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Dear community, Welcome to Prompt #5 in our creative nonfiction initiative. Thank you to everyone who contributed a nonfiction story last week! In case you missed the announcement about The Ink Well opening up to nonfiction stories, you can see it here. We began the initiative as a trial. It's going well, and we are excited to continue! We have now updated our rules to include creative nonfiction. Here's a quick overview of how it works: Each week, we will provide a creative nonfiction prompt. You are also welcome to post other creative nonfiction pieces that are not based on the prompt. See the guidelines below. In opening up our community to a broader range of content, we will take the stance that not every post will be curated. To be curated, your content should follow our guidelines, be at least 350 words, be written in English (or another language as well as the English translation) and — as much as possible — free of errors. There are many guides and resources online for getting to know this wonderful genre. It is truly about storytelling. The simple difference between creative nonfiction and fictional stories is that the story is not made up. We like this definition from an article on creativenonfiction.org: Simply put: Creative nonfiction is true stories, well told. With creative nonfiction, you are using the literary and storytelling tools of a fiction writer to craft stories from real life experiences. Set the scene. Give the details. Profile the characters. Give us the dialog, as best you can remember it. Ideas and inspiration: Creative nonfiction stories can be snippets from your life autobiography — moments in time you want to capture in words, whether they were frightening, enlightening, bittersweet, or life-altering. They can be observations about life, about a time you connected at a profound level with a perfect stranger, or something you have learned along the way that made you a better person. Do you love podcasts? One of the greatest sources of creative nonfiction is The Moth Radio Hour. Listen to a few of the stories from The Moth, and we guarantee you will be inspired. Here are some additional resources for learning more about the creative nonfiction genre: Check out this list of creative nonfiction stories. For example, one of the stories is about a funeral for a lizard named Rango. We hope you are inspired! Here are some examples of what we are looking for: In other words, tell a story from real life. Here’s what we are NOT looking for: What will be muted: Thank you to all who participated in last week's prompt: Overcoming Obstacles! Many of these stories were beautifully told, heartfelt, and in many cases heartbreaking. It was difficult to choose two from this goldmine of stories! My eyes were as restless as the erratic beating in my chest. I couldn’t explain the peculiar emotion enveloping my squeamish heart then. My hands were icy and trembling when I grabbed my phone to make a call. I dialed my sister’s number to check on our mother, who was in the hospital. The long ringing sound coming from the other end of the line brought an agonizing feeling, tormenting me to the core. Until finally… That afternoon, when I returned home and did not notice my old man's presence, I felt a great loneliness and pain in my heart. I cried until dawn, with tiredness and pain I fell asleep. I dreamed that I was floating in the sky and the wind was blowing me away like a blade of straw, then the wind stopped blowing and I fell into the grave of my beloved. Congratulations, @idelmind and @rammargarita! Many people don't write physical letters anymore. In the "old days" those of us whose childhood was prior to the days of email would watch for the postal worker and get so excited when we received an actual letter. Yet, even if you don't remember those days, you know what it is like to receive something in the mail that is addressed to you, such as a holiday card or a birthday card. If you don't receive letters, perhaps you occasionally receive a really nice email. These experiences are great fodder for a piece of writing. There are many things you could do with the "letters" prompt in your creative nonfiction story. Have fun! Please use the tags #creativenonfiction and #inkwellprompt on these posts. And please remember to add your post link to a comment on this post! Prizes! Deadline You have a week, until the next prompt is posted, to post your creative nonfiction story in The Ink Well community. See you in The Ink Well!
What Is Creative Nonfiction?
-- Reedsy blog: What is Creative Nonfiction? The Unputdownable Truth
-- Writers.com: Understanding Creating Nonfiction: What It Is and How to Write ItGuidelines for Creative Nonfiction Articles in The Ink Well
Last Week's Creative Nonfiction Winners
Second Place: Wins 1000 Ecency Points
First Place: Wins 5 Hive
The Ink Well Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompt #5: Letters
Interested in joining our community? Start by joining Hive!
We invite lovers of creative writing to visit The Ink Well, a Hive community started by @raj808 and @stormlight24 and run by @jayna, @agmoore, @gracielaacevedo @yaziris and @itsostylish.
You can follow our curation trail by going to our hive.vote curation trail page and clicking the follow button.
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