necessity is the mother of invention; #219 Life of the party; #220 The short straw; #221 Mouse; #222 The power of hindsight; #223 Ill at Ease; #224 What could possibly go wrong?; #225 I thought I was on mute; #226 Fortune cookie; #227 False alarm; #228 Late to the game
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