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Welcome to The Ink Well Writing Challenge Season Two
Below you will find the programme of prompts for the Season. Each week there will be a Challenge post with the week's prompt, starting Sunday 25 October 2020. To enter, write your post and drop a link in the comments of the Challenge post.
Below the Season Programme, you'll find the Rules for Entry, followed by The Ink Well's Fiction Curation Policy. The Ink Well is working towards creating a long-term alternative income for writers and we are looking for well-crafted short stories that contribute to this.
In December, The Ink Well launches the next short story writing prize with hundreds (hundreds!) of Hive in prizes. The theme will be "renewal". The writing prize will open for submissions on Friday 18 December 2020 and close on Friday 8 January 2021. Watch out for this in December!
Read about plans for The Ink Well in our September 2020 newsletter and scroll down for the latest updates below.
Writing Challenge Season Two Programme
This Season's writing prompts are taken from "101 Proven Writing Prompts" by Bryan Collins. You can get your copy of all 101 prompts by subscribing to Bryan's newsletter at Become A Writer Today.
In the free booklet, Bryan explains how you can use the prompts and how to put together your own never-ending set of writing prompts. At the back, you will find links to other helpful articles like How to Gain the Confidence You Need to Write Every Day, So You Can't Be Bothered Writing Today? Try This and Twenty Quotes That Will Inspire You to Write ... Today
Season Two Programme 2020
| Opens | Closes | Prompt |
|---|---|---|
| 25 October | 1 November | Nobody expected ... |
| 1 November | 8 November | We were wrong about ... |
| 8 November | 15 November | Outside the window ... |
| 15 November | 22 November | Being right is a lonely place ... |
| 22 November | 29 November | Money is ... |
| 29 November | 6 December | Last night ... |
| 6 December | 13 December | This time they went too far ... |
| 13 December | 20 December | Red |
Rules of Entry
- using the prompt, write a story that has a minimum of 350 words.
- post it in The Ink Well Community.
- use the title format: "theinkwell writing challenge | title of your story".
- include the tags: #theinkwell #challenge #story.
- post a link in the comments of the challenge post - this is your entry to the writing challenge, don't forget to do it!
Only include the tag #posh if you are sharing your story on Twitter. If you include the tag #feedback, you are letting curators and other members of the community know you welcome feedback on your story. We aim to be gentle and constructive with feedback, to help writers develop their craft.
Remember, original work only - no plagiarism or re-posts!
Curation Policies
The Ink Well aims to become an alternative source of long-term income for writers. We are looking for high quality well-crafted stories that have a clear story arc, well-developed characters and a satisfying ending for the reader. We have set out the Season Two programme in advance so you have time to plan your stories over the eight weeks. Don't forget to edit your story - remember we are looking for high quality and presentation!
When they review your stories, curators are looking for the following:
| Category | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Setting | Time and place the story is set and whether this affects the story. Has the writer created a world that is believable? |
| Story arc | What is the story arc? Does the story incorporate conflict, climax and resolution? Is the ending satisfying to the reader? |
| Characters | How are characters drawn in the story? What is their role in the story? Do they change or remain the same? Are they fresh and original or stereotypical? Are they believable? |
| Style | The writer's use of language, imagery and tone. Is the writer engaging? Are they showing not telling? |
| Presentation | Does the editing and presentation enhance the writing? Has the writer developed their story and corrected mistakes? |
Writing Tips
The Ink Well has lots of resources to help you develop your skills as a writer - or if you just get stuck. You can find the full list of tips with links in the latest post tips post pinned in the community. Here's a selection to get you started:
| Category | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Setting | Writing What You Know, Let's Explore World Building, |
| Story arc | Do short stories have to have a plot?, What is a story arc? |
| Characters | Character types in fiction, Developing memorable characters, Writing character descriptions |
| Style | Hook your readers, Avoiding the dreaded info dump, Is "show, don't tell" a writing rule? |
| Presentation | Editing your work with fresh eyes, Lessons in Tense |
If you get stuck, here are a few tips to get you started again: Getting Unstuck in Fiction Writing and Writing from a prompt.
Look out for the Writing Challenge posts each week! Posts that meet the criteria to a good standard (including editing!) will be submitted for OCD curation. The Ink Well will also be looking for promising posts to submit for @curie curation.
Latest News from The Ink Well
Community Builders
We are delighted to welcome @amirtheawesome1 and @amritadeva as Community Builders. Their role is to:
- Meet and greet posters (a friendly comment welcoming a new poster, for example).
- Encourage participation by reading and leaving positive comments on posts.
- Resolve routine queries – e.g. where to find writing tips, explaining how something works.
You will be seeing the Community Builders around as they settle in - please give them a welcome and say hello. If you have a question for them, tag them in a comment on your post.
We still have one vacancy open for a Community Builder. If you would like to apply, please see the September 2020 newsletter for details. The deadline for applications is Saturday 21 November 2020.
New Members
@iamraincrystal joins @deeandmathews, @marcybetancourt, @noticinephile, @dirge, @amritadeva and @amirtheawesome1 as a member. Welcome, @iamraincrystal, good to have you here!
Members of The Ink Well have demonstrated that they produce well-crafted stories that meet a minimum standard in the curation criteria listed above. You are known and trusted members of the community and you can write a good story!
If you would like to apply to be a member, you'll find the criteria in the September 2020 newsletter. You can apply at any time, there is no deadline, just remember to tag @shanibeer in your application post.
We would like to invite lovers of poetry and short stories to visit The Ink Well, a Hive community started by @raj808 and co-ordinated by @shanibeer and @stormlight24 with support from moderators @carolkean and @jayna.
It is now possible to follow The Ink Well curation trail on Hive blockchain with Hive.Vote. Simply navigate to the curation trail section and search for theinkwell and our trail will pop up as an option.
If you wish to delegate to @theinkwell and support creative writing on Hive, you can do this from the wallet section in PeakD.
A big thank you for our delegations from:
@zuerich, @felt-buzz, @jayna, @shanibeer, @ocd-witness, @kaelci, @trucklife-family, @preparedwombat, @iamraincrystal, @marlyncabrera, @agmoore, @owasco, @marcybetancourt, @adncabrera, @vision-of-esca
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