Creative Nonfiction in The Ink Well Prompt #83
Welcome to The Ink Well's weekly creative nonfiction prompt!
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 entrants
Thank you to all who participated in last week's prompt : Fuel to the fire
Last week's participants
Featured
Highlighting @nancybriti1, with the story:
Let that which is still be still
I used to get up early and start clearing the land to harvest corn and yucca. If you could see how I have hectares of corn, yucca and tomatoes, said my uncle Cristobal, looking at the infinite as if he could see, right there, his entire harvest
Curator's comment :
nancybriti1 writes a lovely CNF about her country uncle who came to visit her family. He was a simple man with only a spare pair of paints and a toothbrush for luggage. He worked with Nancy's father for some time, but was taunted mercilessly by local boys and he never reacted until one day he lifted a boy up like he was going to throw him down to the ground, and then he just set him down and walked away. (Great story arc!) Her uncle returned to the countryside soon after that, which is told in an amazing lyrical way.
Featured
Highlighting @universoperdido, with the story:
Everyday Wish
The sea has always seemed to me marvelous as well as frightening, and when we embarked on that journey through those places, my heart could not stop racing with excitement. I ate seafood and saw live squid floating near the surface. I traveled by boat and ran with my cousins on the shores of an islet with sand as white as clouds, feeling an overpowering sense of relaxation and freedom on my shoulders.
Curator's comment :
It's a great piece. He writes of one day in his youth when he visited the shore with his family. The scene is evoked so vividly we can see and feel everything from his eight-year-old self. He meets a woman, Mrs. Helena, who is standing at the shore. She is crying, but denies that when he addresses her. It's the sea salt, she explains. She shows him starfish and tells him to wish on one. She promises the wish will come true. He asks if it works for her. She explains that every day she wishes and every day her wish is granted. The author learns later that Mrs. Helena stands at the shore in the morning as her son goes off to fish at sea. She wishes every day on the star fish that he will come home safely. It's a smashing ending, a perfect conclusion to an outstanding story.
Featured
Highlighting @iskawrites, with the story:
What Do I Worry About?
On most days when I saw my friends from other departments, they would shout "Nollywood!" And I would wave back with a half hearted smile, wondering if I could truly get into Nollywood after school or if I would be forced to teach English language in an upcoming primary school because I couldn't land a befitting job .
Curator's comment :
The piece is is outstanding, brilliant, gorgeous and delicious. Wow!
This Week's Prompt 83:
"By the skin of your teeth"
Dictionary.com defines the idiom : You only just succeed in doing something or escaping from something.
- Perhaps a friend commented on the fact that you seemed to have an angel on your shoulder because you constantly escaped danger without consequence.
- Maybe you saved the day in the nick of time, and your friends have been loyal to you, out of gratitude, ever since.
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.
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!
Prize
A prize of 20 Hive will be awarded to one submission every four weeks.
Procedure
Two or three stories will be featured every week. One of the featured stories will win the grand prize every four weeks.
The winner will be featured in a special announcement post.
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We invite lovers of creative writing to visit The Ink Well, a Hive community started by @raj808 and @stormlight24 and run by @jayna, @yaziris, @samsmith1971, @gracielaacevedo and @itsostylish.
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